From the time I first read Johnson's claim, I thought it was utterly ridiculous! I disagree that just by simply watching tv you are getting smarter. Yes, some shows make us use our brain to keep up with all the different interactions and plots but I do not feel like we gain intelligience by doing so.
In Steven's, Thinking Outside the Idiot Box, she argues against Johnson in every way possible. She states, "As far as I can tell, his thesis is that television shows have slowly grown more and more complicated over the last two decades..." I see this point also; all Johnson really does is compare the complexity of the plots from todays televison to the past ones. Stevens finds humor in looking at the graphs that Johnson provided to try and enhance his argument. She also went about by saying, "If watching TV really makes you smarter...then I guess I need to watch a lot more of it, because try as I might, I could not make sense of Johnson's piece." Stevens does not force her opinion upon you, she is just sharing hers and saying if you would like to test what Johnson says then participate in the TV Turnoff Week and see if you dumb down a little.
In Johnson's article he says that children, as well as adults, should filter what they watch. Stevens says that adults are smart enough to choose what and how much of a show to engage in. I agree with her argument all the way through.
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