Clay Shirky's Cognitive Surplus

Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age by Clay Shirky

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I'm only on page 9, but already very hooked. Shirky's previous book, Here Comes Everybody, talked about the power of the internet to connect people. He continues and expands on that theme in this book.....

I just finished this book yesterday: I read chunks of the last chapter out loud to Mike as we drove to Marshalltown. I have been reading it for several weeks, in between working on handouts for fall and finishing up other books. It is not a quick read: it is packed with information, examples, stories, and is a book that makes you stop and think.

Shirky argues very convincingly that with the abundance of free time we now enjoy (created by the idea of the 40 hour work week), our society now has "cognitive surplus," or the potential to do great things, working together. He points to things like the Apache Web server project, where thousands of programmers have worked on open source software, as well as Wikipedia, where thousands of people contribute to the site,whether it is adding content or editing it.

Early on, he talks about the way we used to watch TV--it was almost like our second jobs, with many in my generation knowing a little too much about the plotlines and characters of Gilligan's island. He also talks about the way that technology or progress disrupts society, and the impact of things like the printing press. Later, he gives numerous examples of how the internet, and social media, have been used to mobilize people to action.

In his closing pages he discusses what is needed to use social media with groups, and how we can learn how best to work with groups to accomplish great things. He reminds us that there is no such thing as a magical recipe: we can, however, learn from others' mistakes, and look at what has worked.

This is a good book for ANYONE working with people & using social media to accomplish their goals: I highly recommend it for teachers, librarians, political activists, and anyone else!

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