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Steven Johnson
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Everything Bad is Good for You Paperback – May 2, 2006

by Steven Johnson (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars 346 ratings
Tune in, turn on and get smarter ...The Simpsons, Desperate Housewives, The Apprentice, The Sopranos, Grand Theft We're constantly being told that popular culture is just mindless entertainment. But, as Steven Johnson shows, it's actually making us more intelligent.Here he puts forward a radical alternative to the endless complaints about reality TV, throwaway movies and violent video games. He shows that mass culture is actually more sophisticated and challenging than ever before. When we focus on what our minds have to do to process its complex, multilayered messages, it becomes clear that it's not dumbing us down - but smartening us up.
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  1. Language
    English
  2. Publisher
    Riverhead Trade
  3. Publication date
    May 2, 2006
  4. Dimensions
    5.35 x 0.73 x 8.12 inches
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000O17CYM
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Riverhead Trade
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 2, 2006
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ First Edition
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.35 x 0.73 x 8.12 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 out of 5 stars 346 ratings

About the author

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Steven Johnson

Steven Johnson

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Steven Johnson is the best-selling author of seven books on the intersection of science, technology and personal experience. His writings have influenced everything from the way political campaigns use the Internet, to cutting-edge ideas in urban planning, to the battle against 21st-century terrorism. In 2010, he was chosen by Prospect magazine as one of the Top Ten Brains of the Digital Future.

His latest book, Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation, was a finalist for the 800CEORead award for best business book of 2010, and was ranked as one of the year’s best books by The Economist. His book The Ghost Map was one of the ten best nonfiction books of 2006 according to Entertainment Weekly. His books have been translated into more than a dozen languages.

Steven has also co-created three influential web sites: the pioneering online magazine FEED, the Webby-Award-winning community site, Plastic.com, and most recently the hyperlocal media site outside.in, which was acquired by AOL in 2011. He serves on the advisory boards of a number of Internet-related companies, including Meetup.com, Betaworks, and Nerve.

Steven is a contributing editor to Wired magazine and is the 2009 Hearst New Media Professional-in-Residence at The Journalism School, Columbia University. He won the Newhouse School fourth annual Mirror Awards for his TIME magazine cover article titled "How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live." Steven has also written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Nation, and many other periodicals. He has appeared on many high-profile television programs, including The Charlie Rose Show, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. He lectures widely on technological, scientific, and cultural issues. He blogs at stevenberlinjohnson.com and is @stevenbjohnson on Twitter. He lives in Marin County, California with his wife and three sons.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
346 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book easy to read and informative, with one noting how it exercises the brain to consider hidden intellectualism. Moreover, the book provides new perspectives on pop culture and is clearly articulated, with one customer highlighting its masterful language. Additionally, customers appreciate the humor, with one mentioning they laugh at the witty comments. However, the narrative quality receives mixed reviews.

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ReadabilityThought provokingPremiseHumorLanguage proficiencyWriterNarrative quality
28 customers mention "Readability"22 positive6 negative

Customers find the book engaging and easy to read, with one mentioning it keeps their full attention.

"...But all in all, an interesting read, and doesn't take very long to get through...." Read more

"A more positve view of technolgies use. Good writer,brave writer." Read more

"Perfect." Read more

"...But the book is monotonous, it blatantly rejects all of the well established norms and practices...." Read more

13 customers mention "Thought provoking"12 positive1 negative

Customers find the book thought-provoking, making them smarter and providing new perspectives on habits.

"I like the new perspective on habits we think we know...." Read more

"Wonderful book. Informative and provides different perspectives on a topic others seem to love to look down on and over-simplify...." Read more

"...our modern pop culture isn't destroying our minds, but rather making us smarter and teaching us problem solving and social skills...." Read more

"...including video games, TV, and the internet, and how they are good for your brain...." Read more

4 customers mention "Premise"3 positive1 negative

Customers appreciate the premise of the book, with one noting its great analysis of the complexity of pop culture, while others mention how it provides a new perspective on entertainment.

"This book has a great concept behind it: the idea that all our modern pop culture isn't destroying our minds, but rather making us smarter and..." Read more

"...This book goes through different parts of pop culture, including video games, TV, and the internet, and how they are good for your brain...." Read more

"...It seemed a bit of a stretch on an interestingly provocative premise." Read more

"...I like it and feel justified in my geekhood." Read more

3 customers mention "Humor"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book humorous, with one mentioning they laugh at the witty comments.

