From “Cognitive Surplus” – Clay Shirky
“Increasing the number of things you have can be useful, but increasing the amount of knowledge you have can be transformative.”
This statement is very interesting to me for several reasons. One is because in our society today there is a great deal of emphasis put on having possessions and material goods. Our economy has become dependent upon spending money for things that fulfill our wants, not our needs. We buy things in excess all the time because we can. This “increase” in possessions may make us feel better about ourselves or give us the appearance of a higher social status, but it doesn’t necessarily yield anything productive. If we lose focus on the more important things like knowledge as a society we will inevitably begin to decline into a dysfunctional and unproductive mass. This isn’t to say possession of things must be negative. Having possessions is a natural instinct that most people embrace. We must use the things we have as tools to be productive as well as remain reminded that our things should not come before, or at the sake of, our knowledge. We must never lose the knowledge that “knowledge” will always be more powerful than any material object.
Aside from my philosophical rant, this quote from Shirky also appeals to me for its profound relevance in any era of time, but especially our current one. Information is incredibly accessible and almost infinite in scope with online databases that are continually growing. Our socially connected world along with all this online data makes sharing our information extremely easy. There has never been a time in history that information has been so accessible by so many in so little time. So, on the brighter side of this quote we see that the possibilities for growth with our current technology are far greater than ever before. We have created a powerful tool that, like our possessions, we must utilize for productive purposes; none better suited than the sharing of information and knowledge. We are lucky to have this tool. If we use it to its full potential, which I believe we’re headed towards, it will “transform” our world for the better.
I'm a fan of this quote too Ben, I agreed with your philosophical rant. People are possessive, but fail to realize that materials are ultimately unsatisfying. You said that, 'this increase in possessions may make us feel better about ourselves or give us the appearance of a higher social status, but it doesn’t necessarily yield anything productive.' The part of that statement that solidifies this argument is the aspect of productivity. The quote says owning things is useful, meaning things have utility in a sense that they can be used as tools to help you get what you want. Keyword here 'tools.'
ReplyDeleteThat is a great quote and so true!! Knowledge gives you power and the power it gives you is so much more meaningful than the power you get when you have a lot of money. The power that comes with money is often a greedy kind of controlling power. Those that are excessively rich continue to succeed in keeping others at the bottom.
ReplyDeleteI recently heard of a study done where they interviewed graduates from the top Ivy league schools and asked them "Now that you have your degree, which path will you choose? Will you follow your dreams or will you choose to make money?" A good amount of years later after these graduates had established their careers they looked at those who were the most successful and went back to the answer they gave at graduation. 49 out of 50 answered that they would follow their dreams. I thought it was an interesting study that shows you will be rewarded for your hard work and by being true to yourself you will ultimately find the path that suits you.
The quote you selected plays well with social media. As online networking has become more popular and the access to technology has spread, we have found ourselves with vast tool sets for creating and distributing information. Since the delivery mechanism for content operates globally and instantaneously, I feel that individuals worldwide have experienced an increase in knowledge. We are beginning to develop direct correlations between knowledge and technology. As computers begin to surpass our human ability to absorb and parse knowledge, I feel that the age-old paradigm "Knowledge is Power" will be replaced with "Technology is Power".
ReplyDeleteI think that increasing the amount of knowledge you have can be transformative in many ways. Luckily, with social media we can share knowledge and information easily with others. However, as we have seen in the past, because social media is so accessible and quick- false information can spread quite quickly. In this age of internet, "information" is often confused with "opinion." We are lucky that we have such a high level of connectivity and we can obtain information any time, any where. However, I think that accessibility allows for false information to be spread and thought of as true. It hinders what we see as "knowing." For example, WebMD gives a lot of information and allows people to think they're now "knowledgeable" in diagnostics.
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