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. Steve …show more content…
Sometimes they keep information hidden for the viewer therefore making the viewer use his head to have to fill in the blanks. These types of shows and movies are complex and make it so you have to pay attention or else it won’t make sense. These narratives are only getting more convoluted and mentally challenging. As a result, this form of media is making humans smarter every
In “Cultural Illiteracy,” a preface to the novel The Dumbest Generation, Mark Bauerlein critically evaluates how technological distractions affect the younger generation. Bauerlein states that “digital diversions” are cutting the younger generation off from culturally enhancing mediums and is in turn making the younger generation less intelligent. Though Bauerlein is correct about the increase of peer pressure due to technology, he is mistaken about how technology is making the younger generation unintelligent.
It is often believed that children are better off spending more time reading books and less time zoning out in front of their video games. People claim that video games sanction and promote aggression and violent responses to conflict; and that most games are an immense waste of time. Steven Johnson, the author of “Why Games Are Good for You,” appreciates the virtues of reading books, but argues that playing video games may not be a complete waste of time. His purpose for writing this essay is to explain the impact of cybertechnology on human perception and communication, in which he defends the value of computer games. In his essay, Johnson fluctuates between the pros and cons of reading versus gaming to appeal to skeptics who believe video
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
Video games do not make us more intelligent. They may however, make us more prone to violence and sex. Video games are preventing us from screening out distractions and making thinking deeply a difficult task. Our brains become overwhelmed when multitasking. Moreover, Johnson states “... a modern video game can take forty hours to complete”. Forty hours keep kids from homework and as Rachael Rettner states in livescience, “The results show that boys given a PlayStation II are slower to progress in their reading and writing skills and have more learning problems reported by their teachers than those not given a system”. The sole reason studies come back positive for video games being productive is due to the fact that they test a regular video gamer with a non-gamer. Regular video gamers will do better in the study because the more they play, the better they get. Not many realize the effect of these “fully realized imaginary worlds”, it is making it harder for people to differentiate their virtual life with their real
While there is a very sound argument regarding whether or not entertainment had the capacity to ruin society. One must consider that entertainment can be interpreted differently by each individual. Entertainment, in general, can be either beneficial or detrimental to society which varies on the use of all the outlets of entertainment. Although there are negatives that are created from entertainment there are positive factors which arise from music, video games, and television.
Like I said, television and movies are very easy to watch and there is not much thinking that you have to do because you can almost say that the thinking, in a sense, is done for you. It is easier to see something visually than have to visualize it for yourself. When you read a book, you have to concentrate on who is speaking, but on television and movies you don’t have to because the people in the TV/movie act out their own parts.
Having good health is not a promise, it mainly depends on what one does in a lifetime in regards to proper nutrition and care of the body systems. Notwithstanding the predisposed health disorders that one may genetically succumb to, lifestyles and vices/bad habits can greatly influence one’s existence of well versus ill health issues. Vices, that one develops over the course of a lifetime when in regards to ones health, such as addictive behaviors to illegal substances can be highly detrimental to one’s health.
The media has come to dominate the lives of many of today’s youths. In The Great Imagination Heist, Reynolds Price expresses extreme dismay at the media’s ever-tightening grasp over the impressionable minds of adolescents. He sincerely feels that the effects of prolonged exposure to television, film, video games, and the Internet are detrimental to the development of a youth’s imagination and ability to think freely, without outside influence. The word “heist” indicates the intention to rob or steal. Price laments what he perceives to be the robbing of original, personal thought. He longs for the days when people read books freely and television was little more than a negligible aspect of our daily lives.
Steven Johnson in “watching television makes you smarter” believes that the complexity of the shows' plots has a cognitive value, nutrition for the viewers. Dana Stevens arguments this fact by also stating that television only “teaches you to watch more television”, the complexity of the new shows help you understand how the show will turn out. However, they do not help you for real life events that the shows try to depict. In my opinion, television is just a fun thing to do occasionally to relax and get your mind off of the regular life. It can teach you some things however you should take them in consideration.
This effects the audience in a different way it gives a more detached feeling to the people watching which they cannot connect to their own lives or relate to the characters with. The target
Media content should be challenging and stimulating, but overuse of technology is harmful and must be limited. Smartphones may be useful in that they provide information and access to many resources; however, when users are constantly stimulated and never bored due to smartphones, they likely face negative consequences such as decreased creativity. TV shows are a popular form of media that many may view as noneducational and mainly for entertainment; however, certain TV shows may be beneficial by boosting cognitive thinking and stimulating the
When it comes to the topic of television, most of us would readily agree that watching television is a waste of time. Where the agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of “are there shows that increase our intelligence?” and what pleasure do some television show bring to us? I would say there are some great shows that increase our intelligence. Shows like “Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?” this kind of show puts the brain to work; thinking. There are some other shows that tend to convince us that watching television seduces our mind. I find Johnson’s argument about his article “watching television makes you smarter” confusing because he was not actually picking sides in the article and Steven’s “Thinking Outside The Idiot Box” argument about how “it’s really good at teaching you to think… about the future episode” (Steven, 296). Although I agree with the author of “Watching Television Makes you Smarter” Johnson to an extent, I cannot accept that he overlooks how much time people spends each day watching television.
Television has a been a medium for storytelling for a very long time and is similar to radio and film in that it gives you the best of both worlds. Where radio can give you an intense detailed story over a longer period of time and film can also give you an intense detailed story it has to do it in less time but you actually get to see what’s happening rather than just visualizing it yourself. That is why TV storytelling is so awesome because it allows you to see what is happening and also lets a story be told over a long period of time through multiple episodes. Two TV shows that prove just how amazing TV storytelling can be are Doctor Who and South Park. Doctor Who is a Sci-Fi story of The Doctor and his companions as they adventure through
In his essay “Mind over Mass Media,” Steven Pinker proposes that media technologies are beneficial to mental development. According to Pinker, the rise of new forms of social media have been linked to the reduction in crime. He supports this claim by stating that the emergence of “video games in the 1990s coincided with the great American crime decline” (3) and that “the decades of television, transistor radios and rock videos were…decades in which I.Q. scores rose continuously” (3). He also mentions that new technologies have made more resources available, and in turn,...
The gaming industry is a leading company when it comes to entertainment, especially among young children and teens. Technology has become an enormous necessity in everyday life and many, whether young or old, always seem to have some form of it on their person at all times. It may be something as simple as car keys with an electronic lock system or even more common, the cell phone, but majority of the devices we have today have become, in a sense to some, basic necessities, objects that they cannot go a single day without. So why does everyone question why children are so glued to technology; parents provide it, encourage it, but when is it “too much?”. Then it comes down to television and video games. The vast majority of the youth of today are increasingly sucked in...