"I enjoyed this book. The title is humorous also...." Read more

"...It makes you question the world around you, all while laughing at the witty comments. I greatly enjoyed it." Read more

"amusing and informative..." Read more

3 customers mention "Language proficiency"3 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's language proficiency, finding it clearly articulated, with one customer noting the author's mastery of argumentation and rhetoric.

"Very intersting Point of View, clearly articulated & fun to read." Read more

"...The book was well-written and the idea of the "Sleeper Curve" well-argued and supported by empirical as well as culturally anecdotal evidence." Read more

"Stephen Johnson is a master of language, no doubt about that...." Read more

3 customers mention "Writer"3 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the writing style of the book.

"...with any of the arguments he put forth, and overall this book was a well-written and fun read...." Read more

"...The book was well-written and the idea of the "Sleeper Curve" well-argued and supported by empirical as well as culturally anecdotal evidence." Read more

"A more positve view of technolgies use. Good writer,brave writer." Read more

3 customers mention "Narrative quality"2 positive1 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the narrative quality of the book, with one customer appreciating its multi-threaded structure, while another finds the arguments weak.

"...as opposed to high culture for most of my life, the argument is very attractive at the outset...." Read more

"I thought the arguments were a bit weak. It seemed a bit of a stretch on an interestingly provocative premise." Read more

"...were interesting, like the old fantasy baseball games and multi-threaded narratives, but otherwise the other 90% of the book was pretty banal and..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Rebecca Murphy
    5.0 out of 5 stars Refreshing Change of Pace
    Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    Wonderful book. Informative and provides different perspectives on a topic others seem to love to look down on and over-simplify. It challenges the way media is viewed in ways you don’t commonly see and exercises your brain to consider aspects of hidden intellectualism that you might not have otherwise.
    I would have loved to have read more on the research into the correlation between learning through TV, video games, etc. and neurodivergence as well as learning disabilities, but I don’t imagine this is the author’s area of expertise. All this being said, I was happily surprised by the material on the matters I mentioned that was provided in this book.
    I might be wearing out this copy given how much I’ve enjoyed it.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Geraldo XEXEO
    5.0 out of 5 stars This is good for you too
    Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2007
    Verified Purchase
    The writer's style feels like a a conversation, where he tells about his ideas and some supportive research made by other persons. The lack of references in the text is compensated by a last chapter with comments about hte origin of the data he used to support his claims.
    This informal text is what makes the book an easy and enjoyable reading. However, as a scientific result, the book is not completely sound, since his conclusions are based only on what he think is happening and the supportive that is not necessarily correlated with his findings.
    Parents, researchers and educators will find the book provocative. Actually, it defends that beyond content, form is also important, and maybe more important when we are talking about the new media (basically TV and games).
    As a general reader, it is a very good book. As a position book, it really makes the author's point of view. However, scientific oriented readers will feel something is missing.
    8 people found this helpful
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  • Gurudev
    4.0 out of 5 stars Very good, but a bit thin
    Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2006
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    This book has a great concept behind it: the idea that all our modern pop culture isn't destroying our minds, but rather making us smarter and teaching us problem solving and social skills.

    I found it to be pretty good, although not fantastic. The early parts in which Johnson describes his childhood experiences with baseball games and D&D closely mirrored my own, and I found myself pleasantly reminiscing about those days. I had no real disagreements with any of the arguments he put forth, and overall this book was a well-written and fun read.

    However, I was a little disappointed by the depth of it. Johnson goes through modern video gaming and reality TV, and although it's all interesting stuff, I started to feel that he spent a lot of his time repeating myself. That is, he gave examples of the same ideas over and over. While all the examples were effective, it became a tad redundant, and by the end, I was wishing that the book was just denser and deeper, a heavier exploration. Of course, with this subject matter, perhaps it is self-limiting with regards to depth.

    It is a good book, but there's just not enough to it to be totally satisfying. This would've probably been better a large essay in a compilation of futurist and modern thought papers. Still, it is a worthwhile read.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Byron
    3.0 out of 5 stars NOT QUITE
    Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2005
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    Johnson is spot on about computer and video games and how they are fundamentally changing the way an entire generation thinks, learns, works, shares, etc. and raising IQ scores and cognitive abilities in the bargain. But he should have left well enough alone by sticking with exploring the gaming phenomenon. Instead, he throws gaming in the same grab bag as other "entertainment," notably television. Once he wrote about The Sopranos and inane shows like Survivor and The Apprentice in the same sentence, he lost me. "Reality television provides the ultimate testimony to the cultural dominance of games in this moment of pop culture history..." Give me a break. This is yet another example of a potentially great full-length magazine article that never should have been turned into a book. A well-edited 5,000 words max would have covered it all.
    15 people found this helpful
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  • Alli
    5.0 out of 5 stars amusing and informative
    Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2011
    Verified Purchase
    The usual thought on popular culture is that its bad for your mind, that its a waste of time, and other negative preconceptions. This book goes through different parts of pop culture, including video games, TV, and the internet, and how they are good for your brain. Its an interesting and engaging read while also giving you a new side to pop culture you may not have thought about before.

