The Age of the Infovore: Succeeding in the Information Economy

185 Pages·2010·0.92 MB·English

by  Tyler Cowen

A PLUME BOOK
THE AGE OF THE INFOVORE
, a professor of economics at George Mason University, writes
TYLER COWEN
regularly for the New York Times and Money, and has contributed to numerous
publications including the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and
Slate.com.
Praise for The Age of the Infovore
“Engaging, creative, and every page makes you think differently about the
world. The book quickly surprised me. I read Tyler every day and didn’t
anticipate the turn it took on page one. It was so surprising—and the surprise is a
pleasant one—that I don’t feel I should say more. Except: Recommended.”
—Financial Times, Tim Harford (author of The Undercover Economist and The
Logic of Life) “Examines how new ways of organizing information online are
changing the way we think and the economy.”
—The Economist (online) “Cowen combines his passions—economics and art.”
—Mason Gazette
“Tyler Cowen needs no introduction—he is perhaps the world’s most prolific
econoblogger…. Tyler’s contributions to public knowledge are many. One of the
most impressive things about Tyler is his ability to speak intelligently on a wide
variety of topics. This is probably due in part to his well-known ability to read
and process information unusually quickly.”
—Wehr in the World
“In this provocative study of behavioral economics, Cowen reveals that autistic
tendencies toward classification, categorization, and specialization can be used
as a vehicle for understanding how people use information…. Cowen’s
illustration of our neurological filing system may help readers understand the
mass consumption of information and just about everything else.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Will open your mind to thinking differently. The unique thought processes of
individuals on the autism spectrum provide a great value to our world. This book
will help you to be smart and successful in your own way.”
—Temple Grandin, author of Thinking in Pictures
“The modern world bombards us with data just begging to be organized, from
iPod playlists to digital vacation photos. Tyler Cowen offers an entertaining
guided tour of our unprecedented information age, pondering implications for
how creative we are, how long our attention span is, how our politics work, and
the future of our economy.”
—Samuel R. Sommers, assistant professor of psychology, Tufts University
ALSO BY TYLER COWEN
Discover Your Inner Economist
THE AGE OF
THE INFOVORE
SUCCEEDING IN THE INFORMATION ECONOMY
Tyler Cowen
Previously published as Create Your Own Economy
A PLUME BOOK
PLUME
Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York
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Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3 (a
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Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London
WC2R 0RL, England Published by Plume, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. Previously published in
a Dutton edition as Create Your Own Economy.
First Plume Printing, July 2010
Copyright © Tyler Cowen, 2009
All rights reserved
REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA The Library of Congress has catalogued the Dutton
edition as follows: Cowen, Tyler.
Create your own economy: the path to prosperity in a disordered world / Tyler Cowen.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN: 978-1-101-43299-0
1. Economics—Psychological aspects. 2. Creative thinking. I. Title.
HB74.P8C68 2009
330.01’9—dc22 2009006935
Original hardcover design by Daniel Lagin Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no
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CONTENTS
PREFACE
1. THE FUTURE OF THINKING DIFFERENTLY
2. HIDDEN CREATIVITY
3. WHY MODERN CULTURE IS LIKE MARRIAGE, IN ALL ITS GLORY
4. IM, CELL PHONES, AND FACEBOOK
5. THE BUDDHA AS SAVIOR AND THE PROFESSOR AS SHAMAN
6. THE NEW ECONOMY OF STORIES
7. HEROES
8. BEAUTY ISN’T WHAT YOU THINK IT IS
9. AUTISTIC POLITICS
10. THE FUTURE OF THE UNIVERSE
FURTHER READING AND REFERENCES
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
INDEX
PREFACE
W
hen the economy is doing poorly, people “cocoon” and turn to less
expensive pleasures. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, people
cut back on the expensive evening out and looked to board games,
radio, and family entertainment at home. People learned how to do more with
less and those tendencies shaped American life for decades. The Great
Depression wasn’t just an economic event; it was also a cultural shift. And there
is another cultural shift going on right now. In bad economic times people
exercise more, eat out less and cook more, and engage in more projects for self-
improvement and self-education. Usage at public libraries goes up and people
will spend more time on the internet; (after all, once you’ve paid for your
connection most of the surfing is free). These trends are more important than
most of us realize and in this book I will tell you why. I will tell you why they
are not just short-run trends but why they presage something much deeper about
our future and about how we use information.
The challenge is this: When a recession comes, rather than surrendering,
what can we do to empower ourselves and create a better life? What
technologies can we use and how? How can we use information in a more
powerful way? To whom should we look as the new role models and the new
heroes? How can we turn inward and improve who we are and how we organize
our internal personal worlds?
This book is about the power of the individual to make a difference and also
to change an entire world, whether or not the supposed economic forces are on
your side. To thrive in an era that produces and devours information like never
before, you need to become more adept at finding, sorting, and absorbing ideas,
news, and all kinds of data. The age of the infovore has arrived.
THE AGE OF THE INFOVORE