Tuesday, March 15, 2005

science experiment

So maybe yesterday I sat and watched Alias for ten hours straight.

One has to wonder, what kind of side effects would this induce in an individual? Today I have noticed the following:

There exists in me a strange compulsion to buy and wear numerous wigs.

I have a strong desire to learn how to parachute into remote locations while wearing an evening dress under my jumpsuit.

Practicing remaining underwater surviving only by breathing the air out of car tires seems tantamount.

The fact that I am as of yet unable to throw a 250 lb man over my shoulder gives me great shame.

The company I work for is publishing a new book called "Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter", which presents the argument that all the so called crap the younger generation does that wastes their brainpower actually is pumping up the brainwaves. The author touts video games and television shows as true genius making machines.

When I first heard about this book I have to admit I scoffed; then I became intrigued. This book is presenting a real theory, not a joke. I mean, really, how much information have I gleamed from fiction in my life?!?! Movies, sitcoms, videos...immeasurable wealths of knowledge gleamed from pop culture. The author, Steven Johnson hypothesizes that the influx of information and stimuli actually end up increasing our intelligence.

Awesome. I think I'll stay home this weekend to watch the complete third season of Alias. Girlfriend needs to study for the GRE's.

1 comment:

MooCow said...

Chuck Klosterman takes a similar, though undoubtedly less scholarly view, at a similar topic in "Sex drugs and cocoa puffs: A Low Culture manifesto," where he argues that pop culture can actually be quite good. (I'd link it, but I'm too damn lazy).

If playing video games and watching TV help make you a genius, then just call me Albert Einstein, baby.