Gin and TV

This article is about the free time that we have and how we spend it. The author compares the time of the Industrial Revolution in England to our times now. He says that back then people would drink gin to in their spare time because of the mayhem of the Industrial Revolution. Nowadays, society spends most of its spare time watching what is on television. This article defines literacy as being able to understand what you read and being able to contribute your knowledge for the greater benefit of society. The article brings up the point of a cognitive surplus. It says that a cognitive surplus is all of the time we spend watching television rather than using that time to expand out knowledge and the knowledge of the world. This article is an important article in the fact that it is a call to action. The author says that we need to "Look for the mouse" is all that we do. We need to strive to find time to contribute to the wealth of knowledge of the world.
Repetition- cognitive surplus, looking for the mouse, at least they're doing something
The article uses the phrase cognitive surplus over and over again. The author is saying that that society has stored up a large amount of free time. We can use this free time in whatever way that we want but most of us choose to use it watching TV. The author is arguing that if society would put some of its cognitive surplus towards expanding the knowledge in the world, it would be a better place.