The Intellectual Merits of Television

Introduction

In the last century, the development in different technologies has grown progressively. Our society has progresses a lot further then it was a century ago. Humans have built different tools to make the daily jobs easier and faster. Over the past century, different inventions have and are still emerging from all over the world. The lives of the people in the 19th century and the early 20th century were altered by the latest innovation of that time like the automobiles, telephones and television. There has been much debate about the impact of television; some argue that it has a positive impact while some say that it doesn't. The essay, “Thinking outside the Idiot Box,” by Dana Stevens is the response to the easy "Watching TV makes you Smarter" by Steven Johnson. In her essay, unlike Johnson, Stevens argues that TV is merely for entertainment purpose and it does not increase the intellectual abilities of the individual. This paper will highlight the intellectual merits of the television framed by the response to Dana Stevens' essay.

Discussion

Dana Stevens' article is a response to the article of Steven Johnson. Johnson argues that television is having a positive effect on society and in fact is making us smarter, while Stevens believes that television merely make the individuals think more about future episodes and in turn also disengage the viewer from the social inequalities and violence that the show may possess. Stevens said that she did not understand what his article was about. She did not really agree with anything besides that watching TV is okay-- you shouldn't watch a lot of it but you should watch a decent amount of it. According to Stevens, watching TV doesn't make you smarter, and who is to decide which shows are considered worthy of watching or not (Graff et al, pp. 182). This is proven when stating that people are smarter from being able to follow more complex narratives, it doesn't follow that they are more educated than before. It is perhaps making them think more about future episodes and in turn also disengaging the viewer from the social inequalities and violence that the show may possess. However, Stevens argues that television ought to be watched for entertainment purpose only as show do not in any way offers enhancement in mental abilities. Watching TV doesn't make you smarter, and who is to decide ...