b.p.2

The article written by Stephen Johnson entitled “Watching T.V. makes you smarter” and the article written by Dana Stevens entitled “thinking outside the idiot box” are very differently written articles but I think that they both bring up some very good points.

Dana Stevens from the very beginning bashes the article written by Steven Johnson. Stevens states that Johnson’s article is very confusing and as far as she could tell the thesis for his article is that over the last two decades television programs have gotten more advance with the story lines and some shows need you to think and guess to keep up with the story of the show. Steven’s thinks that watching television does not make you smarter and doesn’t make you think about things more. Steven’s thinks that watching T.V. only trains you to watch more T.V.

The article written by Steve Johnson is how he thinks that over the years T.V. programs such as 24 have gotten more educational and how he thinks that parents should let their kids watch more T.V. shows because they are educational. Show’s like 24 make you use your brain because they make you have to think about past episodes and the constantly changing character relationships. Johnson also talks about other channels that are dedicated in education (discovery channel, animal planet…) he is saying that it is ok to watch and learn from T.V. because it can teach children about everyday life and prepare them for their future adulthood.

Both articles are written very differently. I believe that Dana Stevens article is written more clearly and has a much better thesis the Steven Johnsons Article. That being said I also agree with Stevens’s article. I don’t think that watching 24 will help children for their future and they should not be learning from shows like that. If kids want to learn about life they should just stay in school. Watching T.V., I believe will only get you a horrible job.

Can TV really make someone smarter?

                                Television can induce the brain into learning things. After having read articles such as “Watching TV makes you smarter” by Steven Johnson and “Thinking Outside the Idiot Box” by Dana Stevens which are arguments of two completely different views where one can see that they need to not only emphasize on their argument (their point of view) but also from the viewers (put themselves on the viewer’s shoes). In my opinion they both bring up good points but they sure tend to get away from the right path/topic.

                                The article “watching TV makes you smarter” by Steven Johnson stimulates parents into allowing their children to let them watch televised shows/series which will expand their view on things meaning that by watching television one can get educated just as if you were attending school. Johnson brings up a point, there are channels that specialize on teaching and give documentaries as well, however he is not only referring to those channels we know are educational(Animal planet, National Geographic, Discovery channel) but also the regular TV series such as Law and Order, and 24,etc. What we can learn through these series is not only things that might actually help one in their future or everyday life but it also shows some inappropriate language and violent images that are or can be inappropriate for underage children.

                                “Thinking Outside the Idiot Box” by Dana Stevens is a different type of article that still manages to capture you in the sense that if you start reading it you definitely want to know how it ends. Stevens believes that Johnson is wrong, she has read his article and based “Thinking outside the idiot box” around it, Stevens strongly disagrees with pretty much everything Johnson has written about especially since those are most of the series Johnson speaks of and gets into extreme detail in his article. Stevens questions the words Johnson has given to his article in terms of how it can be pointless to learn from a show if you don’t even know at least half of what is exactly happening on them.

                                Both Johnson and Stevens make really good points. Johnson’s point is that of being able to learn from watching a TV show, this of course has been shown in earlier studies which is why there have been television channels especially developed in order to expand children’s learning such as PBS, and Discovery kids, now you can even find shows in kids channels that can help develop the mind of a toddler and these shows can be found in not only PBS but Nickelodeon as well (Noggin).

                                As shown before Johnson is right when saying one can learn from TV but as long as it can be managed in other words censored channels at least until the kids are of good enough age. Stevens on the other hand wants parents to manage every channel as possible so their children will not have access to these especial channels, this of course may rise-up problems for the kids but the parents as well and can develop misunderstandings. In my opinion, children underage need to know just went to stop watching something without anyone telling them to and parents should learn to trust their kids a bit more, with that said it all depends on the parent-child relationships they may have.

Blog Post #2 Do Wacthing Tv makes you smater?

