Blog Prompt #8

Why cognitive surplus will change the world.

Summary:

In his ted talk Jay Shirkly explains how what people are doing online with their free time is changing the world. Our “cognitive surplus” is the spare time we have when our brains are still active. If people use this time to create, share and contribute to development of ideas then they are actively changing the world by making it a more co-operative place, no matter how small their contribution may be.  Through co-operation one person’s idea can grow into something that will change the world.

Things like Ushahidi and Wikipedia are great examples of how cognitive surplus is changing the world. People today have more creative power than ever before.  Anyone with a connection to the internet and a basic computer can create and share their ideas online faster than ever.  One programmer has the power to change the world in a matter of hours. This power grows exponentially when people decide to work together to achieve similar goals.  Imagine you’ve created software used for merging the physical and digital world using some sort of augmented reality. Making this software open source allows for anyone with a passion or idea for your software the ability contribute to the growth and development of your vision. Limiting peoples’ ability to create is a waste of the human potential.

  Not everyone has the power to create such high level programs or do any form of programing for that matter. However, that does mean these people have no value. Everyone has the power to create and share, whether it is the commenters on Ushahidi or the people who posting LOLcats. Everyone who contributes to the potluck that is the internet is taking part in something huge. They are taking the first step to contributing something of real value. People are working together without even realizing it. For example website Sick Weather uses what people on twitter to track the areas on the map where the most number of people are.  The people posting on twitter aren’t consciously conbributing to this project but are actually ensuring its success   

The ideas of one person can change the world especially today when voice can be heard globally and instantly. However, as Carson McCullers said “the most fatal thing a man can do is try and stand alone”.  People need to work cooperatively in order to unlock our full potential.