Sitting at the Seat of Knowledge

There is a line in Meditations where Marcus says we can’t quench understanding unless we put the insights that compose it. In other words, it’s a two way street.

The big shift in media is that technology has blurred the line between creator and customer. With the basic software that comes on a mac I can take something that was previously only consumable and make it into something else that can, in turn, be consumed again. That’s the notion of a “prosumer.”

So how can anyone expect to get anywhere on the internet without participating? You cannot quench understanding unless you put out the insights that compose it. Prosumption is incredibly easy. Wikipedia, del.icio.us, messageboards, StumbleUpon are all in desperate need of contributions. And more than that, they’ll help you do the things you do already. In one capacity or another, I get paid to use all of them.

More than that, as a species that learns by doing, you can’t possibly develop to the fullest through absorption alone.

Written by Ryan Holiday
Ryan Holiday is the bestselling author of Trust Me, I’m Lying, The Obstacle Is The Way, Ego Is The Enemy, and other books about marketing, culture, and the human condition. His work has been translated into thirty languages and has appeared everywhere from the Columbia Journalism Review to Fast Company. His company, Brass Check, has advised companies such as Google, TASER, and Complex, as well as Grammy Award winning musicians and some of the biggest authors in the world. He lives in Austin, Texas.