Breaking Media Stereotypes “Would you get off your phone and have a conversation for once,” is often a phrase a parent might say in reference to the amount of time their child spends consuming technology. As ironic as it may be, the main purpose of new media is being able to communicate and consume information directly at someone’s fingertips, yet it tends to be viewed as a negative influence. In some cases one might disagree. In the article “Mind over Mass Media,” Steven Pinker, a professor at Harvard, claims that though people assume that media is dumbing down our generation, it is actually the solution to continuing our intelligence. Pinker first establishes the common misconceptions that media faces along with his rebuttals towards those
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He goes on to compare examples of technology that have been released along with the proven outcomes that each one had. In doing so he contrasts that the typical negative views of technology are often wrong. Pinker states a proposition that if media was as damaging as it is claimed to be then our generation would not be growing in the manner that it has. Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons support Pinker with the idea that people do not increase their abilities by consuming various information at once, but rather increase their intelligence by focusing on one topic for a long period of time. Though he states the disadvantage that media can be distracting the problem can be solved with the limitation of use on that technology. Pinker concludes his idea by listing ways in which we can increase our intelligence whether through the internet or other sources such as newspapers, encyclopedias or people. Lastly, he reclaims that new media is a necessary means to maintaining and increasing our …show more content…
He excitedly declares that “discoveries are multiplying like fruit flies, and progress is dizzying” (894), yet he fails to provide evidence to assure that statement is true. He also does not take into consideration how many inventions throughout the recent generation have failed or had negative effects, whether to consumers or the environment. Furthermore, he seems to alienate the idea that instead of progressing we may only be experiencing stability, especially when comparing the amount of people in the world today to the amount of inventions. In addition, Pinker proclaims that “if you train people to do one thing..., they get better at doing that thing, but almost nothing else” (895); nevertheless, he seems to disregard the whole concept of school. Students go to college in order to focus on one field, but it takes multiple classes and subjects being learned at once to get there. If we focused on one thing such as “recognizing shapes” (895) we would become intelligent in that area but in order to develop skills such as critical thinking we have to broaden and vary the information we
He goes on to compare examples of technology that have been released along with the proven outcomes that each one had. In doing so he contrasts that the typical negative views of technology are often wrong. Pinker states a proposition that if media was as damaging as it is claimed to be then our generation would not be growing in the manner that it has. Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons support Pinker with the idea that people do not increase their abilities by consuming various information at once, but rather increase their intelligence by focusing on one topic for a long period of time. Though he states the disadvantage that media can be distracting the problem can be solved with the limitation of use on that technology. Pinker concludes his idea by listing ways in which we can increase our intelligence whether through the internet or other sources such as newspapers, encyclopedias or people. Lastly, he reclaims that new media is a necessary means to maintaining and increasing our …show more content…
He excitedly declares that “discoveries are multiplying like fruit flies, and progress is dizzying” (894), yet he fails to provide evidence to assure that statement is true. He also does not take into consideration how many inventions throughout the recent generation have failed or had negative effects, whether to consumers or the environment. Furthermore, he seems to alienate the idea that instead of progressing we may only be experiencing stability, especially when comparing the amount of people in the world today to the amount of inventions. In addition, Pinker proclaims that “if you train people to do one thing..., they get better at doing that thing, but almost nothing else” (895); nevertheless, he seems to disregard the whole concept of school. Students go to college in order to focus on one field, but it takes multiple classes and subjects being learned at once to get there. If we focused on one thing such as “recognizing shapes” (895) we would become intelligent in that area but in order to develop skills such as critical thinking we have to broaden and vary the information we