The Cognitive Surplus

In Clay Shirky's book „Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age", the DLD friend argues that the time Americans once spent watching television has been redirected toward activities that are less about consuming and more about engaging - and these efforts aren't fuelled by external rewards but by intrinsic motivation. He refers to this social asset, the buildup of this free time among the world's educated population as a new resource, the cognitive surplus. Television was a solitary activity that crowded out other forms of social connection. The very nature of the new technologies fosters social connection. Previously locked out ordinary citizens, now pool their free time for activities they like and care about. This way, the cognitive surplus is going to be poured into everything from goofy enterprises, the creation of the Wikipedia encyclopedia to serious political activities like Ushahidi.com, where people report human rights abuses. Clay concludes that the ability to efficiently connect and collaborate with each other, helped the intrinsic motivation to surface and dominate: "Behaviour is motivation filtered through opportunity!"