Everything Bad is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter

Steven Johnson

Penguin, May 2, 2006 - Social Science - 288 pages

Forget everything you’ve ever read about the age of dumbed-down, instant-gratification culture

From the New York Times bestselling author of How We Got To Now and Farsighted

In this provocative, unfailingly intelligent, thoroughly researched, and surprisingly convincing big idea book, Steven Johnson draws from fields as diverse as neuroscience, economics, and media theory to argue that the pop culture we soak in every day—from Lord of the Rings to Grand Theft Auto to The Simpsons—has been growing more sophisticated with each passing year, and is actually making our minds measurably sharper. Johnson expertly dismantles conventional wisdom surrounding new media and makes a compelling argument for popular culture and its cognitive benefits.

After reading Everything Bad is Good for You, you will never regard the glow of the video game or television screen the same way again.

With a new afterword by the author.

Contents

• The Sleeper Curve: 1
• PART ONE: 15
• PART TWO: 137
• Afterword: 201
• Notes on Further Reading: 212
• Notes: 222
• Acknowledgments: 251

About the author

Steven Johnson is the bestselling author of eleven books, including Where Good Ideas Come From, Wonderland, and The Ghost Map. He's the host and co-creator of the Emmy-winning PBS/BBC series How We Got To Now, and the host of the podcast American Innovations. He lives in Brooklyn and Marin County, California with his wife and three sons.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Everything Bad is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter
• Author: Steven Johnson
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Penguin, 2006
• ISBN: 1594481946, 9781594481949
• Length: 288 pages
• Subjects: Psychology / Cognitive Neuroscience & Cognitive Neuropsychology; Social Science / Media Studies; Social Science / Popular Culture