[LINK] Shirky again: Cognitive Surplus

[Kim Holburn]

http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/culturelab/2010/07/hire-out-your-spare-brainpower-says-internet-optimist.html

> Hire out your spare brainpower, says internet optimist

> Your new book is called Cognitive Surplus. What exactly does that  
> mean?
>
>
> We are talking about making use of our spare brain capacity. First  
> there is the free time and talents of people in the developed world.  
> We have over a trillion hours a year to spend participating in  
> activities that we like and are interested in.
>
>
> Second, there is the media environment - the internet, mobile  
> devices, digital technology - that allows us to use our free time  
> and talents to participate in large-scale collaborative projects. We  
> used to spend this time watching television, now we are migrating to  
> the internet where our leisure time can be put to good use.


...

> The central example I use in the book is Wikipedia because it's the  
> oldest, the largest and the one everybody knows. Wikipedia has taken  
> 100 million hours of human thought to develop - and we have a  
> trillion to spare.


-- 
Kim Holburn
IT Network & Security Consultant
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