Cognitive Surplus

 

Clay Shirkey the author of ‘Here Comes Everybody’ says in his new book “Cognitive Surplus” that since Americans were suburbanized and educated by the post-war boom they have had a surfeit of intellect, energy and time- what Shirkey calls a “Cognitive Surplus” But this abundance had little impact on the common good because television consumed the lion’s share of it. Now for the first time people are embracing new media that allows them to pool their efforts at very low cost. The results of this aggregated effort range from mind-expanding reference tools like Wikipedia to life saving initiatives like Ushahidi.com which has allowed Kenyans to report acts of violence in real time.

In the West we are living longer and working less. The change has been accompanied by a weakening of traditional uses of free time as a result of suburbanization - moving out of the cities and living far from neighbours.

And frequent job changes causing unsettled living conditions. With so much free time and so few appealing ways to use it the world has taken to watching television as if it is a duty. TV has taken up the largest chunk of free time: and average of twenty hours a week world wide. Because TV goes in through the eyes and the ears, it immobilizes people freezing then on chairs and couches. In the developed world the three most common activities are work, sleep and watching TV.

TV has been a passive antidote to loneliness. Now with surging interactive media, new generations of people are participating in a fully active manner. Connecting with Facebook, blogging and Twitter and a thousand other media, people are becoming actively involved in issues and changing the world we live in.