Oh hey there cognitive surplus!

I’m going to address the first question posted under the heading, "Questions for 11/02."  I feel as if one of the things that Shirkey is missing when he states that free time and a good media landscape are needed for cognitive surplus is availability. Cognitive surplus is only possible for those who have access to computers and the internet. I know we have talked about this a decent amount of times in class; however, I feel it’s important to point it out because cognitive surplus isn't free to everyone then, like Shirkey makes it seem. Cognitive surplus is bought and sold to the people who can afford it and countries that can afford it, which means that only the upper classes of world can participate in this use of cognitive surplus. Therefore, some dire issues of the lower classes in our world need this cognitive surplus to bring about change, but because they don’t have access, they must wait for a citizen who does have that access to care and utilize their cognitive surplus. This doesn’t mean that cognitive surplus has any less power; it just means that those who create and share and consume on the internet are a select group of people because of differing social classes and their privileges.

I do, however, believe that cognitive surplus has the ability to create change, that is, once the world has adapted to using weak ties to collaborate and organize. I think it is possible that when this next generation reaches adulthood, they will be more prepared to utilize cognitive surplus because they have been the creators and sharers of it since their childhood. They will have also been the consumers of it since childhood, meaning that they will be more open to being emotionally involved and moved to action through the use of the internet, weak ties and cognitive surplus. We already see examples of cognitive surplus working to our advantage today, such as Shirkey’s example of the Kenyan presidential election and Ushahidi. If it has begun to be effective today, I think it is capable of evolving to be more effective tomorrow with the global culture we are currently building.