IF YOU have ever bought something because it had the most positive reviews, or joined in with a standing ovation simply because you didn’t want to be the only one left sitting, then you are at least as smart as a honeybee and as steadfast as a bird in a flock. Reassuring news, as it turns out.
Peter Miller, an editor at National Geographic, argues that there is a lot we can learn from group behaviour in other animals. In The Smart Swarm he has extracted a few vital rules from research on the decision-making skills of birds, insects…
