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James Michael Surowiecki ( ; born April 30, 1967) is an American
journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...
. He was a staff writer at ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'', where he wrote a regular column on business and finance called "The Financial Page".


Background

Surowiecki was born in
Meriden, Connecticut Meriden is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, located halfway between the regional cities of New Haven and Hartford. In 2020, the population of the city was 60,850.
, and spent several childhood years in Mayagüez,
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
, where he received a junior high-school education from Southwestern Educational Society (SESO). He is a 1984 graduate of
Choate Rosemary Hall Choate Rosemary Hall (often known as Choate; ) is a private, co-educational, college-preparatory boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut, United States. Choate is currently ranked as the second best boarding school and third best private hig ...
and a 1988
alumnus Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for grou ...
of the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United State ...
, where he was a Morehead Scholar. Surowiecki pursued
PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...
studies in American history on a Mellon Fellowship at
Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...
from 1988 to 1995, but did not complete his studies and did not receive a doctoral degree. In 1995, he founded the now-defunct e-magazine ''Rogue'' and began a career in journalism. He lives in
New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,023 ...
,
Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...
, and is married to ''Slate'' culture editor Meghan O'Rourke.


Career

Surowiecki's writing has appeared in a wide range of publications, including ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', the ''
Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'', ''
The Motley Fool The Motley Fool is a private financial and investing advice company based in Alexandria, Virginia. It was founded in July 1993 by co-chairmen and brothers David Gardner and Tom Gardner, and Erik Rydholm, who has since left the company. The compa ...
'', ''
Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy a ...
'', ''
Artforum ''Artforum'' is an international monthly magazine specializing in contemporary art. The magazine is distinguished from other magazines by its unique 10½ x 10½ inch square format, with each cover often devoted to the work of an artist. Notably ...
'', '' Wired'', '' MIT Technology Review'', and ''
Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
''. Before joining ''The New Yorker'', he wrote “The Bottom Line” column for ''
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
'' magazine and was a contributing editor at ''
Fortune Fortune may refer to: General * Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck * Luck * Wealth * Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling * Fortune, in a fortune cookie Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Fortune'' (1931 film) ...
''. He got his start on the Internet when he was hired from graduate school by Motley Fool co-founder David Gardner to be the Fool's editor-in-chief of its culture site on America Online, entitled "Rogue" (1995–1996). As The Motley Fool closed that site down and focused on finance, Surowiecki made the switch over to become a finance writer, which he did over the succeeding three years, including being assigned to write the Fool's column on ''Slate'' from 1997 to 2000. In 2002, Surowiecki edited an anthology, ''Best Business Crime Writing of the Year'', a collection of articles from different business news sources that chronicle the fall from grace of various
CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
s. In 2004, he published '' The Wisdom of Crowds'', in which he argued that in some circumstances, large groups exhibit more intelligence than smaller, more elite groups, and that
collective intelligence Collective intelligence (CI) is shared or group intelligence (GI) that emerges from the collaboration, collective efforts, and competition of many individuals and appears in consensus decision making. The term appears in sociobiology, politi ...
shapes business, economies, societies and nations. In an article in the
Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
in November 2013, Internet entrepreneur and researcher Neil Seeman drew on
social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social me ...
trends over the time since the publication of ''The Wisdom of Crowds'' to observe that Mr. Surowiecki wrote his observations about collective intelligence "prior to the proliferation of
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...
and
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
and 'social filtering'; today, online, we increasingly do not reach any wisdom of any independently-minded crowds. We speak to our friends."


Bibliography

*


Notes


References

* Contemporary Authors Online. The Gale Group, 2004. PEN (Permanent Entry Number): 0000156165. * '' The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations'' Little, Brown * ''Best Business Crime Writing of the Year'' (Editor) Anchor


External links


Better and Better: The Myth of Inevitable Progress
James Surowiecki's review of the book '' The Improving State of the World: Why We're Living Longer, Healthier, More Comfortable Lives On a Cleaner Planet'' by Indur M. Goklany in the magazine ''
Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy a ...
''
James Surowieki (sic) – Independent Individuals and Wise Crowds
Audio interview from IT Conversations
James Surowiecki – The Wisdom of Crowds
Audio interview from NPR affiliate
WAMU WAMU (88.5 FM) is a public news/ talk station that services the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. It is owned by American University, and its studios are located near the campus in northwest Washington. WAMU has been the primary Nati ...
,
American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was cha ...
– Mr. Surowiecki explains how collective wisdom shapes business, economies, societies, and nations. (60 min. RealAudio stream).
Meghan O'Rourke, James Surowiecki – New York Times Weddings/Celebrations

Power: 2012 Conference Video
* *
The power and the danger of online crowds
(TED2005) {{DEFAULTSORT:Surowiecki, James 1967 births Living people American business writers American male journalists Business speakers The New Yorker staff writers Choate Rosemary Hall alumni University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni Yale University alumni 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American male writers