This is not a review, but more of a series of comments about this book. I may write a view at some stage, but I haven’t yet finished it, so I’ll wait until then.
The premise of this book is that instead of, as popular wisdom determined, popular culture being the basest form of thought, it’s actually making us more intelligent. Johnson (link points to his blog) puts forward a couple of cases, and then submits some evidence to support them.
Firstly, there is a general thought that video games’ only redeeming feature is that it improves hand-eye coordination. In fact, modern video games provide more than this, they actually improve our ability to solve problems, by virtue of the commonality of having to ‘figure out’ the rules from within the game.
Secondly, popular television also improves various skills. Whereas in days gone by television programs spoon-fed the audience, nowadays the most popular programs actually engage us more than the ‘arty’ programs used to. Watching a program like 24 (which I don’t incidentally), or even The Apprentice, forces us to be active participants. We need to think much more to continue to be aware of the connections between the different characters, and we are task-switching between the various sub-plots.
Johnson provides a series of reasons why he thinks these have taken off, and I must say, so far I’ve agreed with pretty much all of what he’s said. I’m not going to just repeat what he said (I’m not sure I’d want to try - the evidence does take a bit of work to get across, and I’d rather you just buy the book, and read it yourself), but I did want to add some of my own comments.
I’ve been watching two SciFi programs since starting to read the book. One of them is the new BattleStar Galactica, the other V.
I’m noticing lots of similarities between the two, and I’m finding I want to re-watch them to analyse the ‘thought content’ requirements of them. Notably, both of them have a female character who is thrown into power, and one of the major plots is about her coming to grips with the role and responsibilities that ensue. Both programs also have an ‘alien’ race who is keen on wiping out humanity, although for different reasons. They are both about the human race, on the run, and it’s attempt to survive.
Perhaps a better comparison would be to compare the older series of BattleStar Galactica with the new one. Perhaps that will be a new project of mine. Compare the two from a perspective of cognitive demands. After all, the plots are pretty much the same, so any differences should reflect the complexity that modern TV audiences demand.
Crazy Little Thing Called Love • Michael Bublé • Michael Bublé ★½
