The Cognitive Surplus

In Shirky's article, he explains how the cognitive surplus is the "free time" we as a society have. What we do with that free time, however, is our choice. Shirky argues that when we are first presented this free time, that we are not very productive with it. However, after this period of not being productive, we seem to regain focus and adjust what we are doing with this surplus of time. Literacy in this article is defined as being able to actively participate instead of being passive and sitting back and watching. This definition differs from the other two articles we have read; Wolf and Carr mainly focus on being able to interpret the information in front of you, while Shirky emphasizes actually being part of producing or sharing the information. This article is significant because it calls for society to quit wasting its time doing non-productive things and start to once again invent and produce information.