What is Wisdom of Crowds?

Wisdom of Crowds is a platform for debate over the first principles at stake in political, cultural, and social questions. We take today’s issues and debates and boil them down to their core ideas and assumptions.

Read Our Origin Story

Since 2019, we have hosted discussions with guests as varied as the political theorist Francis Fukuyama, conservative commentator Ross Douthat, novelist and journalist Tara Isabella Burton, investigative journalist Glenn Greenwald, moral philosopher Martha Nussbaum, Internet historian Katherine Dee, Templeton Award-winning philosopher Charles Taylor, and National Book Award-winning novelist, Phil Klay.

Our goal is not to win arguments or convince you that we’re right (we may not be). Our goal is to understand why people—even “bad” people—believe what they believe. Most of our political debates ignore this step and instead only brush the surface. Yet our differences are both legitimate and deeply felt. We shouldn’t hide them in the interest of “consensus,” “civility,” or a common identity that no longer exists.

We are against consensus. Polarization isn’t necessarily bad. Agreement is nice. But disagreement is better. And we mean that. 


Join the Crowd!

If any of this sounds interesting to you, we’d love for you to join us as members of the community. Paid subscriptions are for $5/month or $50/year. We know that isn’t nothing. But as we scale up and introduce more features, your support will make a huge difference.

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Agreement is nice. Disagreement is better.

People

Opinions editor at Washington Post and co-founder of Wisdom of Crowds.
Agreement is nice. Disagreement is better.
Director Philosophy & Society @ Aspen Institute. Editor at Large wisdomofcrowds.live. Other writing: amazon.com/dp/0199363986
Columnist & Editorial Board member at The Washington Post. Co-founder of Wisdom of Crowds. My new book is THE PROBLEM OF DEMOCRACY: http://amzn.to/3Q15rwC.
Author of "Rethinking Sex: A Provocation." Staff writer at The Atlantic. Editor-at-large, WisdomOfCrowds.live
Executive Editor of Wisdom of Crowds, a platform devoted to arguing about politics, culture, and first principles. He is a longtime contributor for Commonweal magazine and contributing editor for Plough Quarterly.