Literature and Media

According to Shirky, the cognitive surplus is creating new opportunities in the world today.  What remains to be seen are the benefits for society that will emerge.  Each of us are part of this new experiment of using the cognitive surplus as a shared resource.  Shirky states that the best chance of discovering new ideas will come from small groups working together who are not afraid to make things happen.  An interesting part of the chapter was Shirky’s discussion of the invention of the printing press.  Since Gutenburg printed indulgences for the Catholic Church, one would expect that the results of this invention would benefit the church.  However, just the opposite occurred, since Martin Luther became enraged over the commercial aspect of indulgences and ultimately started the Protestant Reformation.  In a similar way, we are unable to see what the future holds for the digital technology we enjoy today.  Ten years ago, no one could have predicted that the average citizen would primarily use the internet to chat with friends or share photos, etc.  I enjoyed the story which inspired the title of this chapter: “Looking for the Mouse.”  While watching a DVD, a child runs behind the screen and searches for the mouse.  The child of today’s world will grow up assuming that media sharing is open to everyone.