In chapters four and five of Clive Thompson's "Smarter Than You Think" (2013), the author argues that the tools of the modern world such as the internet, computers, video games, among others are powerful, but only if people have adequate knowledge on how to use them appropriately. Clive brings this out by explaining the world through the complexity of the gaming culture present to portray collective wisdom among individuals and the ease of teaching by integrating video games into the curriculum. He begins by examining the history of gaming and how it evolved from just avoiding missing the ball in Pong (147) to finding "Easter eggs" (148) in order to achieve high scores and beat the game. The increased complexity of video games came about because of exchanging ideas among gamers for the purpose of beating the game. With the introduction of the internet, information seized to be limited to small groups but was available to all via forums and chat rooms. The sharing of information and resources that these games portrayed showed that through collective wisdom, a group of people could help each other achieve a common goal. Moreover, he further demonstrates how the same gaming experiences help students in school grasp fundamental concepts of education (182) and life skills (198). Through playing video games and interacting with the online world, the students were able to develop and understand concepts that they would otherwise find boring or hard to grasp. These include calculus, trigonometry and algebra in Math (182) and grammar, writing and reading in English (186) among others. However, it is only achievable when there is a definite goal to achieve (159), culture is taught and adhered to (161) and individuals can work individually before coming together (165). The excerpt targets both the conservative and tech savvy generations as a way of making them understand the greater good of modern technology rather than looking at it as means of wastage of time and means of recreation to the respective groups.
Clive uses simple language and detailed descriptions that allow the reader to resonate with his idea. He as well has done extensive research on the matter approaching it from both the perspectives of the two generations that he is trying to reach. What captivates me is that he claims to be a conservative yet acknowledges the changing times and how technology can benefit in teaching the younger generation concepts that they would otherwise find non-amusing. His emphasis on teaching them how to use it to help them rather than to misuse them is the point that he drives home bringing in the element of necessary supervision that I find reassuring. Instead of letting people run and operate the internet and games wildly, he makes the point of teaching them the civics of the matter. This allows them to use them at degrees that even some adults take some time to understand. Also to teaching, Clive further demonstrates the power of the technology by proving that through the sharing of information, problems that were once difficult become relatively easy to solve. By appealing to man's nature of for wanting to enhance humanity, does one achieve the maximum benefit of collective wisdom.
Work Cited
Thompson, Clive. Smarter Than, You Think: How Technology is Changing our Mind for the
Better. New York: Penguin, 2013. Print.
