# A smart person makes smart choices individually, but two (or more) smart people make stupid choices **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 1, 2010, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-smart-person-makes-smart-choices-individually-but-two-or-more-smart-people-make-stupid-choices/559098 "2010-11-01T16:37:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cagey\_Drifter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@Cagey\_Drifter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cagey_Drifter)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-smart-person-makes-smart-choices-individually-but-two-or-more-smart-people-make-stupid-choices/559098/1 "2010-11-01T16:37:39Z")
I have a colleague who is looking for a phrase, idiom, quote, saying, etc. that basically conveys the idea that “a smart person will make smart choices individually, but two (or more) smart people make stupid choices when acting together.” I’m sure there is one, but I just can’t think of it myself. Any help? ---
**Author:** ![Sanity\_Challenged](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de053/32.png) [@Sanity\_Challenged](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sanity_Challenged)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-smart-person-makes-smart-choices-individually-but-two-or-more-smart-people-make-stupid-choices/559098/2 "2010-11-01T16:45:38Z")
A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it. - Agent K, Men in Black ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-smart-person-makes-smart-choices-individually-but-two-or-more-smart-people-make-stupid-choices/559098/3 "2010-11-01T16:59:28Z")
A camel is a horse that was designed by a committee. ---
**Author:** ![FasterThanMeerkats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/278dde/32.png) [@FasterThanMeerkats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FasterThanMeerkats)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-smart-person-makes-smart-choices-individually-but-two-or-more-smart-people-make-stupid-choices/559098/4 "2010-11-01T17:03:44Z")
Too many cooks in the kitchen? ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-smart-person-makes-smart-choices-individually-but-two-or-more-smart-people-make-stupid-choices/559098/5 "2010-11-01T17:05:58Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > A camel is a horse that was designed by a committee. Yeah, God still regrets letting the Holy Spirit sit it on that design session 😃 ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-smart-person-makes-smart-choices-individually-but-two-or-more-smart-people-make-stupid-choices/559098/6 "2010-11-01T17:16:31Z")
Pithy saws usually reflect things that are true, at least quite a lot of the time, but what you are looking for seems to me to be, generally speaking, not true at all. I should have thought that it is actually much rarer for smart people to make stupid decisions when working together with others than when when working alone. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-smart-person-makes-smart-choices-individually-but-two-or-more-smart-people-make-stupid-choices/559098/7 "2010-11-01T17:25:17Z")
Here are a couple. The second isn’t very pithy but it certainly does express the idea. Just delete the last line 🙂 I think the one closest to what you’re looking for is going to be the one from **Sanity Challenged** however. A committee is a thing which takes a week to do what one good man can do in an hour. ~Elbert Hubbard Could Hamlet have been written by a committee, or the Mona Lisa painted by a club?.. Creative ideas do not spring from groups. They spring from individuals. The divine spark leaps from the finger of God to the finger of Adam. ~Alfred Whitney Griswold ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-smart-person-makes-smart-choices-individually-but-two-or-more-smart-people-make-stupid-choices/559098/8 "2010-11-01T17:42:16Z")
> [@Moonlitherial](#): > > A committee is a thing which takes a week to do what one good man can do in an hour. ~Elbert Hubbard > Could Hamlet have been written by a committee, or the Mona Lisa painted by a club?.. Creative ideas do not spring from groups. They spring from individuals. The divine spark leaps from the finger of God to the finger of Adam. ~Alfred Whitney Griswold Yes but the OP does not ask about creative works, which are the complex products of many subtly interacting choices, but about individual decisions. And, I would submit, a large part of the problem with committees is that, more often than not, they do not consist entirely of smart people. Also, although committees can surely have their failures, there are actually good reasons why they are so widely used for making important decisions. Generally speaking, (and even when all the members are not geniuses) they do a more reliable job than individuals. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-smart-person-makes-smart-choices-individually-but-two-or-more-smart-people-make-stupid-choices/559098/9 "2010-11-01T17:44:32Z")
