Research of Whether Watching Tv Makes You Smarter

In the essay “Watching Tv Makes You Smarter,” Steven Johnson argues that several of the series that our society considers not beneficial TV is actually quite beneficial to our mental skill. This convincing paper by Steven Johnson confronts what present literature and history, educates us: TV is awful, evade looking at series. As many may know, it is familiar that TV was designed to “make us dumb” and “control us”, causing ourselves slowly to become vulnerable with this appearance of electronics. But despite that, in Johnson’s mindset, TV these days develops ability, consequently making us increase our intellectual. During our period of watching programs, besides the fuss, all of us become able to understand sharply and determine surroundings and circumstances. Johnson certainly affirms not ALL TV programs may be constructive, since there exist a few figures of amusement which are overly erotic in various methods.

I agree with Johnson that the advantage people get from series do not appear out of mastering and copying the personalities, behaviors, it appears from reflecting and assuming positions. For instance, a good example of a worthy TV program would be shows like History Channel or Discovery Channel, shows we can actually learn from, either ancient stories that are now famous or about animals that live in our world.

Johnson illustrates a connection among multiplex series from the old days to complicated programs the present time, multitasking. As Johnson mentions that crowds gladly support that twist because they have been taught by years of multitasking dramas. In the old days, the show Hill Street had been well known as overly complicated for observers to comprehend. Today, the series The Sopranos utilizes similar multitasking capability and now these series is admired and cherished by watchers this current day. That demonstrates that cleverness has improved as well with the benefit of complicated programs that lets us be open-minded. It’s not the author’s intention to make the audience consider that he agrees specifically that guardians have to avoid supervising what kids are watching. Rather than as he says, in other words, Johnson insists for an adjustment in the values of determining what is really mentally damage and what is commonly healthy.

For example, in the article “Are Video Games Art,” Nick Gillespie mentions the age of people who play video games, which makes a connection with one of Johnson's reasons. “The average player is 30 years old, and 45 percent of players are female” (1). Gillespie references to parents supervising what kind of video games their children play which is similar to what Johnson says about not avoiding to supervise what kids watch on TV. “I am not arguing that parents should stop paying attention to the way their children amuse themselves. What I am arguing for is a change in the criteria we use to determine what really is cognitive junk food and what is genuinely nourishing (1). The example that Gillespie gives is about children playing violent games, which leads to the most important reason he makes, parents have lost their children due to these kinds of games.“Families of dead students sued video game companies under product liability law (the case was ultimately dismissed), and books such as 1999's Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill: A Call to Action Against TV, Movie and Video Game Violence, by former West Point professor Dave Grossman, argued for outright bans” (1). Kids become so obsessed with violent games that they eventually become a victim of these video games.

Leading to hurt themselves or even worse somebody else. Families have been torn apart due to their kids making one simple mistake because they get the wrong idea from a video game. It’s come to a point where families feel the need to sue the company and make a scene to prove a point, to let other parents know the damage that violent video games can cause. There's a connection between these two authors because they're both comparing ages and both believe that it’s necessary to observe what their kids are learning from, not only to check that they’re on the right track but to also make sure that they’re learning something that’ll actually be useful in the future. Continuing Johnson’s argument, he states, “...Today's reality programming is reliably structured like a video game: a series of competitive tests, growing more challenging over time. Many reality shows borrow a subtler device from gaming culture as well: the rules aren't fully established at the outset. You learn as you play” (1). As Johnson speaks about today’s reality shows he mentions the word video games once again. Describing that many series actually get some ideas off of video games such as, hard challenges, making your mind really think of how to obtain the goal. Though it may seem impossible at first, you’ll figure it out as you continue playing, because your brain won’t be able to rest in peace until you have finally faced the challenge.

So what are really the beneficiaries of reality shows?

Reality TV offer us a chance to improve our own techniques by watching how participants behave during one of the most significant days of their lives. Speaking of these types of shows, some of today’s programs may have a similar but different complexity. Such as the series Lucifer and the movie Deadpool, these two productions have a connection because they have a similar type of format. For instance, both productions have an odd and interesting way of laying out their scenes, which is, they introduce a scene at the beginning of the products that make the audience wonder why is this happening or why do we need to watch this? Which then leads to confusion for the audience until later, these two productions include at the end of the story why all the confusion was necessary. But the point of these two productions is that in a way they’re educational, Lucifer is based on the bible which is beneficial for people who are religious.

In Deadpool, I feel that one of the important messages was that you should never judge a book by its cover and that there is always a positive side to any situation. It also shows that you can't give up and that anyone can be good, and how it only takes a few seconds to be a hero. Adding more to my opinion about Johnson being correct in watching certain TV makes us smarter. I have actually witnessed someone learn and become wiser just by watching TV. And actually, have experienced myself learning from TV. For example, not so long ago on a casual Friday night, I was babysitting my 10-year-old niece who loves to watch TV, but to be honest she acts a little bit older than her age. My niece loves to watch movies that are kind of out of her range, I remember her asking me if I had ever watched the movie Freedom Writers which is an educational movie, but for high schoolers, of course, I had but I answered no just so I could ask her what the movie was about. As I asked what the movie was about she detailedly described to me what the rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution was and what the theme of the movie was which was tolerance and understanding. This shocked me because it made me ask myself how can a 10-year-old understand a movie that is for older and wiser people. Which made me realize that TV can be very useful in many ways only if it’s educational or gives a strong message that can be useful in the future or can make you see things in a different perspective.

My personal experience includes the popular show Grey’s Anatomy which focuses on doctors who work in a hospital doing complicated and impossible procedures. Since I am a nursing student I actually have to learn the procedures they perform in the show, such as performing an autopsy or taking someone's blood pressure, or even more important learning medical terms, which may I say I have learned a lot. My point is that this is what really matters when it comes to watching TV, people are supposed to watch TV that inspire them or benefits them in any way possible. I have actually read that studies have shown that watching television can practically improve reading skills and comprehension. After all, I agree with Johnson’s argument. I believe that watching more TV can make us get a different perspective on life and give our brains a little more boost about human knowledge.