Collective intelligence is the capacity of human communities to evolve towards higher order complexity and harmony. Both of them are a long-term trend and general direction of evolution.
Social entities evolve by using such innovation mechanisms as variation-feedback-selection, differentiation-integration-transformation, and competition-cooperation-coopetition, successfully tested by life for billions years.
Besides CI seen through the “evolutionary lens” introduced above, there are also other ways to look at it, for example:
Through the “cognitive lens”
http://www.community-intelligence.com/blogs/public/archives/cat_def…
Four types of CI
http://www.twine.com/item/12j7q8lj8-t4/types-of-collective-intellig…
In order to evolve, social groups need not only collective intelligence but also collective wisdom, the human faculty to sense, think, feel, and act from an ever broader, deeper, more encompassing perspective.
Collective intelligence and collective wisdom are an a priori, inherent potential of all human groups. If and when they manifest that potential, they do it in different, culturally defined ways that can enhance each other. Hence the interest of diversity-in-unity when it comes to augment our CI<-CW.
The notation CI<-CW refers to the need that for CI to be applied successfully in times of massive transitions into the unknown, it has to be guided by collective wisdom. Without the latter, the gap between our technological and consciousness development risks increasing and bringing rather unpleasant consequences to human society.
Selected resources on collective intelligence:
Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_Intelligence
Blog of CI
http://www.community-intelligence.com/blogs/public/
A source document of CI
http://www.community-intelligence.com/blogs/public/2007/01/a_source…
Co-Intelligence Institute
http://www.co-intelligence.org/
MIT Center for CI
http://cci.mit.edu/
from the Transitioner
http://wiki.thetransitioner.org/English/Collective_Intelligence
Selected resources on collective wisdom:
Collective Wisdom Initiative
http://www.collectivewisdominitiative.org/
Centered On the Edge: Mapping a Field of Collective Intelligence & Spiritual Wisdom
http://www.collectivewisdominitiative.org/CenteredOnTheEdge//theboo…
The Power of Collective Wisdom
http://www.collectivewisdominitiative.org/papers/CWI_book/about_the…
