Clay Shirky’s TED talk really made me think about what kind of impact the Internet has on the world, whether it is positive or negative. Because I spend countless hours a week on my beautiful Mac, I can attest that being on the Internet has changed me, for better or for worse, I can’t tell yet. Obviously there are two realms: one of websites and software that will help the world become a better place, and then there are those that will not accomplish that. Clay’s example of a beneficial website was Ushahidi, a website that collects eyewitness reports of violence sent in by email and text-message and places them on a Google map. Basically, with this advancement in technology, everyone can be a reporter and improve the information that is put out into the world. Websites like Ushahidi will improve the varied viewpoints and remove the filter of information to the people that actually need it. I think something like this could be Wikipedia. A well-known information highway that anyone can participate in and help spread their knowledge around the world. People have so much free time and free knowledge that they are able to collaborate through the Internet like they never have been able to before. Clay calls this cognitive surplus, and as he puts it, the ability of the world to work together on projects. All of the abundance of experience and the time to do something with that, makes me wonder why people are not using up that time to do something? Instead of going out and changing something about the world, people would rather stay inside and play Black Ops, something that, in the end, will have no effect on anyone whatsoever. A big part of this frustration is that I am also realizing that I show these signs of laziness and indifference to my world. I will admit that I do get my daily fill of the Tosh.0 Blog and watch an episode of Survivor once a week, but I am not compensating with volunteering or being an active member in my community. I wonder what will happen if all of this cognitive surplus “runs out” because my generation has chosen to spend their days indoors in front of the latest piece of technology playing Angry Birds and not outside using that tool to find people jobs or help the homeless. Now, I’m not saying that 15 minutes of Fruit Ninja will end the world, but there are so many things that you could be doing in place of that that would actually accomplish something that isn’t a worldwide high score. Talking about all of this advancement in technology makes me speculate if Americans are so lazy that we have developed a reliance on automation, or if we are so smart that we could come up with things like this? I think it is a blend of both. With the newest Apple “i product” comes a better understanding of technology, but also apps that will evoke the laziness in all of us. With things like LOLcats and other memes floating around the Internet, it’s easy to wonder where all of the purpose went. Back to the intrinsic motivators that Dan Pink talks about, purpose is one of the essential things. You need to know that what you are doing will impact the world positively, but some people do not have this motivator. Like we talked about, kids in school lack this motivator because solving for x has no purpose. With students spending 6 hours a day at school surrounded with the Internet and technology, its no wonder people are asking how the next generation is being raised. I mean think about it, the president in 2050 will have been brought up in a society where computer reign supreme and LOLcats are the norm. You have to wonder if all of the good things the Internet has to offer are worth exposing people to all of the bad things. Society needs to start asking themselves how does what you’re doing change the world and is there a purpose in what you are doing? With Internet will come helpful things that can change the world and things that will basically accomplish nothing. The question is, how do you distribute info and impact the world with it?
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