"Don't Get Smart With Me!"

In “Everything Bad Is Good For You” by Steven Johnson, a correlation between the Sleeper Curve and the Flynn Effect is suggested.  The Sleeper Curve discusses how media may have a positive effect on mass culture, while the Flynn Effect debates how today’s culture affects IQ scores. Johnson connects these ideas by arguing that more technologically advanced students have led to the increase in the average IQ. However, this can be difficult to determine because IQ tests are limited in the material they cover. While playing video games and working with electronics can be very beneficial in building fast reflexes and problem solving skills, students in the past did not have technology so readily available to them and were much more likely to read a book to learn. Both activities have their benefits when time is invested into them but these are completely different areas of intelligence that an IQ test might not accurately distinguish. A person playing The Sims 2 isn’t necessarily more intelligent than the person reading .Media may not be as “harmful” as once thought but more research needs to be done before we can attribute media with the rise in IQ test scores in recent years.