I read Cognitive Surplus by Clay Shirky this weekend. My next series of posts will be quotes from it, with or without the need for additional commentary.
This speech became the first chapter to the book. It serves as a summary for the whole thing, so if you read nothing else I post from the book, it is worth spending 15 minutes listening to it. (You can watch if hand gestures help you understand speeches, but the content is almost entirely verbal.) Come back if you feel like chatting about details as we go along.
: Zubon
Hat tip from 2008 to the sadly departed Jeff Freeman.
From MMOs to Don Norman to Clay Shirky? It’s like you’re IN MY HEAD. I don’t care who knows it: man-crush for Zubon has now reached full-blossom.
Another book to add to my to-read list.
The cognitive surplus theory is interesting, but I think that the conclusion is flawed. I don’t think that people necessarily want to create, rather they want to interact. Creating and sharing are just a few of the many ways to interact. This is why video games didn’t end with the crash of Atari, why a scrappy little company named Nintendo was able continue where Atari left off. Ultimately, I think most people will still consume, but they’re going to consume in new ways. And, some will prefer to consume what someone who is not necessarily a professional has made.
Still some interesting consequences, but I’m not sure it’s the radical change that people like Shirky predict. Anyway, I’m interested to read the rest of your posts, Zubon.
Here’s an example of tapping into cognitive surplus that made it into Nature recently:
http://fold.it/portal/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axN0xdhznhY
It looks all worthy and all, but until it goes mainstream, I’m going to be less than convinced. Isn’t this similar to what Jane McGonigal was talking about with her MMOs to solve real life problems.
Having loved Clay Shirky’s previous book, Here Comes Everybody, I have to ask – Is this new one different enough to warrant purchasing? I’ve heard the ideas in it are pretty similar.