Cognitive Surplus

Clay Shirky argues that people's free time, which he calls a cognitive surplus, is shifting from passive consumption toward creative collaboration made possible by cheap online tools. An indirect sequel to Here Comes Everybody, the book claims this shift returns society to forms of cooperation that were common up to the early 20th century. Shirky sorts the results into personal, communal, public and civic value, and he accepts that some uses, like LOLcats, are trivial while singling out civic value as the part worth celebrating. His examples include Ushahidi, a site where Kenyans report violence in real time. He links the motives behind such work to autonomy, competence and community.

Bogdana Butnar, Poke's head of strategy, listed it on her Ultimate Books to Read list.