"Crowds tend to be wise only if individual members act responsibly 
and make their own decisions. A group won't be smart if its members 
imitate one another, slavishly follow fads, or wait for someone to 
tell them what to do. When a group is being intelligent, whether it's 
made up of ants or attorneys, it relies on its members to do their 
own part. For those of us who sometimes wonder if it's really worth 
recycling that extra bottle to lighten our impact on the planet, the 
bottom line is that our actions matter, even if we don't see how."

http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0707/feature5/

www.peoplewho.org