Everything Bad is Good for You
by Steven Johnson
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Read in July, 2006
First heard about this on NPR's Morning Edition in May; then Johnson appeared on The Daily Show early in June. I'd read his Mind Wide Open a month or two ago & really enjoyed it, so I put this book on hold at the library.
Johnson's basic theory is that popular culture has gotten more complex and challenging over the last few decades, and our consumption of such has assisted us with problem solving and dealing with complex relationships...more
Johnson's basic theory is that popular culture has gotten more complex and challenging over the last few decades, and our consumption of such has assisted us with problem solving and dealing with complex relationships...more
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Read in June, 2007
i knew someone who read this a while back, and her description of the book made it sound idiotic to me (although she was in love with it). last year i read and fell in love with johnson's book the ghost map, an engagingly narrated work about the soho cholera epidemic. i couldn't believe that the guy who wrote that book had also written this one. when i found it on remainder for $3 last week, i decided to give it a go.
i'll start by saying that this is a quick read and well-written. i find my...more
i'll start by saying that this is a quick read and well-written. i find my...more
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Read in March, 2008
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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Read in June, 2005
Taken from a previous blog entry: http://josh.ev9.org/weblog/arc...
I finished a book this evening, one which shared the title of this entry. I found it quite interesting. A number of people at my school study the growing science of New Media, which sounds somewhat interesting to me, but is something I have never sat down and tried to think about too deeply. This book gave me a good background into the field, and did a good...more
I finished a book this evening, one which shared the title of this entry. I found it quite interesting. A number of people at my school study the growing science of New Media, which sounds somewhat interesting to me, but is something I have never sat down and tried to think about too deeply. This book gave me a good background into the field, and did a good...more
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Read in September, 2005
I picked this book for some contrast to Affluenza. Steven writes how television, computer games, and the Internet have improved human intelligence and are a greater benefit than cost.
Sometimes, it’s helpful to read something differing viewpoints. Stephen makes an intelligent argument that Everything Bad is Good for You.
For instance, television has grown so much more complex than the decades before. He chooses anecdotes from the Simpsons, Seinfield, the Sopranos, and West Wing to show h...more
Sometimes, it’s helpful to read something differing viewpoints. Stephen makes an intelligent argument that Everything Bad is Good for You.
For instance, television has grown so much more complex than the decades before. He chooses anecdotes from the Simpsons, Seinfield, the Sopranos, and West Wing to show h...more
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Read in November, 2007
recommends it for:
no one.
This book is so poorly written that I don't know where to begin. By the end of the introduction, Steven Johnson has already told us that he doesn't care about morals, and apparently neither should we. Well, I do. Knowledge with out serious thought about the implications of misuse of such knowledge is worse than ignorance. I think that nuclear technology is amazing, but I don't think that we should make bombs out of it and use them. Morals helps us to decide how to use technology. I think t...more
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Read in December, 2007
This is a very intriguing book that makes the argument that instead of being dumbed down and depraved, today's popular culture is actually complex, thought-provoking and is helping make people smarter. The argument goes along the lines that today's movies, television shows, Internet media and video games are far more complex than ever before, which forces the users of these forms of media to think critically, make connections, analyze details and think beyond just staring at the screen.
I lov...more
I lov...more
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not as good as his other books but worth a quick read: i'm a big fan of Stephen Johnson's writing. Interface Culture should be on every digital media-related course's reading list and blew my mind at the time. I also think Emergence is a great book, which expands into more scientific areas. that said, i found this book slightly disappointing. it is well written and interesting in parts but there's nothing especially surprising or thought-provoking in it (especially if you've read his other books...more
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Read in February, 2008
I initially read this book for pleasure, and it was a pleasure--but it was also a book that used classic argumentation techniques very well, so I adopted it for teaching, too.
Johnson's controlling claim is that most of the criticism of popular culture's valuation has to do with the criteria by which its being evaluation: that is, most criticism of popular culture such as video games, television, and film is based on the grounds of its moral value rather than its cognitive value. Johnson arg...more
Johnson's controlling claim is that most of the criticism of popular culture's valuation has to do with the criteria by which its being evaluation: that is, most criticism of popular culture such as video games, television, and film is based on the grounds of its moral value rather than its cognitive value. Johnson arg...more
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Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
Mom, Dad, gamers and couch potatoes
What's nice about Steven Johnson's Everything Bad Is Good For You is that you can finish it in several short sittings. Three cheers for that. The book is quick and succinct, an easy but thoughtful and though-provoking read.
Johnson argues that over the last three decades, popular culture has become more complex, sophisticated and challenging, in spite of everybody's eagerness to dub it "lowbrow fluff." That is, for all the crap they get, programs on "the idiot box" ...more
Johnson argues that over the last three decades, popular culture has become more complex, sophisticated and challenging, in spite of everybody's eagerness to dub it "lowbrow fluff." That is, for all the crap they get, programs on "the idiot box" ...more
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Read in August, 2007
I found this book really interesting although I think his thesis wasn't really enough to cover all the pages. There was a lot of redundancy which I found a bit frustrating. Johnson would explain a point and then give an example from popular culture, and then another, and then another. By the fourth example - I was pretty sure i got the point.
