I'm not sure if the idea is that groups are as wise/responsible as individuals so much as that if one wishes to accomplish something as a group it helps greatly to have the relevant individual buy-in (in some cultures it seems to be the habit to gain consensus first, and only afterwards bring matters to an official vote).
Yes, exactly that time period, but that would make you meeting the Old Physicist somewhat like the Tao/Erdős picture? (and to first-order, yes, bits-exclusive: hence why I think I'm much more likely to contribute something to my wider context by working on quantales than in expending effort in attempting to coax the primates to get along)
EDIT: also late 80s/early 90s, the zine InFormation: "Every day, computers are making people easier to use."
also a historical note: in 1815, my locals decided "hey, you know, Napoleon's patches were in many ways better to the Ancien Regime", so they pretty much kept the new revolutionary structures, and just replaced all the french who had been adminstering them with local boys.
someday I need to figure out the latin for "Man, the rationalising"