I challenge you to eat a meal and not pick up your cell phone, to check Facebook or to check the status of a game you are playing on your phone. Look around you the next time your at a sit down restaurant or a family gathering and see how many individuals are using there cell phones instead of having a real conversation with the individual next to them. How many meals at home do you sit at the dinner table or are you in front of the television watching the next episode of your favorite program, instead of having a quality conversation with your family. Steven Johnson would argue that the television show you are watching is enhancing our cognitive mind. I would argue than in today's pop culture the popular media is interrupting and eliminating
…show more content…
Dana Stevens argues against Johnson's "claim for television as a tool for brain enhancement, which in his words seems deeply, hilariously bogus" (297). Stevens brings up a valid point when watching an episode of 24 which Johnson references in his article that supports his theory, that the show is "really good at teaching you to think... about future episodes of 24" (296). I would agree with that statement that most television shows don't really make you smarter, but draw you into more of the depth of the show and the anticipation of what will happen …show more content…
I do find it a quick and easy way to send a message to a loved one or for your child to let you know that they have safely arrived at his/or her destination instead of making a simple phone call. But once again, it takes away from that important and crucial person to person contact that we all need and who really understands all of those abbreviated words. David Crystal would argue that "it is merely the latest manifestation of the human ability to be linguistically creative and to adapt to suit the demands of the diverse settings" (345). He also states that "the language as whole will not decline. In texting what we are seeing, in a small way, is language in evolution" (345). Some would argue that texting is breaking the linguistic rules, that punctuation and vocabulary and our sentence structure is paying the price. Crystal states that "[t]here is increasing evidence that it helps rather than hinders literacy" (337). I would agree with that texting isn't hindering literacy, but that it is removing the human contact or person to person contact that one gains from hearing the voice of a loved one over the
Dana Stevens argues against Johnson's "claim for television as a tool for brain enhancement, which in his words seems deeply, hilariously bogus" (297). Stevens brings up a valid point when watching an episode of 24 which Johnson references in his article that supports his theory, that the show is "really good at teaching you to think... about future episodes of 24" (296). I would agree with that statement that most television shows don't really make you smarter, but draw you into more of the depth of the show and the anticipation of what will happen …show more content…
I do find it a quick and easy way to send a message to a loved one or for your child to let you know that they have safely arrived at his/or her destination instead of making a simple phone call. But once again, it takes away from that important and crucial person to person contact that we all need and who really understands all of those abbreviated words. David Crystal would argue that "it is merely the latest manifestation of the human ability to be linguistically creative and to adapt to suit the demands of the diverse settings" (345). He also states that "the language as whole will not decline. In texting what we are seeing, in a small way, is language in evolution" (345). Some would argue that texting is breaking the linguistic rules, that punctuation and vocabulary and our sentence structure is paying the price. Crystal states that "[t]here is increasing evidence that it helps rather than hinders literacy" (337). I would agree with that texting isn't hindering literacy, but that it is removing the human contact or person to person contact that one gains from hearing the voice of a loved one over the