Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Today’s Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter

was piping WNYC public radio into my office on an early morning in May, funneling down my Starbucks coffee and situating myself for the long day ahead. In the background, Brian Lehrer--the comforting radio voice synonymous with my daily ritual--was conversing with a brisk sounding gentleman. This chatty gentleman had written a book with an intriguing but troubling premise: today’s popular culture is actually making us smarter! Realizing the book’s author was Steven Johnson, who had written, Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software, I was compelled to pick up a copy.