Abstract
This paper focuses on the role of quantity in the studies of the communication. The first step in the consideration of quantity of participants involved in the process of communication was the passage from the model of telegraph to the model of orchestra.
This step was done by the representants of the New communication as well as in the development of the semiotics studies. The second step leads us to the model of city that can be found in the Lévi-Strauss‘ early work.
The model of city allows to take in the consideration not only the unconscious and unintentional activities of participants but also the effects of multiplicity. One of the important results of this approach to the communication is the idea of the collective intelligence.