EVERYTHING BAD IS GOOD FOR YOUHow Today’s Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter

By: Steven Johnson

THE SLEEPER CURVE

Scientist A: Has he asked for anything special?

Scientist B: Yes, why, for breakfast…he requested something called “wheat germ, organic honey, and tiger’s milk.”

Scientist A: Oh, yes. Those were the charmed substances that some years ago were felt to contain life-preserving properties.

Scientist B: You mean there was no deep fat? No steak or cream pies or … hot fudge?

Scientist A: Those were thought to be unhealthy…

--From Woody Allen’s Sleeper

"OURS IS AN AGE BESOTTED WITH GRAPHIC ENTERTAINMENT. AND IN AN INCREASINGLY INFANTILIZED SOCIETY, WHOSE MORAL PHILOSOPHY IS REDUCIBLE TO A CELEBRATION OF 'CHOICE,' ADULTS ARE DECREASINGLY DISTINGUISHABLE FROM CHILDREN IN THEIR ABSORPTION IN ENTERTAINMENTS AND THE KINDS OF ENTERTAINMENTS THEY ARE ABSORBED IN--VIDEO GAMES, COMPUTER GAMES, HAND-HELD GAMES, MOVIES ON THEIR COMPUTERS AND SO ON. THIS IS PROGRESS: MORE SOPHISTICATED DELIVERY OF STUPIDITY.”

Quote from George Will

“Contrary to what our ‘cultural authorities’ are saying, today's popular culture is becoming more complex, in terms of content of cognition, content of interface, and content of participation.”

VIDEO GAMES

PAC-MAN

1. Your immediate goal is to complete the current maze.

2. To do this, you must move the joystick through the maze and avoid the monsters.

3. You may also clear the board of monsters by eating large pellets.

1. You may also eat the fruit for bonus points.

LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE WIND WALKER

1. Your ultimate goal is to rescue your sister.2. To do this, you must defeat the villain Ganon.3. To do this, you need to obtain legendary weapons.4. To locate the weapons, you need the pearl of Din.5. To get the pearl of Din, you need to cross the ocean.6. To cross the ocean, you need to find a sailboat.7. To do all the above, you need to stay alive and

healthy.8. To do all the above, you need to move the controller.

TO LOCATE THE PEARL OF DIN

1. To locate the items, you need the pearl of Din from the islanders.

2. To get this, you need to help them solve their problem.3. To do this, you need to cheer up the Prince.4. To do this, you need to get a letter from the girl.5. To do this, you need to find the girl in the village.6. With the letter to the Prince, you must now befriend the

Prince.7. To do this, you need to get to the top of the Dragon Roost Mt.8. To do this, you must get to the other side of the gorge.9. To do this, you must fill up the gorge with water so you can

swim across.10. To do this, you must use a bomb to blow up the rock blocking

water.11. To do this, you must make the bomb plant grow.12. To do this, you must collect water in a jar that the girl gave

you

TELEVISION

SOCIAL NETWORK OF “DALLAS” EPISODE

SOCIAL NETWORK OF “24” EPISODE

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THE MYSTERIES OF LOST

Ontological: Are they even alive? Is it all a hallucination?

Formal: Are supernatural events allowed in this world?

Mathematical: What do “the numbers” mean? Historical: Why has the SOS tape been running

for sixteen years? Geographical: Where is the island? Biographical: What happened between Jack and

Kate?

APPLES TO APPLES / LEMONS TO LEMONS

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INTERNET

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RADIO TO TELEVISION

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THE FLYNN EFFECT

American philosopher and civil rights activist Sought to dispute apparent IQ gap between

blacks and whites Found military records that showed test scores of

blacks were rising fast—but so were the scores of whites

Discovered that the tests were getting harder over time

IQ scores were rising dramatically, over generations

RAVEN PROGRESSIVE MATRICES TEST

WHAT DOES THE SLEEPER CURVE MEAN FOR EDUCATION?

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