Take a look at the following links and, in the comments section, weigh in with your opinion on the topic.
1. Malcolm Gladwell reviews Steven Johnson's book Everything Bad Is Good For You, in which Johnson argues that as popular media has grown more complex over time, it has "made us smarter."
2. And then here is an excerpt from Al Gore's book, The Assault on Reason. Gore's isn't a 180-degree refutation of Johnson's ideas, but there are important areas of disagreement.
So what do you think? Do you buy one argument over the other? Or maybe these two arguments aren't mutually exclusive? Try to use an example from your own experience to support your position.
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This article in the New Yorker makes me feel much better about playing Grand Theft Auto III. I admit, I love reading, but I see the point that the writer is trying to make. Reading is quite isolating and understimulating. Everytime I try to read a book in the afternoon or evening, I begin to doze off. I have never fallen asleep playing Grand Theft Auto III. The writer is also correct in his statement that learning that occurs from reading and the learning from TV and video games are equally important.
ReplyDeleteOkay while I happen to be a huge fan of Grand Theft Auto, I just can't believe that it is really helping me so much. There are other games, mainly ones that contain puzzles, that may stimulate your mind some, but I would never praise video games for making me any smarter nor would I compare what you learn from GTA 3 or any other video game from what you can learn from reading. The author seems like he is just an enabler for our culture today. I don't dislike, I am a part of it, but I feel like I know that I need to limit the time I play video games etc. whether I choose to or not.
ReplyDeleteThe Al Gore excerpt was interesting as well. I was especially disturbed when his political advisors came up with the television campaign and predicted an 8.5% increase in the polls. The fact that the public is so easily manipulated and is so easily predicted is disturbing to me.
I dunno, check my blog for a post on this more later. This is already to long for a comment.
I agree more with Johnson. I, like, Steven enjoy both reading and playing video games. But when I say reading I do not mean textbooks, but fiction books that create their own virtual world. But also as I said in class books and television shows have to have multiple layers to keep me entertained. A point that Johnson also makes. I also agree with the statement that reading is a fairly isolating activity. I have never been able to convince a group of my friends to sit and let me read to them but I have been in a room full of my friends playing Rock Band or games like Halo or Left 4 Dead. Video gaming, in my opinion is becoming a much more social activity.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite part of the article was the last paragraph about homework. "And the causal relation between high-school homework and achievement is unclear: it hasn’t been firmly established whether spending more time on homework in high school makes you a better student or whether better students, finding homework more pleasurable, spend more time doing it." It's almost like a catch-22. The only people that benifit from homework are the people who don't need it.
Both Johnson and Gore have valid points but I agree most with Johnson. Video games are more challenging than those of the past. Although I do love Tetris and Mario, they hardly compare to games like Grand Theft Auto.
ReplyDeleteI watch TV mainly for Scrubs. But I have noticed how the news tends to give one side off every story and create fear in everyone. It is crazy how some people base their political ideas from the news, commercials, and other shows that may include politics.
Overall, I think popular media has its goods and bads. As long as the individual maintains the ability to make their own decisions and find out the whole story, then everything is okey dokey. But more and more, people have become dependent on media for information and decisions.
I love the part in the first article about switching the times that books and video games entered our world. New things will always be criticized/tried first before they find their places.
ReplyDeleteI think everything has good and bad qualities. Video games, television, and the internet are useful and fun. I use google to work on my project and learn interesting things from TV. Al Gore has a point as well, spending too much time watching reality shows and surfing the web is not a good thing. The existence of internet, TV, et.c is not the problem. The problem is how we use them. They can all be used for "educational" purposes. So I don't think you can blame TV; it's us people who abuse technology and etc.
I enjoyed Al Gore's article, I think it raised questions about what's really going on in this country. Because he's absolutely right about people thinking their vote means nothing. I also appreciated that he offered some sort of solution which wasn't retroactive. The internet could be a very powerful connecting force. It just needs to be completely open, and it seems like the best way to ensure that is to make it cheap, so the power isn't consolidated in the realms of the rich.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't read Johnson's article because there is a "Fine Arts Block" on it. I have no idea what that means. Sounds like restriction of information to me.
There is no argument that the video game industry has become a large part of childhood in our generation. I think it could be the one reason our generation are better problem solvers. In a game rather than a book, the player has complete control of the story and out come. Also your hand and eye coordination come into play. It is also a way children of today interact with each other.
ReplyDeleteI guess the only problem I have with video games being a developmental tool is that people would rather use there skills in a virtual world rather than real life.
Generally, I agree more with Johnson (or perhaps I am drawn to his more optimistic outlook ). Individual television shows (e.g. CSI Miami, The Morning Show, soap operas) all stimulate/interact with a viewer differently, something Johnson addresses but Gore overlooks. Gore claims that “Faith in the power of reason… remains the central premise of American democracy. This premise is now under assault”. He asks “Why has America's public discourse become… less reasoned?” But that “faith” in reason is an oxymoron- reason, by definition, is not something one should “trust” with faith (maybe we do anyway)… I do agree with Gore’s point on candidate advertising- the image’s power has dramatically increased even in my lifetime, but at the same time, information about the candidates’ beliefs and past are more accessible and in-depth(in some cases, too much so) on the internet…
ReplyDeleteIn Al Gore’s excerpt, it was interesting to see his point of view, but he seemed to not take into account the benefits of television. I never thought about television taking away political influence from elected politicians. It’s definitely true, I’m more likely to listen to Jon Stewart than Al Gore, but I don’t know if that means I lose the inability to think for myself. I kind of feel like he’s saying the internet is good because it has information, but television is bad because it only promotes one side of issues. I think it would do Al Gore a lot of good to read Steven Johnson’s book and consider the positive effects of television.
ReplyDelete