Are Todays Tv Shows Making Us Smarter - 2025 Words

Are Todays TV Shows Making Us Smarter? I recently read an essay written by American author Steven Johnson entitled Watching TV Makes You Smarter. Millions of Americans who are engrossed in today’s TV programming might be surprised at the concept. You see, for years, sitting down to watch TV was thought of as a lazy way to turn off your brain and veg out (to spend time idly or passively). (Britannica) While this may still be true, Johnson argues that the increased complexity in today’s TV shows forces us to become intellectually involved as opposed to merely entertained. The idea of TV increasing our intelligence would be a fantastic idea to most viewers. Dana Stevens (movie critic for Slate Magazine) offered a rebuttal in response to Johnson’s piece, struggling to make sense of his claims in her piece Thinking Outside the Idiot Box. Just from her title of describing the television as an ‘Idiot Box†, you can easily guess her thoughts on the subject. I believe that Johnson has presented some very intriguing evidence to back his claims while Stevens’ rebuttal offers little to no evidence to the contrary. Steven Johnson bases his argument on the observation of increased complexity we have seen in TV shows over the last thirty plus years. In spite of this, most critics continue to argue that TV has a way of dumbing down our culture. Instead of focusing on the aspects of values, violence, sexual content, and obscenity in TV, Johnson focuses on how much mental work is requiredShow MoreRelatedThinking Outside the Idiot Box by Dana Stevens vs. â€Å"Watching TV Makes You Smarter† by Steven Johnson1125 Words   |  5 PagesEnglish Comp I Kayal 11/5/13 TV Does Not Make You Smarter There is no doubt that television holds a purpose in our society today, but is that purpose brain-numbing or actually beneficial to our brain development? The television, also known as: TV, the boob tube, the idiot box, as well as many other nicknames, has been around for almost a hundred years. Ever since cable TV became popular in the 1950’s, there has always been a worry that people watch too much TV. Most people believe that with exorbitantRead MoreWatching Tv Makes You Smarter967 Words   |  4 PagesWatching TV Makes You Smarter In his essay â€Å"Watching TV Makes You Smarter, Steven Johnson - an author specializing in media, pop culture and technology - claims that watching TV is actually healthy for the viewers mind as contemporary television requires more cognitive thinking than it did previously. Johnson supported his claim by explaining about his sleeper curve throughout the essay. â€Å"The most debased forms of mass diversion – video games, violent television dramas and juvenile sitcoms thatRead MoreDoes Television Make Use Dumber? Essay535 Words   |  3 Pages Television is a big part of society today. The shows on television entertain most of America, along with conveying information to viewers. Many people today look down on television and blame it for problems we have in society along with making viewers dumber. Johnson’s Watching TV Makes You Smarter and Stevens’s Thinking Outside The Idiot Box have near opposite positions on the issue of television, both describing wha t they feel is the right answer when it comes to television and society. ThroughoutRead MoreCan Tv Be Making You Smarter?1444 Words   |  6 Pages Can Tv be Making You Smarter In Steven Johnson’s â€Å"Watching TV Makes You Smarter†, he argues the growing complexities of contemporary TV shows through time. Johnson explains, because of the developing intricacy of TV plot lines people are having to spend more time paying attention to the TV episodes. To show this, Johnson compared shows from the past and more recent shows to  display how on screen intelligence and off screen intelligence of shows have developed to become more challenging and realisticRead MoreIs Pop Culture Good Or Bad?1163 Words   |  5 Pagespopular culture in our society today. It is everywhere. From watching TV, to reading magazines, being on social media, and just browsing the internet. Popular culture is the entirety of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, images, and other phenomena that are within the mainstream of a given culture. The question is popular culture good or bad? Pop Culture has a great impact on our society of today. The main problem with pop culture is that some people think that it can dumb us down, and also that it promotesRead MoreAnalysis Of The Movie Thinking Outside The Idiot Box By Dana Stevens And Watching Tv Makes You Smarter937 Words   |  4 Pages â€Å"The Evolution of Television Show’s† As television viewers, we tend to slouch in front of this electrical box after a long day’s work, many of us don’t think or know about how much television programming has changed since our parent’s childhood. In â€Å"Thinking outside the Idiot Box† by Dana Stevens and â€Å"Watching TV Makes You Smarter† by Steven Johnson, both writers give their thoughts and opinions about how television programming has evolved over the last three decades. These gentlemenRead MoreReality Television : Is It Reality?849 Words   |  4 Pagespoint in time. Today, reality television is a part of the society’s popular culture (Johnson 289). The question is why? Reality television is a genre of television programming that focuses on members of the public living in conditions made by the creator, and displays how people are intended to behave in everyday life (Johnson 290). Reality television is debasing and should be strictly controlled, if not banned altogethe r (Johnson 293). Reality TV is very dishonest (Cox). Reality shows make for corruptingRead MoreTelevision : A Blessing And A Curse940 Words   |  4 Pages Television: A Blessing and a Curse Televisions first came about in the 1900s, originally being used for advertisement and adult entertainment shows. When television began, one of its objectives was to present the news to society. It was a branch of broad communication, airing presidential news and news covering other states other than your own. Over the years this goal has altered, and now we can find all kinds of programs with different resolutions. There are many different forms of entertainmentRead MoreHow Tv Makes You Smarter1532 Words   |  7 Pagestelevision is making people smarted. People all over the world turn on their television each night and watch a few moments to a few hours of television and it is hard to miss a reality show which on almost any channel. If they were to pause on one of these shows they might not know it but they would bettering themselves on a personal level. Based on the ideas of Steven Johnson the average person could learn a thing or two from reality TV. In his article called, â€Å"Watching TV Makes You Smarter† JohnsonRead MoreHow Media Has Impacted Society1158 Words   |  5 Pagesand oh let us not start with cell phones†¦. In our view, teenagers and young adults, find no harm is watching â€Å"too much† television and relying on our mobile devices to often. Some topics to be discussed are: Sleeper Curves, realism, linguistics, and overstated context. The point of this paper is to reflect how mass media has effected society in a positive and successful way although many people do not believe it. They, as in editor and writer Steven Johnson in Watching TV Makes You Smarter, celebrate