Everything bad is good for you

Kottke's really into this book.

If you haven't read about it yet, the thesis of Johnson's book is that some activities that are regarded as a waste of time, like playing video games and watching television, can actually be better for you than reading. Reading is very passive. It's a solitary activity.

The Malcolm Gladwell New Yorker review (via kottke)

And Johnson himself on how he's more of a technological determinist than an economic determinist (the latter term being one which Barnett claims for himself).