Johnson reading: part 1

"Is popular culture just a method to sophisticatedly deliver stupidity?”

Media producers do aim to capitalize on others’ stupidity, inattention or psychological blind spots. But I'm not inclined to believe it's a coordinated conspiracy.

S. Johnson’s (2005) arguments for the surprising positive effects of popular media are more convincing than his title “Everything Bad is Good for You.” But, still, if the activity and interactivity of trendy media is challenging our brains more than before, which parts of our brains, and at the expense of which others?

Last I heard, we (led by neuro folks) don’t understand that much about our brains. An argument that ______ is making us “smarter” or “dumber” needs backing up, and our ignorance leaves a lot of room for creative argument.

A snack, a game, or a line of thought could be good for you and delicious -- and I am enjoying Johnson's book so far -- it's just worth checking the ingredients and expiration date before swallowing.

In one sense, all the activity and complexity is "good" because it has real survival value in our frantic, cognitively demanding, ADD culture. But it could be argued that these entertainments are “good” calisthenics specifically in relation to the “bad” spiral that they're perpetuating.

The Sleeper Curve may be a real upward trend by some measurements -- I believe it is -- but I doubt it's simply a kind of "positive brainwashing" (p. xiii) -- it's not totally positive, and it's not intentional enough to be brainwashing.

I'd guess it also corresponds directly to downward curves -- like in the ability to process the emotions of the brain's limbic system, to be patient with other people, or to feel content.

Johnson, S. (2005). Everything Bad is Good for You. New York: Riverhead Hardcover.