''Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter'' is a non-fiction book written by
Steven Johnson. Published in 2005, it details Johnson's theory that
popular culture
Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...
– in particular
television program
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, e ...
s and
video games
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...
– has grown more complex and demanding over time and is making society as a whole more intelligent, contrary to the perception that modern electronic media are harmful or unconstructive. The book's claims, especially related to the proposed benefits of television, drew media attention. It received mixed critical reviews.
Johnson states that he aims to persuade readers of "two things:
#By almost all the standards we use to measure reading’s cognitive benefits — attention, memory, following threads, and so on — the nonliterary popular culture has been steadily growing more challenging over the past thirty years.
#Increasingly, the nonliterary popular culture is honing ''different'' mental skills that are just as important as the ones exercised by reading books."
Key concepts
Johnson challenges the precept that pop culture is deteriorating as a result of new media platforms. He derives the term ''Sleeper Curve'' from the
Woody Allen
Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...
film ''
Sleeper
A sleeper is a person who is sleeping.
Sleeper may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Characters
* Sleeper (Marvel Comics), a Nazi German robot utilized by the Red Skull in Marvel Comics
* The Sleeper (Wild Cards), a character in the Wild Ca ...
'', where "scientists from 2173 are astounded that twentieth-century society failed to grasp the nutritional merits of cream pies and hot fudge".
He uses this to argue against contemporary perception of the deteriorating standards of pop culture, although Johnson is quick to point out that by no means does the Sleeper Curve imply that popular culture has become superior to traditional culture.
Johnson utilizes the following media sources to support his argument:
Video games
He argues that the appeal of video games is not through their (possibly violent or sexual) content, but rather through the fact that the "structure" of the
video games
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...
uniquely invites exploration and stimulates the
reward centers of the brain.
In pointing out arguments for the support of video games, Johnson sheds light on how kids can be more involved in games than in class, but this involvement can teach them that which could be taught in class.
To substantiate this argument, he discusses how games and other virtual worlds have immediate rewards, whereas in reality, rewards can take a while to obtain. Johnson states “if you create a system where rewards are both clearly defined and achieved by exploring an environment, you’ll find human brains drawn to those systems, even if they’re made up of virtual characters and simulated sidewalks. It’s not the subject matter of these games that attracts…it’s the reward system”.
Finally, he argues for the support of video games because they also require one to make decisions, whereas books and other forms of art may conjure up imagination and emotions but don't require decision-making.
Johnson acknowledges that although the video game industry is growing, the literature on the subject is limited at best. Johnson offers several sources for information on
ludology
Game studies, also known as ludology (from ''ludus'', "game", and ''-logia'', "study", "research"), is the study of games, the act of playing them, and the players and cultures surrounding them. It is a field of cultural studies that deals with a ...
Ludology.organ
seriousgames.orgas well as the books ''Got Game'' by John Beck and Mitchell Wade and ''The Play Ethic'' by
Pat Kane
Patrick Mark "Pat" Kane (born 10 March 1964) is a Scottish musician, journalist, political activist and one half of the pop duo Hue and Cry with his younger brother Greg.Larkin, Colin (1997) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Eighties Music'', Virgin ...
.
Television and film
Johnson admits that television and film demand less decision-making skills than video games, but also says that the benefits from reading (attention, patience, retention, the parsing of narrative threads, etc.) are making a rise in television and film as well, despite its lack of translating letters to meaning or activating the imagination in quite the same way that books do.
He discusses three principles of television and film: "multiple threading," "flashing arrow," and "social networks."
"Multiple threading", according to Johnson, is marrying complex narrative structure to complex subject matter with multiple plots and subplots (for example, he states that shows like ''ER'' & ''24'' have up to 10 threads per episode).
He suggests too that modern television and films have reduced the number of "
flashing arrows", narrative clues or signposts planted by the writer to help the audience understand the plot, and require audiences to do more cognitive work paying attention to background detail and information if they wish to follow what they are viewing.
