Reading Reflection 2

1. The theme of Cognitive Surplus by Clay Shirky is how people have begun to utilize free time and become more creative. He argues ion the past, free time was used for purely personal reasons and was wasting an opportunity to do better.

2. The book was related to the class as it talked about being able to use all parts of what you have. In this class, we regularly break down how what we have accessible to ourselves can benefit our idea. The book uses this exact idea in reference to how we can better use our time. Time is what allows us to get ahead of our competitors so it is extremely important to take advantage of what time we have.

3. A good exercise would be an assignment early on in the class. It would be a simple assessment on how each person uses there time on a day to day basis. The whole day would be recorded and then the deeper portion of the assignment would to be to look at how their free time was used. This viewing could allow students to recognize the potential that free time has given us and how we could use it to advance ourselves.

4. Honestly, the most surprising part of my reading of this book came after I finished it. I realized that the majority of Shirky's description of technology was strictly positive and did little to discuss the negatives associated. For much of my life I have been warned about how the internet is only a place to waste time. His story tells that there is certainly more available to us since technological advances have benefited us in so many different ways. I did not expect such persistent positivity in regards to the internet.