Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age

‘Perhaps the most amazing fact about Shirky’s incisive manual for building a better world is this- it’s just possible that everything he promises may be true’ Observer

‘Fizzes with great insights … It’s a delight to read and will change how you think about the future’ Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing

In the past, we filled our free time with the tools at our disposal. Television became a kind of universal part-time job, and sitcoms and soap operas sponged up our cognitive surplus- the collective surfeit of time, intellect and energy at our disposal.

Today, tech has finally caught up with human potential. New tools don’t just let us consume, but to create and to share. Clay Shirky’s groundbreaking book reveals what is now happening with this previously untapped talent and goodwill. From lolcats to tools for tracking voter fraud and ethnic violence, he shows how we’re using our cognitive surplus for the better, and what it means for the future.

‘When Clay Shirky speaks … people listen. The author of the influential Here Comes Everybody is again driving conversation’ TIME

‘Shirky gives us a ruler by which to measure our contribution to the world. Watching TV will never be the same again’ Guardian