A mashup of how we think, how we share and what drives us to do it.
This book puts into perspective how much information and creativity goes to waste in our world every day.
How "we" let these wastes happen, and the changes that are currently taking place to transform this surplus into a benefit for everyone.
"Americans watch roughly two hundred billion hours of TV every year. That represents about 2000 Wikipedias' projects' worth of time annually".
Wikipedia exists because people chose to share their knowledge with others, for free and for the purpose of being part of something bigger.
Did you know that anyone can edit Wikipedia.
No login or account needed, you just click edit and then edit the information.
"This low threshold to participation invites the accumulation of the smallest units of value. If you fix a typo and never do anything on Wikipedia again, that still has more value than if you hadn't fixed it."
Some industries rely on you to be spiteful to your friends
"The decision not to make someone else's life better when it would cost you little or nothing has a name: spite. The music industry, in order to preserve its revenues, wanted (and still wants) all of us to be spiteful to our friends."
Napster did not grow in popularity because the new generation of teens were criminals or had loose morals trying to cause the downfall of socitey. They were sharing and caring individuals who chose to share with their friends and strangers accross the world. They chose NOT to be spiteful to others.
Items talked about in this book that I don't want to forget:
- The Ultimatum game in 1982 (unwillingness to accept injustice)
- The Soma puzzle experiment by Edward Deci in 1970 (Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation)
- People who are part of a group where they become better at something tend to stay.
- If you default your system to encourage sharing your users will move in that direction.
My wife asked me once why I blog, and post reviews about restaurants and books. I now have an excellent reference book that explains it all.
