The Difference

Acknowledgments: The Continuous Life xiii Prologue: How Diversity Trumps Ability: Fun at Caltech xix INTRODUCTION: Unpacking Our Differences 1 PART ONE: UNPACKING THE TOOLBOX CHAPTER 1: Diverse Perspectives How We See Things 23 CHAPTER 2: Heuristics Do the Opposite 52 CHAPTER 3: Interpretations Our Own Private Flatland 73 CHAPTER 4: Predictive Models Judging Books by Their Covers 90 CHAPTER 5: Measuring Sticks and Toolboxes Calipers for the Brain 103 PART TWO: DIVERSITY'S BENEFITS: BUILDING FROM TOOLS CHAPTER 6: Diversity and Problem Solving Darwin's Brass Tacks 131 CHAPTER 7: Models of Information Aggregation Mindless Signals 175 CHAPTER 8: Diversity and Prediction The Crowd of Models 197 PART THREE: DIVERSE VALUES: A CONFLICT OF INTERESTS (OR IS IT)? CHAPTER 9: Diverse Preferences Why Tapas 239 CHAPTER 10: Preference Aggregation Four (Not So) Depressing Results 255 CHAPTER 11: Interacting Toolboxes and Preferences Go Ask Alice 285 PART FOUR: THE PUDDING: DOES DIVERSITY GENERATE BENEFITS? CHAPTER 12: The Causes of Cognitive Diversity Family Vacations, College, or Identity? 299 CHAPTER 13: The Empirical Evidence The Pudding 313 PART FIVE: GOING ON THE OFFENSIVE CHAPTER 14: A Fertile Logic Putting Ideas to Work 339 Epilogue: The Ketchup Questions 371 Notes 377 Index 411

Scott E. Page is Professor of Complex Systems, Political Science, and Economics at the University of Michigan and an external faculty member at the Santa Fe Institute. He is the coauthor of "Complex Adaptive Systems" (Princeton).