    After reading both articles ” Watching  Tv makes you smarter ” by Steven Johnson and ” Thinking Outside the idiot box” By Dana Stevens I agree with both articles. The reason I think so is because sometimes looking at tv can make you smarter and sometimes it can’t depending on the person everyone is different.

 Steven Johnson believes that watching tv makes you smarter. He feels that all those shows that people watch on tv actually makes them more smart at the end of the day. He wrote about the show 24 and says that ”to keep up with entertainment like 24 you have to pay attention, tract shifting relationships, and make inference.” Steven tells us when watching tv we do all of those things. He states that just by watching television that we pick things up faster than actually reading and we learn things. Johnson really thinks that tv makes us smarter and I agree with him.

 Dana Stevens on the other hand disagrees with him. She thinks that not all tv shows makes you smarter. When reading the article Dana says ”What if the nature of the show is violent, like the Discovery Channel’s animal face-off?  What if the zapper is an anti-television liberal,but a right-winger offended by Will and Grace’s living arrangement ,or Janet Jackson’s breast? Who decides? 

Once again I agree with both articles and I think it’s your opinion if  you want to watch tv or not. Some people may think that watching tv can make you smarter and some may not. I think it has to do with the person and if they really like tv or not.

Blog Post #2;Does TV make you smarter?

Does watching TV make you smatter? I recently read two articles that really contradicted each other on this issue . The first article “Watching TV makes you smarter” by Steven Johnson argued that TV does indeed makes us more intelligent and that parents should change their standards as to what their children should and should not watch . He believes that TV is a very educational tool and that parents should see this as an “opportunity” for children to learn how to think like adults . On the other hand “Thinking outside the idiot box” by Dana Stevens completely jokes about Johnson article with claims like “If TV really does make you smarter then I guess I need to watch a lot more of it Because try as I might , I could make no sense of Johnson’s piece” . Although many may say her approach to go against this article was very harsh , i agree with her . She also indicates that Johnson forgot to mention the 16 minutes of commercials that interrupt this “nutritional” TV . In both arguments, many strong points are addressed . My feelings on this issue are mixed. I do support Johnson’s position that some television shows do educate you, but I find Stevens argument that watching Tv only makes you want to watch more TV to be equally persuasive .

Although Johnson’s article wasn’t very clear to me as I wish it was , some points stood out to me .However , I think that an educational program for a child would be animal planet or national geographic rather than 24 or Law and Order . At the same time I think that instead of a parent letting a child watch whatever he or she wants  parents should censor television for children . A child should not be forced to think like an adult through TV . Eventually a child will learn what he needs to know through living it , not watching its on a screen at home . A 6 year old does not need to learn about sex or drugs .

While Johnson does make a few good points I think Stevens stand was stronger . To me the fact that she fade fun of Johnson’s article didn’t take any credibility away from her . The point I liked to most from her article was that watching TV is “really good at teaching you to think …about future episodes” . I know from personal experience , when i watch television and see commercials for different shows it makes me want to stay on the couch and watch those shows as well . Which brings me to my next point that i very much enjoyed , which is that Johnson doesn’t mention the 16 minutes of commercials you have in each of these programs . Do these commercials and advertisements make us any smarter? I don’t think so infact this is a major void that is overlooked in Johnson’s article .

Ultimately what is at stake here is finding a perfect balance of what is good ,bad , educational,a guilty pleasure, or simply relaxing .Everyone should watch what they are comfortable and how long they want to watch it . So does TV make you smarter? Depending on what you watch how the answer to that question can easily be a yes .Balance is key.

Blog Post # 2 Does watching TV make you smarter?

                                Steven Johnson’s “Sleeper Curve” theory expressed in “Watching TV Makes You Smarter” proves some very valid points. Television is an effective tool in learning, even if this learning is subconscious, your brain is exercised from watching TV. Whether it be from following these various “threads”, mentioned by Johnson, worked into a suspenseful series, such as “24”, or if your picking up medical terms from an episode of “House.” A football game is an example of logic and strategy while a swim meet can even show a person different varieties of stroke, evidently even preventing death!                       A child predisposed to movie stars and musicians will have some idea of societal norms. Many television shows also project lessons of morality and ethics. Television shows can expand a person’s mind to different cultures. This provides a basis for a cultural relativist perspective which allows one to hopefully be tolerant of other societies.

