Swarm intelligence is where large groups of animals exhibit a group intelligence and capability much larger than any of the individual animals exhibit or are aware of.
Examples include small fish and birds instinctually forming large groups that protect themselves from predators by essentially forming one large animal. ant groups that gather food in long lines, and termites that build giant, intricate homes. Each of the animals does an independent simple-minded task in its immediate surroundings (a fish in a school will swim a certain distance from surrounding fish) and is unaware of the group’s overall structure and capability. Computer scientists employ artificial swarm intelligence to try and come up with structures and answers to difficult questions.
The below show video show the preservation swarm behavior of bees.
Economics is one area where the human species exhibits swarm logic. Other examples of herd behavior and group intelligence include demonstrations, riots, and fashion fads. Stock market fads and bubbles are examples where humans irrationally and emotionally follow herd mentality.
Swarm intelligence begs the question of whether there are swarm intelligence and group functions the human species are doing that they are not consciously aware of.
It also begs the question of if individual consciousness is as important as humans say it is. We could be doing something higher and more intelligent than we are conscious of. Consciousness and awareness are things people aspire to, but perhaps they are nothing more than a quaint and relatively minor quality in the big picture of group intelligence and group minds. That humans want to be in the know, may just be a sentiment.