For most of us, it has been said that everything related to watching television carries more harm than good. Is not a secret that today 's TV shows programs over the past years have becoming more engaged and entertained than never were. Nevertheless, the precept of a deteriorated pop culture is still among many of all there. Experts, scientist, parents and society altogether, through the last decades has been asking the same question, is watching TV beneficial in some way or not at all? Television and pop culture can be a very delicate subject to talk about. Many professionals have their own opinions about this but it seems to be that no one can come to an agreement yet. Which bring into a question, what would happen is watching television …show more content…
Steven Johnson in his article Watching TV makes you smarter” suggests a different approach of this conception. He contends that the pop culture that we are soak in every day has been noticeable increasing in complexity; therefore, deepen our intelligence and sharpen our ability to thinking. His theory is simple, modern television programs and films such as “Alias”, “24” and “Survivor”, are more structured in narrative than earlier entertainment programs 30 years ago (multiple threading scripts), which requires a higher cognitive work from the audience in order to truly understand the plot of what is being watching.
He support his idea by making a strong connection of the increasing in narrative complexity with the number of threads that earlier shows such as “Starsky and Hutch”,”Hill Street Blues” and “The Sopranos” display on the charts over the curse of the episodes on air. Nevertheless, former slate’s movie critic Dana Stevens does not conceives her fellows’ argument as a valid one. In her direct response “Thinking outside the idiot box” to Johnson’s article, she acknowledges the solidity of his statement, but quickly points out that by no means does watching TV imply tangible benefits to the public in general as an example making us
In "thinking outside the idiot box", Dana Stevens responds to Steven Johnson's New York Times article in which Johnson believes that watching television makes you smarter. Indeed, Steven Johnson claimed that television shows have become more and more complex over the years in order to follow the viewers need for an interesting plot instead of an easy, linear story. However, Dana Stevens is opposed to this viewpoint. Stevens is not against television, he does not think it makes you smarter nor that it is poisenous for the brain, he simply states that the viewer should watch television intelligently. That is to say that, viewers should know how much television they should watch and what to watch as well.
In Steve Johnson’s article “Watching TV Makes You Smarter” he argues that a region of the brain is stimulated that makes people think. He claims that TV makes you smarter, and I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I agree that people tend to contemplate more when watching television. On the other hand, I still insist that viewing TV doesn’t make you any smarter, but in fact, it can actually lower one’s intelligence.
In a Class Dismissed when the narrator says,” because we have seen television as just entertainment, we readily disregard its impact on our thinking”. When I heard that statement, I thought to myself that our perceptions of things are based upon what we see on TV, although I do view TV as entertainment as well. However, I never paid attention to how TV impacted my thoughts until viewing and reading in the material in this class. Because of some of the things that we studied and the familiar shows that we talked about I understand and noticed small things in TV shows and ad
In Steven Johnson’s article, Watching TV Makes You Smarter, Johnson illustrates the development of media over time and the change people are trying to make to television. Johnson argues over how the population watches bad TV shows over the good and how it is healthy for the human brain. Johnson compares older TV shows and present day TV shows to show the difference in
American pop culture has come a long way in the last few decades: from the rock 'n’ roll boom of the fifties, to the hippie aesthetic of the seventies, to the electronic age of the nineties. Pop culture clearly fluctuates at a rapid pace and even though fads have come and gone, one thing has remained viable even in more contemporary times: the TV set. On top of that, never has the world seen a greater peak in technology than it has in recent years, and the television is no exception. Unfortunately, as fascinating as these advancements may sound, it is generally presumed that the television—as with much modern pop culture tech—has had and continues to have detrimental effects on Western culture. Given that the TV has been a predominant force for the last sixty years, it’s safe to assume that most have heard the pervasive statement of how television "rots your brain.” By contrast, the benefits of this technology are rarely discussed and when the topic does arise, it seems to be hastily dismissed as “phooey.” Despite these labels, some would argue that television pop culture not only provides a form of recreational relaxation, but also has the potential to enhance cognitive capabilities.
Not only educational shows accomplish these goals, but fictional television programs can often incorporate information that requires viewers to grapple with a topic using logical reasoning and a global consciousness. In addition, not to diminish the importance of reading, television reaches those who may never pick up a book or who might struggle with reading problems, enabling a broader spectrum of people to interact with cognitive topics. Veith has committed the error of making generalizations about two forms of media when, in truth, the situation varies depending on quality and content. However, what follows these statements is not just fallacious, but
TV now serves us to think, to analyze what kind of thinking must be exerted to make sense of a cultural experience. That the television has put more pressure on our cognitive abilities; the complexity has grown by three elements, multiple accounts, multiple accusations, and social networks.
