Response Paragraph
Benefits of Watching Television
In today’s society many Americans watch television for entertainment everyday. Although watching television is a common source of entertainment for many, parents believe that watching TV is harmful to their kids’ brains. These parents argue that if kids are allowed to watch television, then it will “rot” their brains. In the article “Watching TV Makes You Smarter” by Steven Johnson, Johnson argues the benefits of watching television. He argues that all ages can benefit from watching hit TV shows. Johnson refers to the sleeper curve, having to pay attention and make inferences while watching TV shows, to explain his points. Johnson successfully explains that the sleeper curve enhances cognitive development with televised intelligence, overlapping threads, and advanced dialogue.
The sleeper curve that Johnson explains enhances cognitive development with televised intelligence that requires more thought from viewers than the witty comments that used to be added to sitcoms required. I agree that the televised intelligence incorporated in modern TV shows enhances cognitive development by demanding more out of the viewers. TV shows on the air have grown in complexity. Johnson explains, “Over the last half-century, programming on TV has increased the demands it places on precisely these mental faculties [attention, patience, retention, and the parsing of narrative threads]” (Johnson 280). Modern TV shows are filled with different information in every episode. Most of the information used in the episodes are intelligent or complex. Therefore, to understand the plot of the show, skipping an episode is not an option. The viewer must pay close attention to every episode to fully comprehend what is going on in the storyline. One way the shows have gotten more complex is adding simultaneous threads.
Modern TV shows have changed over the years and have started to add more overlapping threads to keep the viewers watching. Johnson is surely right about the media conditioning our brains to understand more in depth shows. Johnson himself writes, “...the media titans decided to condition our brains to follow ever-larger numbers of simultaneous threads” (Johnson 283). When the media titan condition viewers to follow intricate storylines, they capture the audience's attention for seasons, which also promises them more money. An example of a multi-threading TV show is Pretty Little Liars. The show has gone on for seven seasons, and it continues to capture the viewers with the problem solving it encourages to find out who is torturing the main characters. There are multiple problems getting solved throughout the course of the episodes simultaneously. Not only have modern shows used the multi-threading techniques I described, they have also developed more advanced dialogue.
The dialogue of modern television has become more advanced than it had been in past shows. Johnson’s theory of shows containing more advanced dialogue is rightfully supported by many shows on the air today. For example, the hit TV show Grey’s Anatomy uses jargon related to the medical field in every episode. Although most of the Grey’s Anatomy fans don’t understand all of the jargon put into the show, they understand that the jargon is used to add a more realistic effect on the show. Johnson’s point is that “The characters talk faster in these shows, but truly remarkable thing about the dialogue is not purely a matter of speed; it’s the willingness to immerse the audience in information that most viewers won’t understand” (Johnson 287). The added advanced dialogue increases the reality of the fictional shows and makes the viewers think more about what is happening in the show.
In conclusion, watching television can benefit the cognitive brain power if the viewer chooses to watch shows that follow the sleeper curve. These shows that follow the sleeper curve have advanced from the shows in the past by becoming detailed instead of just being mindless humor. If the shows that contain useless humor are chosen, then the cognitive functions of the brain will not be enhanced like the new shows would. These new TV shows make viewers smarter with every episode they watch. Johnson perfectly explains the sleeper curve and how it enhances cognitive development with televised intelligence, overlapping threads, and advanced dialogue.
Works Cited
Johnson, Steven. "Watching TV Makes You Smarter." They Say I Say With Readings. By Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein. Ed. Russel Durst. 2E ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2012. 179-189. Print
In today’s society many Americans watch television for entertainment everyday. Although watching television is a common source of entertainment for many, parents believe that watching TV is harmful to their kids’ brains. These parents argue that if kids are allowed to watch television, then it will “rot” their brains. In the article “Watching TV Makes You Smarter” by Steven Johnson, Johnson argues the benefits of watching television. He argues that all ages can benefit from watching hit TV shows. Johnson refers to the sleeper curve, having to pay attention and make inferences while watching TV shows, to explain his points. Johnson successfully explains that the sleeper curve enhances cognitive development with televised intelligence, overlapping threads, and advanced dialogue.
The sleeper curve that Johnson explains enhances cognitive development with televised intelligence that requires more thought from viewers than the witty comments that used to be added to sitcoms required. I agree that the televised intelligence incorporated in modern TV shows enhances cognitive development by demanding more out of the viewers. TV shows on the air have grown in complexity. Johnson explains, “Over the last half-century, programming on TV has increased the demands it places on precisely these mental faculties [attention, patience, retention, and the parsing of narrative threads]” (Johnson 280). Modern TV shows are filled with different information in every episode. Most of the information used in the episodes are intelligent or complex. Therefore, to understand the plot of the show, skipping an episode is not an option. The viewer must pay close attention to every episode to fully comprehend what is going on in the storyline. One way the shows have gotten more complex is adding simultaneous threads.
Modern TV shows have changed over the years and have started to add more overlapping threads to keep the viewers watching. Johnson is surely right about the media conditioning our brains to understand more in depth shows. Johnson himself writes, “...the media titans decided to condition our brains to follow ever-larger numbers of simultaneous threads” (Johnson 283). When the media titan condition viewers to follow intricate storylines, they capture the audience's attention for seasons, which also promises them more money. An example of a multi-threading TV show is Pretty Little Liars. The show has gone on for seven seasons, and it continues to capture the viewers with the problem solving it encourages to find out who is torturing the main characters. There are multiple problems getting solved throughout the course of the episodes simultaneously. Not only have modern shows used the multi-threading techniques I described, they have also developed more advanced dialogue.
The dialogue of modern television has become more advanced than it had been in past shows. Johnson’s theory of shows containing more advanced dialogue is rightfully supported by many shows on the air today. For example, the hit TV show Grey’s Anatomy uses jargon related to the medical field in every episode. Although most of the Grey’s Anatomy fans don’t understand all of the jargon put into the show, they understand that the jargon is used to add a more realistic effect on the show. Johnson’s point is that “The characters talk faster in these shows, but truly remarkable thing about the dialogue is not purely a matter of speed; it’s the willingness to immerse the audience in information that most viewers won’t understand” (Johnson 287). The added advanced dialogue increases the reality of the fictional shows and makes the viewers think more about what is happening in the show.
In conclusion, watching television can benefit the cognitive brain power if the viewer chooses to watch shows that follow the sleeper curve. These shows that follow the sleeper curve have advanced from the shows in the past by becoming detailed instead of just being mindless humor. If the shows that contain useless humor are chosen, then the cognitive functions of the brain will not be enhanced like the new shows would. These new TV shows make viewers smarter with every episode they watch. Johnson perfectly explains the sleeper curve and how it enhances cognitive development with televised intelligence, overlapping threads, and advanced dialogue.
Works Cited
Johnson, Steven. "Watching TV Makes You Smarter." They Say I Say With Readings. By Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein. Ed. Russel Durst. 2E ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2012. 179-189. Print