A book reignites debate over pop culture's value

When Steven Johnson's book about popular culture hit stores in May, he was prepared for a barrage of hate mail. After all, the author takes a rare position: that playing video games and watching TV shows like "The Sopranos" and "24" actually expand minds rather than numbing them.

No flurry of angry correspondence has arrived yet, but that doesn't mean the book, "Everything Bad Is Good For You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter," isn't stirring debate. Critics are concerned that the title alone will give Americans - and their kids - license to spend more time with the remote. And at the very least, the book is raising questions about the effects of popular culture at a time when research about the benefits of electronic entertainment is increasing.

"Steven's book is generating great discussion. Everywhere I go people always ask about it," says Henry Jenkins, director of the comparative media studies program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "I've [gotten] everything from skepticism to real enthusiasm.... A lot of the people I've talked with are parents and they're struggling with these questions."

The generally positive reviews and commentary about the book have prompted one critic to campaign for more balanced coverage. Jim Taylor, a psychologist, is challenging Mr. Johnson to a public debate and hopes to do so soon, perhaps on television.

"Unfortunately, there hasn't been enough debate on it," says Mr. Taylor, author of the recently published book, "Your Children Are Under Attack: How Popular Culture Is Destroying Your Kids' Values, and How You Can Protect Them." Johnson, he says, "offers no direct scientific evidence that popular culture makes us smarter."

In his book, Johnson, a science and technology writer, sets aside the debate over the content of pop culture - which he says already gets enough attention - and focuses instead on whether it engages or sedates the mind.

He makes the case that popular culture has become more intellectually challenging in the past 30 years, and is possibly increasing people's IQs.

To make his point, Johnson compares TV shows like "Starsky and Hutch" to "The Sopranos." The '70s cop show had one plot line throughout, whereas an episode of "The Sopranos" often has as many as 10 threads. A show like "24," he writes, "makes the viewer think in ways that earlier shows never dared; it makes them analyze complex situations, track social networks, fill in information withheld by the creators."

The same changes are true in video games, such as SimCity (a city simulation), which require more time and thought than using a joystick to help Mr. PacMan eat through a series of dots. The more complex technology gets, the more kids demand from their entertainment, he suggests, forcing all of pop culture to be more challenging to compete.

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