Johnson reading: part 2

"If everything bad is indeed good for you, what does this mean for the world of libraries and/or educational organizations?"

You can't smell it, but Carbon Monoxide leaks are not good for you, even in a gym.

I like the insightful point that things we might assume are "bad" actually turn out to have some beneficial effects. It redresses an imbalance. That's important. But it could lead to flopping to the other side, and assuming that the "bad" elements are necessary (i.e. to draw an audience), or that they have no real effect.

Popular media probably has a "paradoxical effect", and is more like a recreational drug that turns out to have health benefits, than a medicine that happens to have a few nasty side effects.

This past week, I was inspired by Johnson's praise of The Sopranos to watch some of the first season. I didn't catch a lot nuance, but I did see lots of disturbing abusiveness. I noticed a slight increase in my urge to use the f-word with an Italian accent. If I keep watching, I'll see more nuance -- and get desensitized to the stuff that disturbs me now. Is it worth it?

A favorite movie of mine, also mentioned by Johnson, is Memento. I like it because of how the story is told. But violence is integral to the plot, and by watching, I agree to breathe some of it in.

If "new" television, movies and games are exercising our brains in certain ways, it's really good to know about. We can encourage that adaptive side effect of pop culture (if that's what it is).

While libraries and educational institutions incorporate pop culture into their collections and syllabi, they could provide a rare encouragement to stand back and think critically about it -- without condemning it -- so, rather than just becoming desensitized to toxins, young people can learn to get their workouts without breathing in bad s*@#.

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