WHICH IS WHY GOVERNMENT SECRECY IS SO COUNTERPRODUCTIVE:

Mindless Collectives Better at Rational Decision-Making Than Brainy Individuals: New experiments show how ant colonies don't fall prey to irrational choices as humans sometimes do (Charles Q. Choi, 7/22/09, Scientific American)

Humans often make irrational choices when faced with challenging decisions. Ant colonies, however, can make perfectly rational selections when confronted by tough dilemmas. This isn't because lone ants are especially knowledgeable—they're not. Instead, when ants are grouped together, a kind of "wisdom of the crowds" avoids the kind of mistakes that individuals can make, new research shows.