Liu 1 Kenny Liu Professor Jenae Reese English 101 07/09/2013 Does watching TV make you smarter or a better TV watcher? Steven Johnson, an author and a columnist in New York Times, published an essay in New York Times called “Watching TV Makes You Smarter” in 2005. In the essay, he argued that watching TV could make the viewer smarter instead of being an idiot box. He made this statement because of “The Sleeper Curve”, which Johnson introduced this term in the essay. Because of Sleeper Curve, according to Johnson, TV viewers need to improve their skill to watch modern TV shows with multiple plot lines.
Advertising have gotten into mass media, delivering their messages into society. For example, there are a lot of advertisements on television to make the consumers curious about the products. Back in the 1920s needs to catch up with the Americans advertisements now because the adjustments has brain washed consumers more than before. 4. “The ideology of advertising in an ideology of efficacious answers.” To encourage consumers wants, needs and offer solutions to help them solve their problems.
Most of the time the prices are higher than the rest of the other companies for product, but Zappos offers their customers a different experience. Zappos is able to maximize profits in this market because this company figured out how to dominate with their morals they have created. Zappos focused on how to provide wowing services to online customers. This is a company that knows they have to constantly change and embrace it. Zappos owners wanted his company to be fun and weird, making sure to stay adventurous with an open mind.
Alexa Forbes Period 4 Ms. K <3 Technology and the Affects in American Society In American society today, there seems to be a conflict about whether technology, including T.V. and the internet, has a positive or negative effect on people. In her article, “What’s the Matter with Kids Today?” Amy Goldwasser claims that the internet has changed society for the better. Additionally, in the article “Watching T.V Makes You Smarter,” by Steven Johnson, he asserts that watching television can intellectually stimulate a person’s mind. Both authors address the emotional health effects of society from T.V.
The use of political campaign through television has been around for quite a while. Broadcasting politics on television allows the elections to be more accessible to a larger amount of viewers. Although politics through media was meant to be positive, the true purpose of it was quickly overcome by a concern about image rather than the issues at hand. Television has allowed presidential candidates to not only win votes through ideas and addressing issues, but also through creating an image for themselves that would appeal to the public. Initially, the use of media to relay news was a good idea: Television has “restored” the nations “feeling of direct contact”, “the people have once more become the nation” (Source A).
Consequently, this is caused because television restores the feeling of direct contact within our society which causes people to feel like they know their Presidents and therefore cause elections to be in favor of the candidate with the most admiration from the community. Additionally, due to television, elections are now based on what we see and not what we hear. Undoubtedly, the television brings us closer as a community. In brief, television continues to inform us of what happens in our society which was not available to us in the past. According to
Modern lotteries have essentially eliminated the risk of fraud , but because of television advertisements, the effect on individuals and society seems greater today. By responsibly handling the the lottery's promotion and taking steps to provide an adequate support system, the state can receive the benefits of additional revenue while reducing the impact of any possible adverse social consequences. Ignoring these problems has shown that the state truly gambles with our
(Also featured in They Say, I Say) Johnson, in his New York Times article, makes the profound argument that watching modern television, which is far more cognitively stimulating than conventional television, can actually increase the viewer’s intelligence. One implication of Johnson’s treatment of modern television is the assumption that each television program is as cognitively stimulating as the few examples he brought up, however; while the television may be “cognitively stimulating” it does not in fact improve or heighten one’s intelligence. , his point that complex story lines, like those found in The Sopranos and Heroes stimulate the mind a bit is valid to a certain extent. This article can be used in an argument about gender and popular culture to be representative of a changing media that is trying to be cognitively stimulating. There is a quote on page 775 that can be used that discusses sex and the media that begins, “It may be drawn toward the sensational where content is concerned—sex does sell, after all.
Steven Johnson argues that today’s shows make viewers follow many plots, sub-plots, and characters, allowing for more mental stimulation, and as a result makes them smarter. Granted, contemporary shows provide more opportunities for mental deduction and speculation of future events than programs in the past, but Americans are still wasting their time watching television. Whether or not the shows “make them smarter” is not a scientifically proven fact, and there have been twelve medical studies since 1985 linking excessive television watching to increasing rates of obesity (Johnson, Trubey). Although scientists have not proven that watching television makes you smarter, scientists confirm that television leads to obesity. One might try reading a book while on an exercise bike, training the body and mind.
Positive ads such as “friends don’t let friends drive drunk” and the NAACP slogan “a mind is a terrible thing to waste” will help raise the conscience level of young people and make them think more about how their actions affect other people. Making advertisements such as this government promoted and allowing them to air during the peak viewing hours of television will expose them to a large group of the target population. Since the emergence of facebook, youtube, blogging, vloging etc children have been exposed to more than they have ever been in the past. The big powerhouse sites such as