What happens in moments of creative collective genius? How is it that small groups of inter-connected people change the world?

This experiment is an inquiry into case studies of collective efflorescence, moments in history where a titanic cultural shift has been catalyzed by a small group of people collaborating in ways that punched far above their weight.

From the Florentine Renaissance in Italy to the Chelsea Hotel in NYC, from Alhambra during the reign of Sultan Yusef the first to Black Mountain College, history is replete with examples of incredible genius emerging in a place.

Modernity, which exults the individual, under-emphasizes the role of context in creating these moments of cultural efflorescence, but what if there was a sort of recipe for inviting this to happen?

What neurobiological, social, and cultural factors are required to invite collective genius?

Understanding this would unlock human potential, with cascading impacts for everything from team-building to artistic and scientific discovery.

This project is a meta-experiment seeking to understand the recipe for collective genius.