Watching TV Makes You Smarter: Critical Analysis A lazy man’s fantasy is to do nothing and get something out of it. This is precisely what Steven Johnson preaches in his article “Watching TV Makes You Smarter”. And no, he is not talking about the knowledge gained from educational TV. He is saying that after watching The Sopranos, you will have gained intelligence from following a complicated plotline. Although Johnson and fellow couch potatoes would truly love to believe that watching TV works wonders on your brain, it is surely a fantasy with no relation to real life Johnsons’ main argument is that TV has gotten more complicated over the years and our brains have to compensate for that.
Some people in today’s society think TV is not good for you, but in Steven Johnson’s Watching TV Makes You Smarter, hemakes the argument that TV is very complex. He talks about how multiple threading in TV shows have many cognitive benefits. He also says thattelevision today makes you think more than it did previously. Overall TV affects people in more positive ways than they realize. Steven Johnson makes the argument that multiple threading has a positive impact on television today.Johnson believes that the show Hill Street Blues successfully had a combination of a complex narrative structure and complex subject matter.
In Johnsons except “Watching TV Makes You Smarter” he looks at the how television narratives have evolved over the past several decades. He compares modern shows to those of twenty years ago, while arguing that the new complexities in plot actually help to stimulate our brains. Meaning shows like the sopranos force their viewer’s to pay close attention to be able to enjoy and follow what’s going on in the series. Johnson concludes by summing up his real intentions, to suggest a change in the way people rate quality television, by looking not at the content but the form. Johnson makes many good points in his essay “Watching TV Makes You Smarter”, but more than that he visually lays his ideas out for you in graphs and concrete examples.
In Watching TV makes you Smarter Steven Johnson uses the hit TV show “24” to support his thesis stating that TV makes you smarter. He thinks that to keep up with an intense TV show like “24” you have to “pay attention, make inferences, track-shifting social relationships” (279). Johnson disagrees with the popular notion on that the “sleeper curve” is the single most important new force altering mental development of young people today. Steven Johnson takes a roll of teaching journalism at New York University and serves as a contributing editor for Wired. He also writes a monthly column for Discover.
According to Stephen Johnson, the “sleeper curve” is popular media growing and becoming more complex every year with a lot of violence, is actually nutritional and instead of being the evil in our society, is making us smarter. Johnson thinks it’s important because it helps the mental development of young people today by enhancing our cognitive faculties. Johnson thinks that television gives us cognitive benefits in paying attention, making inferences and tracking complex social issues. Johnson’s general view of television is that watching shows that make us think is good for our brain and makes us common viewers smarter. Dana Stevens summarizes Johnson’s essay by stating his claim that shows are becoming more complex and more complicated over the last two decades and watching it makes you smarter.
It offers customers “more for less”. But even though they were remarkable and they have a good strategy, they make a big mistake in 2011. First we’re going to discuss the marketing strategy of Netflix and why it was and can be an example of a good marketing strategy. But after presenting the good part of Netflix strategy we’re going to present the mistakes Netflix make. Netflix marketing strategy consists in there “more for less motto [sic]”; they offer their customer more options of movies for less money.
They often neglect key local and state developments to focus on national news that will attract more people (Murray). Some critics argue that they harm the youth because the youth naively relies on them as a substitute for the news (Murray). Yet this argument lacks merit because a recent CNN study has revealed that The Daily Show viewers “were better versed in 2008 election issues than citizens who frequently turned to traditional mediums, such as newspapers and TV news stations, for the latest in current events
People think videogames are not educational and they rotten kids brain but they are wrong because videogames are very helpful they could teach a lot of things like for instance the military if you want to be a soldier than videogames can teach you or unless something else, but that’s why the military is putting a lot of effort into videogames so they can impact people’s lives. Soldiers coming from all over the world coming to the army or military will be ready for combat. The army and the military are recruiting young and strong soldiers. They do not want soldiers that are afraid and does not follow the procedures that they give out. Recruiting is a hard thing to do you have to make sure you pick the right soldiers if not then you will lose the battle and you can get kill if you are not paying attention when you are out there.
Television Corrupting Presidential Debates Over the years television has been a great medium for entertaining audiences worldwide. Only entertainment though, has been good, not presidential debates. Nowadays these crucial and historical events are being broadcasted nationwide influencing people’s decisions. Although many people may believe that television is beneficial for presidential debates, I believe that television has had a negative influence on these fundamental discussions. These television broadcasts have not only influenced presidential debates, but have set new standards for them.
In reality people don’t drink as much, like on TV. I think this will soon change. When you see somebody live a lifestyle like that on TV people will easily mimic it. A lot of times that is why there is a, “Do not try this at home” warning on TV shows like “Mythbusters” and “Jackass.” They know that people can and will most likely do it so they try to make people aware of the dangers. I wonder why this warning is not on TV shows like “Jersey Shore” and “Skins.” Obviously people think it is now acceptable to go out underage, hang out with friends, and drink until they pass out.