Amy's review
Everything Bad is Good for You
by Steven Johnson
Amy's review
Everything Bad is Good for You by Steven Johnson
Amy's review
rating:
bookshelves:
for-class
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 argues quite compellingly that, given the spatial and problem solving skills required by current media's increasingly complex systems, popular "entertainment" contains a great deal of challenging material that encourages its users to think critically and solve problems far more difficult than earlier forms of entertainment. Therefore, contrary to "dumbing down" America, our candy-coated entertainment is making us smarter in ways that I, for one, had not anticipated.
Moreo...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 argues quite compellingly that, given the spatial and problem solving skills required by current media's increasingly complex systems, popular "entertainment" contains a great deal of challenging material that encourages its users to think critically and solve problems far more difficult than earlier forms of entertainment. Therefore, contrary to "dumbing down" America, our candy-coated entertainment is making us smarter in ways that I, for one, had not anticipated.
Moreo...more