               Television, in a way, is a way of providing structure to the minds of our youths. Even adults learn from shows, for example, “Jeopardy” and even “Are you Smarter Than a 5^th Grader.” A sense of ambition is instated in a person watching the Salsa dancing goddess on “So you Think you Can Dance.” with that washboard stomach flatter then your kitchen counter. A person may begin to think, “ hmm .. I wish I could dance like that,” or ,”hmm… I should really start working out…maybe after this episode..”

             Some may feel the need to shelter themselves or their children from disturbing news reports or gruesome visuals on “CSI”, but I believe exposure can only be a good thing. Besides, the FCC exists for a reason. I have a friend who is Russian and Ecuadorian. While she grew up her mother spoke Spanish to her and her father spoke Russian to her. My friend basically learned English in school and now speaks 3 languages. TV was most definitely a helpful tool in her English learning process. My mother used to always have me watching “Sesame Street” and “Barney”. These shows not only introduced me to letters and numbers, but also taught me moral values. Barney was always a very kind dinosaur.

                              In conclusion I agree with Steven Johnson’s case expressing television as a positive thing in a decent amount. Too much of anything is never a good thing. It may sound silly but television helps to mold a person into a well rounded, opinionated, hopefully tolerant and open-minded, individual. So, Mr. Johnson, “cultural ambiguity”, here we come.

Blog Post #2

After reading the two articles “Watching Tv makes you smarter” by Steven Johnson and ” Thinking Outside the idiot box” By Dana Stevens. I have to say that I agree with both and I conclude that its really what types of tv shows you watch that either make you smarter or dont affect you at all.

In the article ” Wathcing tv makes you smarter” Steven Johnson discusses how watching shows on tv makes you smarter. He writes about the show 24 and states that “to keep up with entertainment like 24 you have to pay attention, make inferences, and track shifting realtionships.” He describes how you do all that while just watching a tv show. He also says how while watching tv we learn things we never knew before.

Reading ” Thinking Outside the idiot box” a response to Stevens article. Dana Stevens disagrees with Steven Johnsons point. She says that not all tv shows make you smarter. In the article Dana question “What if the nature of the shows is violent, like the Discovery Channel’s animal face-off? What if the zapper is not an anti-telivisoion liberal, but a right-winger offended by Will and Grace’s living arrangment, or Janet Jackson’s breast? Who decides?

My own view on this is I think it is up to the viewer to decide what is good for them to watch because certain tv shows dont make you any smarter than you are today, for example all the reality tv shows like Jersey Shore and 19 kids and counting. However there are tv shows that do increase ones knowledge like Sesame Street and Dora, they teach kids numbers, letters, and a different language. Also the Discovery Channel and the history channel they provide information about the past and life in general.

Therefor I agree with Dana Stevens when she says ” The medium seems neither like a brain-liquefying poison nor a salutary tonic.”

bp#2 watching tv makes you smarter

Jonathan Estecumber

Watching TV makes you smarter

While reading the article watching TV makes you smarter Steven Johnson describes how he thinks TV makes you smarter and how it has a big impact in our lives. He feels that watching TV makes us smarter because why we view we pick up things we might of never herd of before. He also uses dialogs to explain for example he used dialogs from the the show ER to brake down what’s happening between the characters, what words and sentences there using.

On response on Dana Stevens article she’s disagrees with Steven Johnson’s article about how TV makes you smarter. she says  that not in all cases TV those not make you smart she describes  your force to watch TV because its so addictive with the shows they give that it makes you want to watch it even more. She also gave her opinion on the show 24 because she describes how it portrays Muslims terrorist on that show for example she writes “Wait a minute isn’t a fictional program’s connection to real-life political events like torture and racial profiling one of the “social relationships” she feels its wrong to watch stuff that has to do with real life events.  She feels that sometimes watching TV is not the best thing to do.

