Clay Shirky’s new book Cognitive Surplus comes out here in Britain at the end of the month. Here is a long and critical review by the sceptic of digitopia, Evgeny Morozov from the Boston Review.
Plus a fascinating collection of contributions to the question: what is the internet doing to our brains? Reassuringly to me, Steven Pinker doesn’t think that the web is doing much harm.
Tags: Boston Review, Clay Shirky, Evgeny Morozov
The anarchic variety of web-born information expands faster than we get meta-info to filter and navigate what is bountiful but often bewildering. Taste-making can’t be done by algorithm and so someone has to commit journalism for useful stuff to be created.
The Atlantic Wire has been asking well-primed pundits to download their favourite sources of information, news and wisdom (these categories don’t inavriably overlap). This week they reached Clay Shirky, already something of a guru-hero to this blog. I haven’t looked at an alarmingly-high number of his sources, so I’m going to spend at least part of the weekend (the part when it rains) checking them out.
Shirky, incidentally, has a new book out soon and will be in Britain for two days at the end of June to publicise. Appearance at the LSE details here. Piece based on the book from the Wall St Journal here.
Tags: Atlantic Wire, Clay Shirky
