<P> In his book You Are Not a Gadget, Jaron Lanier argues that crowd wisdom is best suited for problems that involve optimization, but ill - suited for problems that require creativity or innovation . In the online article Digital Maoism, Lanier argues that the collective is more likely to be smart only when </P> <Dl> <Dd> 1 . it isn't defining its own questions, </Dd> <Dd> 2 . the goodness of an answer can be evaluated by a simple result (such as a single numeric value), and </Dd> <Dd> 3 . the information system which informs the collective is filtered by a quality control mechanism that relies on individuals to a high degree . </Dd> </Dl> <Dd> 1 . it isn't defining its own questions, </Dd> <Dd> 2 . the goodness of an answer can be evaluated by a simple result (such as a single numeric value), and </Dd>

The wisdom of crowds said what about public opinion