Finally, he states that "reality shows demand that we track multiple relationships, since the action of these shows revolves around the shifting feuds and alliances between more than a dozen individuals”
Johnson says this activates social intelligence, defining it as “our ability to monitor and recall many distinct vectors of interaction in the population around us” and, thus, watchers shall be able to better understand social networks.
He asserts that television is a "brilliant medium" for determining how skilled people are at understanding interpersonal connections, or their
Autism Quotient (the higher a person's emotional intelligence, the lower their "AQ"),
and that
reality shows
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...
in particular realistically display the complexity of "
social network
A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods for an ...
maps" in human relations, where a group of people have complex and intertwined engagement.
Earlier television, Johnson says, simplified narrative and human relationships, while modern trends not only in reality shows but in "multiple
threading" in scripted programs such as ''
The Sopranos
''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based American Mafia, Italian-American mobster, portraying h ...
'' improve the audience's cognitive skills.
Later in the book, he mentions that these features of television are also prevalent in film, too.
The internet
Johnson argues that the internet “has challenged our minds in three fundamental and related ways: by being participatory, by forcing users to learn new interfaces, and by creating new channels for social interaction.”
He uses blogs and utilizing Google to learn things as examples of participation.
He declares that “accelerating pace of new platforms and software applications forces users to probe and master new environments” such as “learning the tricks of a new e-mail client, configuring the video chat software properly, getting your bearings after installing a new operating system.”
Additionally, he points out that “in the past few years
he Web hasbeen
toolfor augmenting social connection” naming “online personals, social and business network sites such as Friendster, the meetup.com service so central to the political organization of the 2004 campaign."
Overall, he presents evidence to buttress the Internet's benefits.
Critical reception
The book has received mixed critical reviews. In a review for ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'',
Janet Maslin
Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...
was primarily negative, dismissing the book's "facile argument" and sparsity of hard evidence, saying that "The reader rattles around within the book's narrow universe and repeatedly bumps into the same thing: reiterations of Mr. Johnson's one big idea." In another,
Walter Kirn
Walter Norris Kirn (born August 3, 1962) is an American novelist, literary critic, and essayist. He is the author of eight books, most notably '' Up in the Air'', which was made into a film of the same name starring George Clooney.
Overview
As ...
, while acknowledging a lack of science and questioning some of the book's premises with regards to the benefits of reality TV, praised Johnson's "elegant polemic", concluding that "
nsidered purely on its own terms, Johnson's thesis holds up despite these quibbles."
''
Wired
''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fra ...
'' gave the book an overall positive review, describing it as "chock-full of interesting insights that are clearly the reflection of an agile and catholic intellect", but also suggested that the book is largely built around a
straw man
A straw man (sometimes written as strawman) is a form of argument and an informal fallacy of having the impression of refuting an argument, whereas the real subject of the argument was not addressed or refuted, but instead replaced with a false ...
argument and thus "largely misses the point of the more valid critique of today's pop culture". ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' found part of Johnson's thesis — that some elements of pop culture have grown more complex — persuasive, but not the second claim that this greater complexity offers any tangible benefits for the public aside from preparing them to handle more complex pop culture; it criticized the shortage of hard science and the conclusions drawn from what science exists, as well as the application of
literary theory
Literary theory is the systematic study of the nature of literature and of the methods for literary analysis. Culler 1997, p.1 Since the 19th century, literary scholarship includes literary theory and considerations of intellectual history, mo ...
to visual arts media. The
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
review praised the book overall as "an engaging read", although it noted that the book was uneven, with TV and video game discussions better than those on film and the internet, and repetitive in presenting its theme.
Salon.com
''Salon'' is an American politically progressive/liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events.
Content and coverage
''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, including re ...
described it simply as "a fine contrarian defense of pop culture".
References
External links
Steven Johnson keynote talkEverything Bad is Good for You, London October 2008
''New York Times'' magazine
Interview National Public Radio
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...
Interview CBC.ca
{{Steven Berlin Johnson
2005 non-fiction books
Books about the media
Popular culture books
Books about video games
Books about television
Riverhead Books books