> [@Moonlitherial](#): > > Could Hamlet have been written by a committee, or the Mona Lisa painted by a club?.. Creative ideas do not spring from groups. They spring from individuals. The divine spark leaps from the finger of God to the finger of Adam. ~Alfred Whitney Griswold Right… but “smart” and “creative” are pretty different things. I’m with **njtt** : as presented, the OP’s colleague’s idea strikes me as strange and wrong. I’d like to hear an example of its truth. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-smart-person-makes-smart-choices-individually-but-two-or-more-smart-people-make-stupid-choices/559098/10 "2010-11-01T17:45:26Z")
The one I have heard is - People are clever. Crowds are stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-smart-person-makes-smart-choices-individually-but-two-or-more-smart-people-make-stupid-choices/559098/11 "2010-11-01T17:48:08Z")
“Two or more smart people working together” is not a “crowd,” either. ---
**Author:** ![arseNal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@arseNal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arseNal)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-smart-person-makes-smart-choices-individually-but-two-or-more-smart-people-make-stupid-choices/559098/12 "2010-11-01T17:58:33Z")
Groupidity? ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-smart-person-makes-smart-choices-individually-but-two-or-more-smart-people-make-stupid-choices/559098/13 "2010-11-01T17:59:36Z")
One quote I found was: “A committee is the only form of life with many heads and no brain.” I prefer my own formulation: “Intelligence isn’t additive, but stupidity is.” AFAIK, this is original with me ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-smart-person-makes-smart-choices-individually-but-two-or-more-smart-people-make-stupid-choices/559098/14 "2010-11-01T18:02:29Z")
> [@Cagey\_Drifter](#): > > I have a colleague who is looking for a phrase, idiom, quote, saying, etc. that basically conveys the idea that “a smart person will make smart choices individually, but two (or more) smart people make stupid choices when acting together.” I’m sure there is one, but I just can’t think of it myself. Any help? Not sure what your goal is so this might be irrelevant, but research shows that 2 to 3 heads outperform 1 significantly. ---
**Author:** ![Cagey\_Drifter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@Cagey\_Drifter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cagey_Drifter)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-smart-person-makes-smart-choices-individually-but-two-or-more-smart-people-make-stupid-choices/559098/15 "2010-11-01T18:10:27Z")
Yeah, I don’t expect any phrases like this to be true all of the time or even most of the time, but perhaps cynically, such phrases can serve as useful tactical tools when necessary. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-smart-person-makes-smart-choices-individually-but-two-or-more-smart-people-make-stupid-choices/559098/16 "2010-11-01T18:12:13Z")
To determine the IQ of a group, take the lowest individual IQ, then divide by the number of people in the group. (Larry Niven, maybe?) ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-smart-person-makes-smart-choices-individually-but-two-or-more-smart-people-make-stupid-choices/559098/17 "2010-11-01T18:32:22Z")
Not a phrase, but a related phenomenom to what the OP is looking for is [groupthink](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupthink). The classic example of groupthink is the Bay of Pigs fiasco, in which a group of very smart American planners thought they could overthrow Castro’s government with a group of ill-prepared Cuban exiles. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-smart-person-makes-smart-choices-individually-but-two-or-more-smart-people-make-stupid-choices/559098/18 "2010-11-01T18:36:42Z")
Why does the last post of a thread always have the idea that I came in to say? It’s called groupthink. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-smart-person-makes-smart-choices-individually-but-two-or-more-smart-people-make-stupid-choices/559098/19 "2010-11-01T18:38:41Z")
This author argues just the opposite to the OP’s question: [The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations](http://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-Crowds-Collective-Economies-Societies/dp/0385503865) ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-smart-person-makes-smart-choices-individually-but-two-or-more-smart-people-make-stupid-choices/559098/20 "2010-11-01T18:41:46Z")
Slightly tangental to the OP but one of my favs has always been that “Nine men cannot produce a baby in one month; that’s because men don’t have babies”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-smart-person-makes-smart-choices-individually-but-two-or-more-smart-people-make-stupid-choices/559098.md?page=2)