Technology or Sociology?

The statement “You can judge a book by its cover” certainly did not apply to Clay Shirky’s Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age. Looking at its cover and title, I really had no idea what this book was going to be about. I wouldn’t have even known it was about technology if it wasn’t a book required for this technology course.

In chapter one, Shirky (2010) discusses how, in the wake of the industrial revolution, people in society came across, what he called, a cognitive surplus. Essentially, it is something that occurred out of the opportunity of an excess of free time being “disconnected from talent,” (Shirky, 2010). Shirky (2010) discusses how people nowadays passively participate in activities in their free time, i.e. watching television, rather than actively engaging in something involving engagement and energy like writing or creating a new idea.

As I read through this first chapter, I was increasingly finding myself taking offense to Shirky’s comments. But I had to stop myself and think, why? Why am I so bothered by him blatantly disregarding the statement: “Where do people find the time?” I am one of those busy people. As a full time graduate student, holding a part time internship, part time job, being actively involved in 2-3 student groups on campus at any given point, having a family and being a first time homeowner, I often feel as though I am stretched thin and don’t get the time to do the things I always want to do. Yet Shirky (2010) is right, we do somehow find the time to watch television in our “billions” of hours of free time. The author seems to express distaste in the passive engagement in media and watching television. I understand why, but it is difficult not to be offended since I am part of the majority of people who watch television.

Moving into chapter two discussing the means of cognitive surplus, I begin to question the basis of this book. Is this a book about technology? Or is it really a sociological perspective on how society uses technology and assigns meaning to its involvement in our lives? At this point I find myself enjoying the read and noticing that industrialization and the invention of the printing press are brought into this conversation of regarding technology. At this point in our course work I will never doubt that the two single most powerful events in the history of technology is the industrial revolution in England and the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg.

I really enjoyed Shirky’s (2010) discussion on the Gutenberg economics. As a sociology undergraduate, it is very interesting to me to see the progression of cultural change through advancement of technology. “The low quality material that comes with increased freedom accompanies the experimentation that creates the stuff we will end up prizing,” (page 51). From the printing press to social media, Shirky argues that the more average quality work becomes socially acceptable, it allows for more “junk” to be produced. However, “the best work becomes better than ever before,” (page 51) making sifting through that junk worthwhile to find those few treasures.

I agree with Shirky’s statements. I not only can compare this to reading, but mostly to my hobby of being a movie fanatic. The more I see crappy movies, the more movies I want to watch to fine that next big box office hit. Once I discover it, I watch it over and over again, critiquing it, comparing it to other well-made classics that I possess in my movie collection and discussing it with peers. Of course watching movies is something that has changed too: from VHS to DVD to Bluray high definition to 3-D. With 3-D, watching movies has become something that involves the participant, like Shirky discusses about cognitive surplus awareness.

“How many places are there where someone’s free choice of activities matters much to anyone but the individual? In an age when our free time and talents are joint resources the answer is ‘Everywhere’,” (page 74, Shirky, 2010). Shirky (2010) discusses in chapter three the importance of motivation for cognitive surplus. He believes that a person either needs an extrinsic motivation, like money or love, to accomplish a task, or intrinsic motivation, like an activity that is personally fulfilling (Shirky, 2010).

This portion of the book makes me think of my career choice in the field of education. I have chosen to further my education, opening up my employment opportunities in an already troubling economy. In order to further my education, I am taking out loans, putting myself further into debt. However, there will hopefully be a pay-off for me when I am finished: a permanent position in higher education. While I will presumably be making more money with a master’s degree than just having a bachelor’s degree, I find this debatable. I initially was a pre-law student in my undergrad program in Milwaukee and my first career goal was to go to law school and be a practicing attorney. After further reflection and two law internships, I decided that law wasn’t for me and that the field of education was.

Clearly, my motivation behind this decision was not extrinsic since law pays a considerably larger salary than education. However, it is the intrinsic reward of helping students, like myself, achieve their educational goals that I find very self satisfying. Relating this back to technology, I think about blogging. Why would people post information or life stories to let anyone read without paying for a book, novel, or memoir at the local bookstore? Or why would people create programs and post them on websites for people to use for free instead of selling them? What is their motivation? I think Shirky’s (2010) theory of intrinsic rewards remain true here; people allow other people to use things for free for the pure fact that people are finding use for them and they are actively engaging in something they enjoy.

Shirky (2010) also discusses people needing the opportunity to access the resources to participate in these voluntary activities and discusses how this changes people in society and their culture. To wrap this up “The real change comes from our awareness that this surplus creates unprecedented opportunities, or rather that it creates an unprecedented opportunity for us to create those opportunities for each other,” (page 184, Shirky, 2010). This is the new way of participating in our free time: using our best knowledge to help each other, whether that is blogging or creating free open source software. I really like Shirky’s (2010) end note about media and technology that needs to include us actively, either using a mouse or using a skill or using your voice. Overall, Shirky’s opinions are very intriguing for me and I didn’t mind this read at all.