The Power of the Masses

Remember the post I did not to long ago called "Similarities?" Well it looks like there's a new project at the Social Science Research Council that follows the same model. In this case, Social Scientists decide which projects are worth funding.

As much as I like the democratization of information on the internet and I LOVE the idea of many people providing input to help make the best choice, I am worried about another effect that has potential of derailing this concept.

I read a study recently - I have no clue where I read it or who wrote it - but it talked about how liberals tend to read books that lean to the left and conservatives tend to read books that lean to the right. How can we expect to learn from each other if we never venture into the world of people who think differently from us? What are the dangers if this effect happens as niches grow smaller and smaller?

See Death by a Thousand Fragments or point #4 in this post at GigaOM.

Thanks to orgtheory.net and GigaOM for keeping us smart. Photo courtesy of Jurvetson