Participating in an Online Community, Week 5, Post 1
Disclaimer: This post is part of course requirements following this assignment: Extend your identity in the direction of your career path and participate in a new online community. Interact online using your projected identity for at least six weeks. Think deeply about identity and learning and blog twice a week about your experience. Take time to analyze the meaning, power, and constraints of the community on your learning.
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Week 5, Post 1
A great quote I’ve ever heard about writing science fiction is, “A good science fiction writer invents the car. A great science fiction writer comes up with the traffic jam.” A few months ago, I did not know about much about science fiction writers and their books. Now, thanks to the welcome and inclusion offered by the Science Fiction and Fantasy group at Goodreads, I have ridden in great space ships, conveyor belts, seen eerie sights and laughed out loud while reading Vogon poetry.
I like the car and even the traffic jam! I’ve continued to spend time in my Goodreads group. I have finished three books and learned a lot about theme, plot, arc, conflict, and innovation. I caught myself offering a consulting client a far-fetched idea as we brainstormed possible solutions for a shipping problem that would cause even Zaphod Beeblebrox to smile (or, more accurately, to take the credit).
My adopted group responds quickly and energetically. After a week away at face-to-face classes, one email I see informs me: “You have 419 new posts from 43 discussions on Goodreads” Discussion Topics are very pertinent and rich with titles such as “Fantasy based on nonwestern myths?” The Consciousness Plague” Malthusian settings?” Give Us Your Themes!” What are Your Favorite Anthologies and Short Story Collections”
“Don’t try to outweird me, three-eyes. I get stranger things than you free with my breakfast cereal.” ~Zaphod Beeblebrox in “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”
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Adams, D. (1995). The hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy. Del Rey. Link
Shirkey, Clay (2010). How cognitive surplus will change the world | Video on TED.com. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/clay_shirky_how_cognitive_surplus_will_change_the_world.html
*=not the actual initials