Book Review - EVERYTHING BAD IS GOOD FOR YOU

I read this book. And here's what I thought about it ...

This book is absolutely wonderful. It's very logical and although as science goes, it's far from definitive (or, probably, even "reliable" in a scientific sense) because Johnson's evidence to support his argument is anecdotal rather than experimental (by the way, he freely acknowledges this shortcoming as far as the extent to which his argument is "proved" by this book, so that's just an observation by me, not a criticism), I am thoroughly convinced Johnson is spot on correct here.



One other side point that I really appreciated is this: there's a great parallel in this book and the political ideology of liberty (libertarians). At one point towards the end of the book, Johnson is discussing the somewhat popular criticism of "pop culture" which goes something like this: common entertainments -- movies and video games -- pander to the lowest common denominator, and the populace will select, if people are simply left to their own devices (i.e., if people are just allowed to select their own entertainment with no influence/force by any agency, e.g. government), the simplest, most brain dead entertainment out there to the point that civilization itself may crumble into disrepair (and the reason given by this argument is because people are inherently lazy and, like non-thinking physical processes/matter (e.g, water, electricity, wind) will choose the shortest path or the path of least resistance). And he notes that at least based on the anecdotal evidence of what sorts of entertainment are the most popular/best-selling, that is simply not accurate, that is simply not what happens. People buy complicated, challenging entertainment more often and experience that entertainment more thoroughly than people ingest crap. Similarly, the political process, where government clamors that people need to be helped from themselves, and the government is the agency best equipped to provide this saving grace, is B.S. People will not destroy themselves (or the environment) if left to their own devices. That's just not logical, it's just not the way people work. So government should stay out of that too. (The foregoing is far from a complete or intellectually-satisfying (to me) summary of the point I was trying to make, but I'm out of space here and I need to get back to Guitar Hero III, so I have to drop it and get back to my life.)