Television does hold a purpose in life; whether it is a good one or a bad one is completely up to the person or people who are watching it. For Steven Johnson, in his writing, he begins with a passage that states that watching television is more helpful to the brain rather than harmful. It secludes the person watching it to better understand what is happening in the world today. Arguments have put themselves forward to what has been said in his piece; such as, that certain shows can be helpful for better understanding, but most television is harmful to the minds of youth. Johnson, who has been working on this material for quite a long time, is trying to up hold what he has thought and what
Ever since television was first introduced to America, it has changed the culture. It’s affected American families in positive and negative ways. Whether the television is big and bulky or thin and flat, everyone’s eyes seem to be glued to it. Television competes with other human interactions, such as talking to family and friends, school, church, etcetera. It’s shaped many things -- people’s opinions on different topics, people’s choices in an election, and people’s views on things like race and class. It’s changed the who the people in the American population are, and how other countries view us.
Television was an invention designed to entertain and inform. Created in the 1920s by John Logie Baird, TV has become an indispensable piece of furniture in most American dwellings. Every child, at least once in their lives have heard their mothers tell them that spending long periods of time in front of a screen will damage their brain. Two opposite arguments question all mothers’ hypothesis. Steven Johnson in “Watching TV Makes You Smarter” claims that over the years TV has become more complex. He considers that this complexity forces the brain to work. Dana Stevens in “Thinking Outside the Idiot Box” argues that there are many cons in the issue and that watching TV does not make anybody smarter. Instead,
It may be hard to admit, but television has become an intricate part of our everyday lives. People children often find themselves sitting in front of the television screen for a longer period of time than before and this has evolved immensely over the past few years. In this article, “The Trouble with Television,” by the author Marie Winn, mentions that addiction of television is negative effects on children and families. It keeps the families from doing other things and it’s a hidden competitor for all other activities. Television takes place of play and on top of that kids who watch a lot of television grow uncivilized. Also, the author mentioned that televisions are less resourceful for children and have negative effects on children’s school achievement and on physical fitness. Although there are so many other types of addictions but the author Marie Winn’s points of argument of watching television is a serious addiction that our children and families have negative effects.
Watching TV Makes You Smarter grabs the attention of any reader, regardless if he or she is a TV lover or not. Johnson can appeal to all audiences in his article. The author draws a sympathetic reader by incorporating scripts from television shows such as E.R and discusses shows like The Sopranos, and 24 that were popular at the time the article was written. The antagonistic audience is shown graphs and key examples of research that prove the author's reasoning. For the apathetic and ignorant, by the end of the article both are able to make their own decision on whether watching television can make you smarter.
Our time is dominated by graphic entertainments such as television, video games, the internet, and more. Many people today are disgusted by today’s popular culture and generally have a negative attitude about it. People today believe it is making us much dumber. They discredit it for what it is actually does according to Steven Johnson in his book Everything Bad Is Good For You. He proposes a total opposite point of view and that we underrate modern pictoric entertainment and media. The main premise of the book Everything Bad Is Good For You is that today’s pop culture is actually making us smarter and has grown more complex and intellectually challenging over the past few years. Steve Johnson proves this argument by discussing how video games aren’t as bad as they seem, television is much more complex than you think and making us smarter, and he tells how the internet helps us interpret our current world and that these three sources of media are increasing our average IQ.
Television has become one of the major entertainment providers in our modern life. It sits in the living room of about almost every home in the world and it is the one thing that most people like to come home to after a long day of work or school. Not only does it give us something to laugh or get scared at but it also provides us with valuable information about what is happening around our local community and around different places in the world. But, as good as this sounds, Television may be affecting us without even realizing it. Being one of the major distractors in today 's society, it gets us attached to its content in which a lot of people spend a lot of their time watching. Being thus, watching too
According to Kyla Boyse television can be entertaining, and educational. TV shows with a pre-social message can have a positive effect on a kid’s behavior. Programs with positive role models can influence viewers to make positive lifestyle changes. Watching television affects kids sleep, weight, grades, behavior and more. Watching television can also affect health and family life in negative ways. In conclusion med.umich.edu says that television is educational and entertaining, and that television shows have a positive and negative effect on children.