It is possible to think that the Internet will be a net positive for society while admitting that there are significant downsides… — Clay Shirky Copy Share Image
“[B]ecause the minimum costs of being an organization in the first place are relatively high, certain activities may have some value but… — Clay Shirky Copy Share Image
The tools that a society uses to create and maintain itself are as central to human life as a hive is to… — Clay Shirky Copy Share Image
“The centrality of group effort to human life means that anything that changes the way groups function will have profound ramifications for… — Clay Shirky Copy Share Image
“Tragedy of the Commons: while each person can agree that all would benefit from common restraint, the incentives of the individuals are… — Clay Shirky Copy Share Image
“[F]rom now on, the act of creating and circulating evidence of wrongdoing to more than a few people, even if they all… — Clay Shirky Copy Share Image
To have a discussion about the plusses and minuses of various forms of group action, though, is going to require discussing the current tools… — Clay Shirky Copy Share Image
“Mass amateurization of publishing makes mass amateurization of filtering a forced move.” — Clay Shirky Copy Share Image
“Information sharing produces shared awareness among the participants, and collaborative production relies on shared creation, but collective action creates shared responsibility, by tying the… — Clay Shirky Copy Share Image
More interesting than thinking about what's possible in 10 years is thinking what's possible now but that no one has built. — Clay Shirky Copy Share Image
“Digital networks are increasing the fluidity of all media. The old choice between one-way public media (like books and movies) and two-way private media… — Clay Shirky Copy Share Image
Even with the sacred printing press, we got erotic novels 150 years before we got scientific journals. — Clay Shirky Copy Share Image
Tools get socially interesting after they're no longer technologically interesting. — Clay Shirky Copy Share Image
Carpooling is important for urban density, air pollution and other reasons, but carpooling is not the kind of thing that actually changes the energy… — Clay Shirky Copy Share Image
If what you're doing is valuable for people, they will find a way to pay you to keep doing it. — Clay Shirky Copy Share Image
Multi-taskers often think they are like gym rats, bulking up their ability to juggle tasks, when in fact they are like alcoholics, degrading their… — Clay Shirky Copy Share Image
Civic participants don't aim to make life better merely for members of the group. They want to improve even the lives of people who… — Clay Shirky Copy Share Image
