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Clustering knowledge and dispersing abilities enhances collective problem solving in a network

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  • Charles J. Gomez

    (The City University of New York—Queens College)

  • David M. J. Lazer

    (Northeastern University
    Harvard University)

Abstract

Diversity tends to generate more and better ideas in social settings, ranging in scale from small-deliberative groups to tech-clusters and cities. Implicit in this research is that there are knowledge-generating benefits from diversity that comes from mixing different individuals, ideas, and perspectives. Here, we utilize agent-based modeling to examine the emergent outcomes resulting from the manipulation of how diversity is distributed and how knowledge is generated within communicative social structures. In the context of problem solving, we focus on cognitive diversity and its two forms: ability and knowledge. For diversity of ability, we find that local diversity (intermixing of different agents) performs best at all time scales. However, for diversity of knowledge, we find that local homogeneity performs best in the long-run, because it maintains global diversity, and thus the knowledge-generating ability of the group, for a longer period.

Suggested Citation

  • Charles J. Gomez & David M. J. Lazer, 2019. "Clustering knowledge and dispersing abilities enhances collective problem solving in a network," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 10(1), pages 1-11, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:10:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-019-12650-3
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-12650-3
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    Cited by:

    1. Hiroyasu Inoue & Yohsuke Murase & Yasuyuki Todo, 2021. "Do economic effects of the anti-COVID-19 lockdowns in different regions interact through supply chains?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(7), pages 1-19, July.
    2. Charles J. Gomez & Andrew C. Herman & Paolo Parigi, 2022. "Leading countries in global science increasingly receive more citations than other countries doing similar research," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 6(7), pages 919-929, July.
    3. INOUE Hiroyasu & MURASE Yohsuke & TODO Yasuyuki, 2022. "Lockdowns Require Geographic Coordination because of the Propagation of Economic Effects through Supply Chains," Discussion papers 22076, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).

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