Cognitive Surplus

Looks at how the internet is transforming our culture, providing outlets for human potential. From lolcats to tools for tracking voter fraud and ethnic violence, this book shows how we're using our cognitive surplus for the better, and what it means for the future.

Lucid and assured ... 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

Shirky is the best chronicler we have of the unfolding cultural revolution brought on by the web

Clay Shirky teaches at the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU, where he researches the interrelated effects of our social and technological networks. He has consulted with a variety ofgroups working on network design, including Nokia, the BBC, Newscorp,Microsoft, BP, Global Business Network, the Library of Congress, the US Navy, the Libyan government, and Lego. His writings have appearedin the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Times of London, Harvard Business Review, Business 2.0, and Wired .