Watching TV: The electronic professor
“Stop watching television and go do something productive!” My mother would shout angrily when I would watch the “The Simpsons.” As mentioned in the article "Watching TV Makes You Smarter," Steven Johnson argued that 21st Century television shows develop complicated and more challenging narratives than those of an earlier time and offer viewers extra intellectual stimulation. Consequently television programming today reveals an astonishing narrative sophistication with unique plots increasing the viewer’s intellectual demands. In addition Johnson mentions that the sleeper curve in today’s television programming drives the viewer to pay attention, make connections, and keep track of the characters relationships. Moreover multithreading of many plot lines was different in the past. When shows followed only one or two lead characters; nevertheless now even in a show like ''Apprentice'' our mind connects with the emotions of not one but many characters. Now the viewers search the characters faces and the narrative weaves a collection of distinct subplots that are joined to decide the conclusion of the show. What is interesting to me is multithreading, flashing arrows, and social networking are now included in most television programming suggesting that it has gotten more cognitively demanding through the questioning of arguments, analysis of characters, narrative structure, and inferences. I agree with Johnson that television provides intellectual stimulation making viewers smarter. That’s why if my mother and I had known at an earlier time the intellectual benefits of television, we would have had a positive approach about watching television.
Accordingly that is why society cannot u...
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...ss, because intellectual benefits exist to watching television. The television viewer has to constantly think, respond, and answer questions that arise during the show. On the other hand for the most part this generation of the elderly, the religious, and of course our parents have always frowned upon anyone watching television. Since television makes viewers smarter, instead of being afraid of television this generation of television viewers need to embrace the benefits that come from watching television. In a sense it is exactly the same as reading a novel because as a viewer you need to pay close attention, remember characters, and connect multiple threads. Those television fanatics out there who have ever been disciplined because of watching television can now tell everyone the truth about television that it is truly an intellectually stimulating experience.
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.
In our society entertainment has become an immense part of our daily lives. We spend extensive periods of time watching TV, which in general has become a habit for many individuals, and a necessity for others. In the article Television as teacher by Neil Postman he argues that television does not help us learn what is necessary for further education, and that it shouldn’t be utilized as a main learning tool because it undermines the techniques applied in teaching centers. Some of these technics are obtaining a previous education before practicing the advanced learning, paying attention to the material being provided, and retaining the information given for future references. Nonetheless I agree with Postman’s point of view that Television is
Television is a highly entertaining way to pass the time whenever we may want to relax or may not have anything to do. Some believe that watching television is nothing more than staring at a box while others believe that it can help us become aware of things we may not have noticed before such as social issues or in some measure get our brains thinking. This paper will point out the similarities and differences of Antonia Peacocke 's essay "Family Guy and Freud: Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious" and Steven Johnson 's "Watching television makes you smarter" aswell as
In Steve Johnson’s article “Watching TV Makes You Smarter” he argues that a region of the brain is stimulated that makes people think. He claims that TV makes you smarter, and I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I agree that people tend to contemplate more when watching television. On the other hand, I still insist that viewing TV doesn’t make you any smarter, but in fact, it can actually lower one’s intelligence.
She first offers a counterargument to the thought that a youngster unfamiliar with TV programs will find making friends difficult and will be labeled as an outsider by saying that the other children will respect their independence and recognize the richness of the other activities. She ten gives a counterargument to the thought that the experience that children get from watching television is the same as the adult’s by saying that adults can relate to their past experiences and real life while young children don’t have that real life experience and knowledge to relate the TV programs to. Lastly, she counters the thought that TV is an important source for learning by saying that children who were television-educated use words that they don’t fully understand and “facts” whose accuracy they can’t judge as they don’t have that experience, while the children who learned through reading or other activities besides watching TV can use their minds and bodies to understand and enrich their
In a Class Dismissed when the narrator says,” because we have seen television as just entertainment, we readily disregard its impact on our thinking”. When I heard that statement, I thought to myself that our perceptions of things are based upon what we see on TV, although I do view TV as entertainment as well. However, I never paid attention to how TV impacted my thoughts until viewing and reading in the material in this class. Because of some of the things that we studied and the familiar shows that we talked about I understand and noticed small things in TV shows and ad
American pop culture has come a long way in the last few decades: from the rock 'n’ roll boom of the fifties, to the hippie aesthetic of the seventies, to the electronic age of the nineties. Pop culture clearly fluctuates at a rapid pace and even though fads have come and gone, one thing has remained viable even in more contemporary times: the TV set. On top of that, never has the world seen a greater peak in technology than it has in recent years, and the television is no exception. Unfortunately, as fascinating as these advancements may sound, it is generally presumed that the television—as with much modern pop culture tech—has had and continues to have detrimental effects on Western culture. Given that the TV has been a predominant force for the last sixty years, it’s safe to assume that most have heard the pervasive statement of how television "rots your brain.” By contrast, the benefits of this technology are rarely discussed and when the topic does arise, it seems to be hastily dismissed as “phooey.” Despite these labels, some would argue that television pop culture not only provides a form of recreational relaxation, but also has the potential to enhance cognitive capabilities.