The end of the book was perplexing though as the first part of the book was clearly written to be accessible to the masses, the last section made ab...more
The end of the book was perplexing though as the first part of the book was clearly written to be accessible to the masses, the last section made ab...more
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Read in January, 2007
Difficult to take seriously. The heart of Johnson's argument is something called the Sleeper Curve--a universe of popular entertainment that trends, intellectually speaking, ever upward, so that today's pop-culture consumer has to do more "cognitive work"--making snap decisions and coming up with long-term strategies in role-playing video games, for example, or mastering new virtual environments on the Internet-- than ever before.
Johnson tries to make a case that even today's leas...more
Johnson tries to make a case that even today's leas...more
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Basically, the author argues that video/computer games, the Internet, TV and movies are not just feeding stupidity to the masses. Instead, they have important upsides including developing our logic and problem-solving skills.
Here's the thing: There are still only 24 hours in every day. When you add in all the things you "should" get done during the day--sleeping, eating, working, reading and what ever else you have going on in your life, the question remains--how much time do you r...more
Here's the thing: There are still only 24 hours in every day. When you add in all the things you "should" get done during the day--sleeping, eating, working, reading and what ever else you have going on in your life, the question remains--how much time do you r...more
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Read in February, 2008
recommended to Heidi by:
Margot
This is really a 3.5. His argument is that TV, video games, and the Internet are not turning us into moronic zombies but are actually making us smarter. He's really trying to convince all those critics that there's no intellectual merit to these things and that we should all be reading books instead, and sometimes he overstates his point, which is that the electronic media develop different mental skills than reading.
He's not saying that these should replace reading and face-to-face social i...more
He's not saying that these should replace reading and face-to-face social i...more
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recommends it for:
those who will believe anything they want to be true
This book makes the following its central thesis:
Because popular media (TV, video games, movies, etc.) are becoming more complex, and requiring more cognitive work to process them, they are making us smarter. This is the so-called "sleeper curve."
The logic of this argument is identical to the claim, "market heroin is steadily growing in purity, therefore heroin is good for us." HOW DOES ANYONE BELIEVE THIS RUBBISH? It wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that its ...more
Because popular media (TV, video games, movies, etc.) are becoming more complex, and requiring more cognitive work to process them, they are making us smarter. This is the so-called "sleeper curve."
The logic of this argument is identical to the claim, "market heroin is steadily growing in purity, therefore heroin is good for us." HOW DOES ANYONE BELIEVE THIS RUBBISH? It wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that its ...more
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Read in August, 2007
Interesting to read the afterword to the paperback edition, because it's clear from it that Johnson is prickly about criticisms the book has received (many of which are reflected in the commentary here). Mostly he defends the anecdotal nature of the supports for his arguments and says that he has more factual and scientific basis than many similar such books (such as Bloom's The Closing of the American Mind).
That may be so, but for some reason, the book's argument often feels a little...more
That may be so, but for some reason, the book's argument often feels a little...more
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Read in October, 2005
recommends it for:
Educators, Youth Workers, Parents
A book with a great premise, and which made me rethink my wholely oppositional feelings towards reality television. Very pop, but makes a nice argument about the multitude of cognitive engagement contemporary television, movies, and video games require of their viewers compared to a few years ago. Interesting when put in the context of certain nostalgic arguments or hyper-critical and values based judgements against these trends. An easy and worthwhile read for everyone, especially those of u...more
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Read in July, 2007
He makes some pretty compelling arguments, my favorite perhaps being that "Survivor" is at the very least no worse than "The Love Boat." It's a pretty nice defense of certain aspects of popular culture, although I think he sometimes is too narrow in his views, examples, and definitions. For example, he talks about the benefits of video games, but he mostly means a specific type of video game that is very problem-solving and puzzle oriented. There are other games that no do...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommends it for:
people who want more reasons to think i'm smart
Everything Bad is Good for You makes the case that modern pop culture is significantly more complex and intellectually nourishing than the popular media available in the "good old days." The book does an excellent job of explaining how media has become increasingly complex and intellectually stimulating over the last 30 years or so. I particularly enjoyed the in-depth discussion of why reality television helps develop and enrich the mind. I knew there was a reason I have Celebrity A...more
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Read in May, 2007
recommends it for:
Gamers, cinemaphiles, readers.
This book is as entertaining and intellectually engaging as Freakonomics, but is not as well known.
The average intelligence of Americans is actually rising.
The smartest are not getting smarter, however.
Instead, the boring normal people have been becoming less dumb as TV shows, video games, and other mass-produced media has gotten more and more complex and interesting, and the people have had to get smarter in order to follow along.
The author is very capable of writing in a dens...more
The average intelligence of Americans is actually rising.
The smartest are not getting smarter, however.
Instead, the boring normal people have been becoming less dumb as TV shows, video games, and other mass-produced media has gotten more and more complex and interesting, and the people have had to get smarter in order to follow along.
The author is very capable of writing in a dens...more
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