Collective thinking: Pong for 5,000 people
Feb 18 by
Andre
In Hive Mind, Kevin Kelly describes 5,000 people in an auditorium playing a collective game of Pong -- each participant's input is aggregated in real time to determine the ultimate movement of the paddles.
Without a moment's hesitation, 5,000 people are playing a reasonably good game of Pong. Each move of the paddle is the average of several thousand players' intentions. The sensation is unnerving. The paddle usually does what you intend, but not always. When it doesn't, you find yourself spending as much attention trying to anticipate the paddle as the incoming ball.Read it here: http://www.kk.org/outofcontrol/ch2-b.html