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
The conditions of TV viewing, however, are starkly dissimilar. At home, Ellis notes, a television viewer is always distracted. (115/127) The surrounding atmosphere hinders one’s ability to fully commit his or her attention:
In spite of the social stereotype that watching TV is bad there are many advantages of TV which either people don't care or don't want to care. But the fact is either people love or hate TV they cannot avoid it and it keeps on playing the major role in their life as a mass communication media, entertainer and education provider. The new generation of the TV is the smart TVs which even simplifies the three aspects gaming, web surfing and watching TV and they are eye friendly as well which only keeps on making it better. It is not wrong to say that TV is the major weapon to be in touch with the new technology and the things that are going around the world before being left behind.
Television was an invention designed to entertain and inform. Created in the 1920s by John Logie Baird, TV has become an indispensable piece of furniture in most American dwellings. Every child, at least once in their lives have heard their mothers tell them that spending long periods of time in front of a screen will damage their brain. Two opposite arguments question all mothers’ hypothesis. Steven Johnson in “Watching TV Makes You Smarter” claims that over the years TV has become more complex. He considers that this complexity forces the brain to work. Dana Stevens in “Thinking Outside the Idiot Box” argues that there are many cons in the issue and that watching TV does not make anybody smarter. Instead,
Steven Johnson’s Watching TV Makes You Smarter is a magazine article by a book author who writes in an academic style. Johnson uses comparisons to show that stimulating TV shows can make viewers smarter. Due to his discussion that children and adults should be sharing stimulating media, the author appeals to adults and parents who believe that TV is harmful to the mind. He appeals to his intended audience with examples that watching TV shows can improve brain’s function and increase cognitive thinking. NPR’s Bored ... And Brilliant? A Challenge To Disconnect From Your Phone is a radio podcast that appeals to radio listeners and those who enjoy educational topics such as how smartphone use decreases boredom and reduces creativity. The use of more casual and interactive language as well as rhetorical questions makes the podcast more personal and thought provoking. This genre is more persuasive as it allows the reader or listener to make personal connections and relate to the topic instead of an author trying to force an opinion on the reader.
Television has come a long way since it was first introduced. Originally, it was thought that the masses that watch television enjoyed the more simple shows that would tell you exactly what was going on from start to finish. In Steven Johnson’s article, “Watching TV Makes You Smarter”, Johnson argues that this is actually not the case. In fact, Johnson argues that much more people enjoy shows that involve multi threading, or multiple plots that are all connected.
In the world today watching television is so addictive that everything else looks unattractive. The author argues that television is not lethal as drugs and alcohol but it can have many effects such as children getting more violent and reality seem second best. Every person lives are filled with emotions including anxiety, depression, and stress so after long hard work day the best medicine is to turn the television on and not to worry about anything. For example, I usually drive from site to site to take care of business. So when I return home from work I will sit on my couch and turn the television on and flick the channel until I fall to sleep. As Marie Winn describes, "the television experience allows the participant to blot out the real world and e...
Television has become one of the major entertainment providers in our modern life. It sits in the living room of about almost every home in the world and it is the one thing that most people like to come home to after a long day of work or school. Not only does it give us something to laugh or get scared at but it also provides us with valuable information about what is happening around our local community and around different places in the world. But, as good as this sounds, Television may be affecting us without even realizing it. Being one of the major distractors in today 's society, it gets us attached to its content in which a lot of people spend a lot of their time watching. Being thus, watching too