Come Together - Latest Comments in Cognitive surplus and visualising Sydney

Re: Cognitive surplus and visualising Sydney

Oscar — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:49:52 -0000

I'm in almost complete agreement about cognitive surplus, I pretty much work constantly, rarely watch television idly (I do watch specific content but then its kinda important to my profession). The present cultural paradigm is one that admires and encourages hard work, which is not necessarily productive or beneficial.

During the golden years of Grecian civilization and philosophy, it was considered distasteful to have to work. The greatest value was placed upon idle time to allow the mind to wander freely. Of course, work in ancient Greece was mostly done by slaves, but we're now similarly gifted with labour and time-saving technology (without the human rights violations).

The New York Times had a great article on boredom. Neuroscientists found that the bored mind is actually very active, subconsciously poring over recently acquired information and working on problems. The fathers of philosophy already knew what it took science 3000 to confirm. Certainly I have had some very creative moments unexpectedly while waiting for something unrelated. Its no surprise that people report having ideas while sitting on the toilet. Goes to show why there's a high proportion of toilet related inventions filed at patent offices!

Re: Cognitive surplus and visualising Sydney

Trent Collins — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:14:30 -0000

Great post.

Actually had this exact sign in my previous workplace :)

Re: Cognitive surplus and visualising Sydney

Simon Harris — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 07:39:17 -0000

I like your direction Scott. I found myself in a rut a few years ago and the only way out was to send the television on a permanent holiday. That was six years ago and I just don't miss it. The upshot is that my cognitive surplus projects have grown exponentially and are the equal of my daytime workload. This is how I've engineered my world over time and I like it very much. My projects are varied, addictive, very satisfying and non commercial - so they have some real deep meaning, at least to me. I can't recommend it enough.