Exploring the Group Mind with Mass Participation Experiments

In a night of science, music and games, audience members will explore a fundamental issue: What is more fundamental: the fact that you are a unique individual, or your relationship to others in your social group, family or society?

By networking their phones or tablets, audience members will take part in unique mass participant experiments. Together they will play games, collaborate with musicians in making music, take difficult decisions, and experience whether they perform better as individuals or as a group. We will discuss how their group behaviour can be understood using the latest tools in social science research.

We will be joined by a quartet from LUME, one of the leading jazz improvisation groups in London. The musicians will create a piece of novel music during the event, while the audience give instruction and feedback, shaping the music in collaboration with the players.

Together data from the experiments and the experiences of audience members will give insight into how we vote in elections, riot on the streets, create art and support a football team.