Story Archive

The Wisdumb of Crowds

Two students at Reed College in Portland, Ore., built a snowball after a trio of snowstorms hit the city. A large snowball. A crowd gathered and chanted “Roll it! Roll it!” They did, rolling it down a sidewalk leading toward a dorm. “And the ball just got away from them,” said college spokesman Kevin Myers. As it rolled it grew to 800–900 pounds before it slammed into the dorm, causing $2,000–$3,000 in damage to the building. The students were not identified, except to note they were math majors. (RC/Portland Oregonian, AP) ...Which is how they were able to calculate the damage estimate so precisely.
Original Publication Date: 16 February 2014
This story is in True’s book collections, in Volume 20.

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