Surprising new research shows that crowds are often smarter than individuals Michael Shermer is publisher of Skeptic magazine (www.skeptic.com) and a Presidential Fellow at Chapman University. His new book is Heavens on Earth: The Scientific Search for the Afterlife, Immortality, and Utopia (Henry Holt, 2018). This article was originally published with the title “Common Sense” in Scientific Americ
![Common Sense](https://cdn-ak-scissors.b.st-hatena.com/image/square/46b2e4218a4e204033535f96e5ffbec8327c0b82/height=288;version=1;width=512/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.scientificamerican.com%2Fsciam%2Fcache%2Ffile%2FFDE9F0C9-50F6-41B2-9983C03173A45D73_source.jpg%3Fw%3D1200)