“Watching TV Makes You Smarter” In the article, “Watching TV Makes You Smarter,” Steven Johnson claims that the progression of modern television series is making viewers smarter because of their complex plots and multi-threading techniques. I question Johnson’s statement because there is a difference between gaining knowledge and conditioning your brain by noticing techniques that are in television shows today. One gains knowledge by learning and being tested over different subject. Whereas, watching TV trains our brains to recognize the patterns that are embedded within the many plots and scenes in an episode. These brain-based skills have more to do with remembering and problem solving rather than becoming more intelligent. With that, I agree that watching advanced television series can cognitively strengthen your mind; however, there are certain factors that determine one’s intuition. These factors can allude to the types of shows one watches to how engage the viewer is when watching TV, but also one must have a perfect balance of watching something on a screen and experiencing it. Steven Johnson compares the complexity of how TV has evolved over time, and gives us the insight that modern day television viewers are getting smarter because of new multi-threading techniques. He also claims, “Even bad television is better,” in which I do not agree. With the array of television today, I find it improbable that every modern day show is actually quizzing the viewers to make…
Contemporary TV in today’s society has taken up a vast amount of time in people’s lives. People can spend hours in a day just watching TV mindlessly, however, is this time spent watching TV making a person smarter? The television shows that people watch today are a primary form of entertainment for a majority of America. Shows also convey information to viewers. For years now people have wanted dumb, simple TV, but as the culture began to develop more cognitively people want complex and…
The debate on whether television programs are making society more educated has gone on for years. Author Steven Johnson goes into extensive and specific research about this topic in his article, “Watching TV Makes You Smarter”. Throughout the writing piece, Johnson discusses the differences in television from two decades ago, a decade ago, fives years ago versus television now. His argument is strongly saying that TV series’ and programs have advanced conspicuously by introducing more complexity…
“Evolution of Television Show’s” As television viewers, we tend to slouch in front of this electrical box after a long day, many of us don’t think about how much television programing has changed since our parent’s childhood. In “Thinking outside the Idiot Box” by Dana Stevens and “Watching TV Makes You Smarter” by Steven Johnson both writers give their thoughts and opinions about how television programing has evolved over the last three decades. Both gentlemen recognize that the days of slap…
“You’re going to rot your brain out from watching that T.V.!” is a phrase that I heard all too much growing up, as I’m sure many other people did too. However, in today’s age I cannot help but wonder how much validity that phrase now holds. In 2005, the New York Times Magazine published an excerpt of one of Steven Johnson’s books, Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Today’s Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter which address this exact question. Johnson’s debut in the New York Times…
popular culture. Watching TV is one of the most common ways that United States citizens have to entertain themselves in their spare time. There a several cable companies that offered thousands of channels from where to chose. In addition, most of United States citizens have more than one TV in their houses. However, a television is not longer need if a person wants to watch their favorites TV shows. Today, there are several devices like tablets, laptops and even a smartphone. There are also…
11- 2 March 29, 2015 Pop Culture - Television: article responses • Watching TV Makes You Smarter by Steven Johnson 1. Steven Johnson calls his theory -- that the “most debased forms of mass diversion” (para. 4) turn out to be good for us, after all the “Sleeper Curve” after a scene in a Woody Allen movie. How does using one form of popular culture examine another form affect Johnson’s argument? Johnson, by naming “the sleeper curve” after a Woody Allen movie, alludes and appeals to his…
There is no doubt that Americans love to watch television and spend hours of time on their phones. In the article “Television”, Jeff Ousborne states “Over the last sixty years, no pop culture medium has done more to shape American life than television” (243). Instead of comprising a daily schedule before, now it is a schedule of a favorite show. Not having at least one television set in homes these days is unheard of. If we are greatly interested in a t.v. series, we will spend a great deal of…
with about three feet of snow! As the years go on the weather fluctuates and creates a long autumn, which is the season for television shows! It is crazy to look at the huge difference in Television from when I was born to the year 2016. TV has come a long way since then and has changed for the better. Television is one of the world’s most powerful creations to this day because it affects everyone in some way. When I was born eighteen years ago TV was great. The movies and shows that played…
or laying on our beds watching television. Media will want to make us think a certain way, but it is up to us to know what is right and what is wrong. Many time, people we will believe what they see or hear on television, but we have to evaluate the positive and negative aspects of reality TV shows and their stereotypes in American society. In a recently read story by Porochista Khakpour “Reality TV Goes Where Football Meets the Hijab” she tells us about her experience with watching TV and her…