We’re all quite familiar with how intelligent an individual can be when compared to the thick-headedness that is often displayed by mob mentality, a phenomenon that can make the collective intelligence of groups appear to be a hopeless throwback to more primitive times. But conversely, history has also seen numerous examples of large groups surpassing a problem that the collective is faced with — so long as the group is collectively focused on the question at hand.

The question is, how do we provide that focus for large groups, so that the collective wisdom that can come from that emerges more reliably? The answer to that, according to a new Silicon Valley startup, is bees.
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