But as reading both articles I have to agree more with Steven Johnson the reason why being is because I do think TV does makes us smarter. Watching the news is being smart because it lets us know what’s happing around the world such as our community. It gives us in idea what where dealing with around the world. Also shows like Glee gives you another example of the lives of high school students and the conflicts between them and also how music plays a big role in there school. As for kids I think TV does make them smarter the fact that they give shows like Barny, Dora, Bob the builder, and etc shows like these make kids learn the aspects of English they start to repeat words and start putting things together like puzzle, learn different types of animals, and learn how to solve little easy stuff.

That’s why I agree with Steven Johnson because he breaks down how TV makes us smarter and uses dialogs to back up his statements. As for Dana Stevens I think is just an opinion on her behave she feels that some stuff that they play on TV is bad for us but there were some stuff that she did agreed on with Steven Johnson On how in the past two decades the views on TV grew rapidly. But as reading both articles I like the way how both Arthurs broke down the benefits and non benefits of watching TV.

I actually would recommend more people to watch more TV because they get a sense on what’s happing and give our brains a little more boost about human knowledge also. In TV they give channels like the history channel and the Discover channel those are channels that could even more help us learn about nature.

Blog 2 Does TV Make You Smarter

From the articles I have read argue about if TV makes you smarter or not. One article is called “Watching TV Makes You Smarter” by Steven Johnson and the other is “Thinking Outside the Idiot Box” by Dana Stevens. The first article argues that by watching television makes you smarter the other argues that it doesn’t.  They basically argue weather television has a positive or a negative effect on humans. I would have say that I agree with both authors.

You can learn from watching television. I have a few friends that learned how to speak English and read through television. There are a lot of educational channels like the history channel, Discovery channel, PBS, Science Channel, Wild Life channel, National Geographic Specials, Animal World, Academic Technology USA, Information TV, and etc… That you can watch. Not only you can learn from educational channels but you also can learn from regular channels as well because most of the shows have morals behind it.  You learn the way of life.  It true television does have its negatives but you can learn from it as well such as if you were a child you’ll learn that violence, steeling, killing, and drug use is wrong.

Yes there are shows that have violence, nudity,   profanity, drug use and etc… that influence children in a bad way but there is no reason to take way the TV. That also parents responsibility to make sure that children are not watching adult shows.

I personally think that television is mostly to entertainment viewers. All channels are made for different kind of audience that the Federal Communication Commission is trying to reach out to.  For example the PBS is made for the children and science channel is for people that are interested in science.

blog post #2

Watching TV does not make you smarter

Some may say that watching television could be educational, depending on what is being viewed. There is plenty of educational programs on television today. The news for instance gives a great deal of information immediately from what is currently happening around the world. Views can learn right away what is happening with a brief and detailed message.

But along with the news there comes other education channels like, The National Geographic Channel, and Discovery Channel. The shows that is aired on this channels gives a great amount of information where people could understand. Other television channels and episodes are mostly associated with entertainment. Generally these shows are purely for entertainment.  Steven Johnson’s article for  The New York Times, Watching TV Makes You Smarter could be argued that, not all of the shows that is on television today could be making people smarter. Most shows televised aren’t at all trying to be educational like The  Real House Wifes, and MTV’s Jersey Shore. People might not be getting the most of intellectual conversations or messages from these kind of shows today.

While more information is available for people today, the only thing that can be understood that is if the viewer doesn’t understand something that is on the aired show, the viewer can immediately look up the information on the internet. Therefore this can explain how some people maybe learning from watching television. Not the way Steven Johnson explains. Even though the information that is given to the viewer can help with solving what is happening next on the aired show. People wouldn’t take an IQ test immediately following The Jersey Shore Show and would have got a higher score.