The Difference : How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools, and Societies - New Edition

In this landmark book, Scott Page redefines the way we understand ourselves in relation to one another. __The Difference__ is about how we think in groups--and how our collective wisdom exceeds the sum of its parts. Why can teams of people find better solutions than brilliant individuals working alone? And why are the best group decisions and predictions those that draw upon the very qualities that make each of us unique? The answers lie in diversity--not what we look like outside, but what we look like within, our distinct tools and abilities. __The Difference__ reveals that progress and innovation may depend less on lone thinkers with enormous IQs than on diverse people working together and capitalizing on their individuality. Page shows how groups that display a range of perspectives outperform groups of like-minded experts. Diversity yields superior outcomes, and Page proves it using his own cutting-edge research. Moving beyond the politics that cloud standard debates about diversity, he explains why difference beats out homogeneity, whether you're talking about citizens in a democracy or scientists in the laboratory. He examines practical ways to apply diversity's logic to a host of problems, and along the way offers fascinating and surprising examples, from the redesign of the Chicago "El" to the truth about where we store our ketchup. Page changes the way we understand diversity--how to harness its untapped potential, how to understand and avoid its traps, and how we can leverage our differences for the benefit of all. Contents Preface to the Paperback Edition. Prufrock Avoided Acknowledgments. The Continuous Life Prologue. How Diversity Trumps Ability: Fun at Caltech Introduction. Unpacking Our Differences PART ONE. UNPACKING THE TOOLBOX 1. Diverse Perspectives. How We See Things 2. Heuristics. Do the Opposite 3. Interpretations. Our Own Private Flatland 4. Predictive Models. Judging Books by Their Covers 5. Measuring Sticks and Toolboxes. Calipers for the Brain PART TWO. DIVERSITY’S BENEFITS: BUILDING FROM TOOLS 6. Diversity and Problem Solving. Darwin’s Brass Tacks 7. Models of Information Aggregation. Mindless Signals 8. Diversity and Prediction. The Crowd of Models PART THREE. DIVERSE VALUES: A CONFLICT OF INTERESTS (OR IS IT)? 9. Diverse Preferences. Why Tapas 10. Preference Aggregation. Four (Not So) Depressing Results 11. Interacting Toolboxes and Preferences. Go Ask Alice PART FOUR. THE PUDDING: DOES DIVERSITY GENERATE BENEFITS? 12. The Causes of Cognitive Diversity. Family Vacations, College, or Identity? 13. The Empirical Evidence. The Pudding PART FIVE. GOING ON THE OFFENSIVE 14. A Fertile Logic. Putting Ideas to Work Epilogue. The Ketchup Questions Notes Index