Details
Synopsis
Steven Johnson's thought-provoking departure from the norms of contemporary thinking, EVERYTHING BAD IS GOOD FOR YOU, poses the theory that pastimes such as playing video games and watching TV, far from leading to brain rot, may in fact be increasing their participants' reasoning power. While traditional reading may enable the brain to think in a certain way, Johnson speculates that the constantly shifting situations and problem-solving techniques involved in participation in contemporary video games encourage nuanced and flexible responses. Likewise, the increasing complexity of modern TV plotlines may now require more intellectual interpretation than was needed by previous generations of couch potatoes. Contrarian and intellectually stimulating in its own right, EVERYTHING BAD turns received wisdom on its head in a well-argued hypothesis that will give pop (or, in Johnson's thinking, "smart") culture junkies a welcome intellectual foundation upon which to base their habits--though an excess of pizza and ice cream sadly remains just as unhealthy as ever.
| Size | | Length: | 238 pages | | Height: | 8.5 in | | Width: | 6.3 in | | Thickness: | 1.0 in | | Weight: | 13.6 oz |
Industry Reviews
"[A] winning combination of personal revelation and friendly scientific explanation..."
Publishers Weekly (04/04/2005)
"[A] brisk, witty read, well versed in the history of literature and bolstered with research....Johnson, it turns out, still knows the value of reading a book. And this one is indispensable."
Time (05/09/2005)
"[W]onderfully entertaining....There is a pleasing eclecticism to his thinking."
New Yorker - Malcolm Gladwell (05/16/2005)
"Elegant polemic....Johnson is a cool and neutral thinker, concerned with process rather than purpose."
New York Times Book Review (05/22/2005)
"Johnson tells a 'progressive story,' in which popular culture, far from dumbing us down, becomes ever more complex, intellectually stimulating and sophisticated each year."
Nation (06/27/2005)
Johnson's challenge to the oft-repeated lament that mass culture is dumbing down is as enlightening as it is necessary...."
Bookforum (09/30/2005)
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