The Evolution of Ideas by Crowds and Communities: Competition vs. cooperation

Ideas evolve. Online idea generation systems accelerate this evolution. These systems range from open source, communal sites to highly structured sites, run for profit. What are we learning from these early examples of online idea generation? Two paradigms are at work in these online systems, both embedded in the metaphor of biological evolution. The first is competition. Inventors, often contest participants, compete for prizes. The competition provides motivation for all participants, and offers hope for outsiders who want to establish a reputation. The second is cooperation. Inventors share ideas with each other, thereby jointly exploring the search space faster, the same way animals cooperate in collecting food and building shelter. The panelists will contrast these paradigms, and in their discussion argue about the relative importance of visibility, incentives, and co-creation in the structuring of creative work.

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