If we were to exchange the metaphor of the herd for a hive, perhaps the concept of shared immunity might be more appealing. Honeybees are matriarchal, environmental do-gooders who also happen to be entirely interdependent. The health of any individual bee, as we know from the recent epidemic of colony collapse, depends on the health of the hive. In The Wisdom of Crowds, journalist James Surowiecki details the sophisticated scouting and reporting methods honeybees use to gather nectar. The cooperative work of bees, Surowiecki suggests, is an example of the kind of collective problem solving our
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