Cognitive Surplus and Marijuana
I thought the chapter on cognitive surplus was very interesting and informative. The main point I feel that the author is trying to make is that we are constantly looking for a way to stimulate our minds during the free time we have. As technology continues to improve, we continue to find new and more engaging ways of spending our free time. Initially all people had was TV, which while at the time was one of the most engaging forms of entertainment available, has since been surpassed by more interactive media. With sites like Wikipedia, people are able to come together in a sort of community and combine their knowledge and research to form a database of knowledge on almost any topic you can think of. This ability to not only consume our free time, but also interact with others and share things with the world, is why the internet is becoming a far more popular means of satisfying our cognitive desires.
The Wikipedia page on Cannabis is a great resource available for someone wanting to gain some general knowledge on the plant. It is a very unbiased article that just simply serves the purpose of providing factual information to the readers. It is also a protected article, meaning that you must be a trusted contributor in order to edit it. This helps the page to maintain its credibility. It is also well documented with 124 references to other articles, as well as links listed for further reading, and a list of related sites. The article also has a very extensive talk page showing that there is a very active community of individuals monitoring the page and keeping it as up to date as possible.
On Kickstarter I came across a project titled Code of the West. This project is a documentary about a medical marijuana grower who faces 80+ years in a federal prison. The purpose behind this documentary is to raise awareness on how the war on drugs has been a complete failure, and how states are trying to combat this. The money raised for this project was used to hire professionals to help edit and update the movie, as well as promote it and bring it to a national audience. I thought it was great that 512 people were able to donate over $31,000 toward this project. It shows that there is a strong community out there willing to spread the message of marijuana legalization.
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