"We have become too used to thinking of intelligence as the private skill of individuals, vying against one another in a neoliberal world of relentless competition. What is needed, especially in an age of irredentist warmongering and climate disaster, is a greater emphasis on our ability to reason together, our 'collective intelligence'.

This has been possible, of course, since we gruntingly taught one another how to make flint tools around the cave fire. What does neuroscience add to our understanding of it? Well, the brainwaves of people cooperating on a task can synchronise, which is interesting. And feelings of empathy help groups solve puzzles – as do higher female-to-male sex ratios...". - Steven Poole

Book Review: Joined Up Thinking by Hannah Critchlow – the Power of Collective Cognition