Assignment 21A- Reading Reflection No.2

Cognitive Surplus by Clay Shirky 

What was the general theme or argument of the book?

·       Being on quarantine, I went through the list of books and could only find one available on Amazon that would be ready on time. To my surprise, it happened to be the same one as the example, “Cognitive Surplus,” by Clay Shirky I guess I got lucky with my pick because I found the book very interesting. The general theme of the book was humans and surplus. He time-traveled through different periods of time, explaining how humans would use their surplus of time at that moment. From the gin era to the TV era, humans have always had a way to spend there extra time. With the growing span of technology and increasingly more free time, humans devoted so much time to “mindlessly” watching television and it became apart of their routines. Now, with the different uses of social media, which he only included up until 2012, people want to share and create media, rather than just mindlessly watching it. He writes about how humans have found active uses of technology to collaborate. Create, and share. 

·       How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

·       Two major concepts that I was able to connect this book and Principles of Entrepreneurship to were adaptability and time. In learning about entrepreneurs and their characteristics, one of the major features I focused on was adaptability. Cognitive Surplus highlighted how different generations and eras always and different ways of spending their free time. When new ways such as TV and social media came along to spend time, humans had to adapt to how they would use it. Companies also had to adapt to mold to these new pastimes and hobbies. I think this is very similar to an important skill we have learned about entrepreneurs. They have to adapt to the times and be willing to change around their product or idea to be able to fit people’s new standards. Next, I have learned in this class that there are so many opportunities in life, you just have to step out of your comfort zone and take them. This relates to one of the main points of the book regarding how people spend their time. This really hits close to home currently, because, during quarantine, I have definitely not been using my Cognitive Surplus. After reading this book, and connecting these ideas to what I have learned in this class, I am now motivated to use my time to build my human capital and do more productive things during my time at home.

·       If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

·       If I were to design and exercise, I would have students replace the time that they normally spend watching TV per week or on social media (whichever is longer), and have them dedicate it to a goal or task. Before the week began, they would have to list their task or goal and do it for the allotted time they were watching TV or on social media. Then, the assignment would be to reflect on what they learned and how they felt after replacing their time for a week with something more productive. Then, students would list out things in the future they could use their time on, and how completing these tasks would help their future goals. 

·       A personal example of this would be I say I spend around two hours a day on social media, and almost no time watching Netflix or TV. At the beginning of the week, I would say I wanted to reorganize and redecorate my room. For two hours a day, I would paint, reorganize, and put together my new room. At the end of the weel, I would do the writing part.

·       What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?

·       Like I said previously, I was very limited on what books I had access too, during delayed shipping times. I really didn’t know what to expect, but this book was certainly not my first pick. Judging the book by its cover and title, I thought it would be a psychological book about how technology affects humans mentally, however, I was quite off base. I was surprised to found out that this book was about humans and their free time, and supported by various historical events that I was unaware of. I think my biggest aha moment was when Shirky started describing how humans watch television. It was shocking to me because I have grown up in a world where television has always been a norm, and it has just become more widespread and advanced as I’ve grown up. However, it was weird to think of the perspective of people like my grandparents, who watched as television became such a large part of everyone’s lives, and no one ever questioned it. I can see that nowadays as my parents watch social media take over the world right in front of their eyes. The most important thing that I learned from this book was to think more about how I can effectively use my free time in the future.