Clay Shirky TED Review (#4)

     Clay Shirky's TED talk was an enlightening experience on so many levels. His main idea, "How Cognitive Surplus Will Change the World", not only explains the title itself but several items about human behavior that connect to so much of the other studies I have personally viewed. His talk began with a story about an amazing woman in Kenya, Ory Okolloh, who brought the truth about political issues in the country to the general public through her original blog. When she received too much information about the issue from people witnessing the effects, she made a shared source website, called Ushahidi or "Witness", that anyone could post on to share their experiences with the world. This technique spread throughout the world and turned into so many websites on various topics that used the idea of shared source. Shirky, in a general sense, explained that this kind of "human generosity" used in free time for a "civic" purpose for the enjoyment of the  world will be able to change all of society if recognized and rewarded appropriately. I agree with his bold statement because of all the outside sources I have seen that simply say the same thing. Many of Dan Pink's points in Drive mention the use of shared source information, and it is possible because of a newly recognized motivation called intrinsic motivation. Shirky brings this point into his talk by saying that intrinsic and economic motivations are incompatible, and he uses an example of a daycare experiment to explain the issue of contractual vs. social design of shared websites. It is the social motivation that brings people to share their insight for free. Basically, what I got out of the speech was that these kinds of shared information sites among the masses is driven by people's emotions that wish to connect them to a larger world.

     Shirky was not only captivating because of his multi-connective topic but because of his passion and research behind his words. He used an excitement in his voice to his advantage and implemented that into stories and outside sources. The presentation style also added to the effect of his words. For example, he used some sly humor when he was talking about examples of shared creativity people have made popular online such as "LOL Cats". He was so into his speech that the pictures of silly cats in the background caught the audience off guard. I also enjoyed his strong last statement that gave the audience his vision for the future which was loosely, "... we can celebrate and reward people using generosity to contribute to civic value in order to change society."
     As mentioned before, this topic can easily be connected to so many things. In my own life, I have often wondered why people use their time to answer questions on Yahoo answers or write massive amounts of research into Wikipedia for the use of others. Although I have reviewed a few pieces on this kind of motivation, Shirky's talk brought to life the real draws to this type of creative productivity, especially through his example of Ory Okolloh. Education institutes may also learn a thing or two about this future of shared, free information and take matters into their own hands by encouraging projects that many will be able to see across the globe through technology. I am so thankful my English teacher has prompted my class to do the same kind of creative writing. On the world sense, the correct use of shared information sources could potentially end so many problems with media and their influence by overpowering governments. For example, there has been total media blockage in Egypt recently by the government that has kept people in the dark of what has truly been happening. Through Okolloh's idea, people experiencing the oppression could get the news out there for the world to act on the issue. I believe part of the problem with rich, comfortable people is that they just don't understand, they just don't empathize, as Sam Richards would say, with the people they hear snippets of bad news about because they do not know the whole story. The possibilities of properly used "cognitive surplus" actions are astronomical and could lead to world peace, the Miss America dream, right? ;)
     Overall, I enjoyed this particular TED talk the best and the least because of its level of thinking. I LOVE the way it connects to all of the pieces I have been reading and really brings together all the different looks into human behavior into real life examples, such as the daycare research. I did not like, however, the difficult time I had piecing together this information and attempting to share my thoughts about it in this blog! The main idea was scattered throughout the talk and was interrupted by so many other important points that there sometimes seemed not to be one, clear topic. This could have been redeemed by a repeated statement that reminded the audience of his point. This is one technique I will make sure to incorporate in my own TED talk.


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