The rise of the "information society" offers not only considerable peril but also great promise. Beset from all sides by a never-ending barrage of media, how can we ensure that the most accurate information emerges and is heeded? In this book, Cass R. Sunstein develops a deeply optimistic understanding of the human potential to pool information, and to use that knowledge to improve our lives.

In an age of information overload, it is easy to fall back on our own prejudices and insulate ourselves with comforting opinions that reaffirm our core beliefs. Crowds quickly become mobs. The justification for the Iraq war, the collapse of Enron, the explosion of the space shuttle Columbia--all of these resulted from decisions made by leaders and groups trapped in "information cocoons," shielded from information at odds with their preconceptions. How can leaders and ordinary people challenge insular decision making and gain access to the sum of human knowledge?

Stunning new ways to share and aggregate information, many Internet-based, are helping companies, schools, governments, and individuals not only to acquire, but also to create, ever-growing bodies of accurate knowledge. Through a ceaseless flurry of self-correcting exchanges, wikis, covering everything from politics and business plans to sports and science fiction subcultures, amass--and refine--information. Open-source software enables large numbers of people to participate in technological development. Prediction markets aggregate information in a way that allows companies, ranging from computer manufacturers to Hollywood studios, to make better decisions about product launches and office openings. Sunstein shows how people can assimilate aggregated information without succumbing to the dangers of the herd mentality--and when and why the new aggregation techniques are so astoundingly accurate.

In a world where opinion and anecdote increasingly compete on equal footing with hard evidence, the on-line effort of many minds coming together might well provide the best path to infotopia.

凱斯•R.桑斯坦，現為美國哈佛大學法學院教授，奧巴馬競選團隊的法律事務顧問，美國藝術與科學院院士，美國律師協會分權與政府組織委員會副主席，美國法學院聯閤會行政法分會主席。桑斯坦還是《新共和》（New Republic）和《美國前景》（American Prospect）的社論撰稿人，也經常是《紐約時報》和《華盛頓郵報》這類齣版物的撰稿人。他的許多著作已經被譯為中文，包括：《權利的成本——為什麼自由依賴於稅》（與斯蒂芬•霍爾姆斯閤著，畢競悅譯，北京大學齣版社，2004年），《偏頗的憲法》（宋華琳、畢競悅譯，北京大學齣版社，2005年），《網絡共和國》（黃維明譯，上海人民齣版社，2003年），《就事論事》（泮偉江譯，北京大學齣版社，2007年），《行為法律經濟學》（成凡等譯，北京大學齣版社，2006年），《設計民主》（金朝武譯，法律齣版社，2006年）等。