    I had to read this for English class which usually turns me off of a book, but this one is so appealing that it keeps my full attention.
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  • Tony
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great!
    Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2006
    Verified Purchase
    This is a great book, especially to all of those who think that TV, videogames and other media create "brain damage". Johnson demonstrates the virtues of our pop culture, that is actually making us smarter in certain areas.

    As a high school teacher, it's demonstrated the importance of the popular media consumed by our modern adolescents and given me a lot of ideas to be able to use the modern mass media in my classroom, and the importance of it's use.

    If you think pop culture is damaging our "classic" culture, line Postman (Amusing us to death) or Sartori (Homo videns), read this book.
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  • corydave
    5.0 out of 5 stars Should be required reading.
    Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2014
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    Steven Johnson defends video games and mass media. And he does it well. Anyone in education should read this, as it reframes the way people use their brain on a daily basis. Critics say the book rehashes his one argument in different ways, but it's still a great read. I applaud his perspective, and wish more people would see the wisdom in what he says.
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  • Jim B.
    4.0 out of 5 stars Not bad, better than expected
    Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2008
    Verified Purchase
    This books starts out on rather slippery footing, but gains a foothold in the subject quickly. Quite a bit of time is spent on the topics of modern television and video games, but that is perhaps because those two things occupy so much of our daily lives nowadays.

    Johnson raises several salient points. I'm not yet sure how much of it I agree with, as some of the generalizations don't fit in my own household. But all in all, an interesting read, and doesn't take very long to get through.

    If you're looking for some arguments to get your mom to stop picking on you for playing so much X-Box, this book is for you.
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Carlo Momigliano
    5.0 out of 5 stars Geniale
    Reviewed in Italy on August 6, 2025
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    Strepitosa confutazione di tutte le congetture più banali e fortunate in letteratura e politica sul danno che videogiochi, televisione e cinema avrebbero generato negli ultimi 50 anni. Chiunque abbia letto Homo Videns di Sartori o Cattiva maestra Televisione di Popper deve assolutamente comperarlo
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  • Mando
    5.0 out of 5 stars SEHR empfehlenswert
    Reviewed in Germany on March 30, 2016
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    Klasse Buch für jeden, der bereit ist, den "bösen neuen Medien" auch mal etwas Gutes beizusteuern. Nicht nur perfekt für Kulturliberalisten.
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  • Siriam
    5.0 out of 5 stars My best non-fiction read in 2005!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 14, 2006
    Verified Purchase
    I read this book at the end of 2005 and found it one of the best eye openers in challenging a lot of my simple misconceptions regarding computer games, TV and the benefits of the internet (as an education/social interaction tool as opposed to a tool I use at work every day).
    I no longer look at my children's fascination with playing computer games with such concern; it has not increased my viewing of TV (a medium I actually think too many people view with rose tinted historic spectacles given it formed such a key part of their early lives) but it has helped me appreciate the wider benefits of how TV series now operate and are structured versus the versions I saw as a child; plus the internet and its wider social impact is put into context with the end coverage that IQs are given these changes getting higher in the middle and lower zones of society if not so clearly helping the top intellectual end are well made even if you do not wholly agree everything.
    The book is US centric but given the author's life, location and background that seems inevitable and indeed the beauty of the arguments presented for consideration is that you find yourself applying them to local UK TV programmes given the main messages are universal.
    While the style is too academic at the start, once the writer warms to his subjects he does present well and in a very creative structure that interlocks across the book. Finally, the end section on summarising areas for further reading on the different topics is one of the best I have seen in such a small book.
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  • Mike Lutz
    4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting
    Reviewed in Canada on February 3, 2016
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    My first time reading anything from this author and I have to say he presents and very interesting angle on new media, I rather enjoyed this work.
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  • Peggy McKay
    4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
    Reviewed in Canada on September 4, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    thanks
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