The Idiot Box free essay sample

â€Å"Thinking Outside the Idiot Box† by Dana Stevens is a direct response to Steven Johnson’s article â€Å"Watching TV Makes You Smarter. † Johnson’s article claimed that today’s television is actually making viewers smarter due to plots being more complex. Dana Stevens on the other hand did not agree on this theory. She believes that television is neither a poison nor a salutary tonic. Will watching more TV make you smarter? Most likely no, today’s television programs aren’t interested in making their audience smarter; they’re interested on attracting the most viewers they possibly can. The statement by Johnson is claiming that watching TV makes you smart is so vague. It’s really tough to follow his article because he does not specifically indicate what is being improved. Is our intelligence for the outside world actually improving or is just our intelligence over that shows trivia improving? Dana Stevens agrees it is a tough subject to follow by making her point â€Å"then I guess I need to watch a lot more of it, because try as I might, I could make no sense of Johnson’s piece† (295). We will write a custom essay sample on The Idiot Box or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Stevens argues that in Steven Johnson’s piece he does note how the complexity of the plots has viewers paying more attention resulting in the viewer having to think more, but never defines what intelligence is being improved. All of the television viewers know that today’s shows in fact do make them think, but are they really thinking about how that episode benefited them intellectually or are they thinking about next week’s new episode? Mrs. Stevens states â€Å"Johnson’s claim for television as a tool for brain enhancement seems deeply hilariously bogus† (297). Dana Stevens is simply stating that television is no teacher and shouldn’t be relied on to enhance the human brain. As a child I used to think that watching television did make me dumber, only because my mother would warn me all the time about watching too much TV shows like WWE. Eventually as I got older, I realized that this statement wasn’t true. TV making viewers dumber is only true when they lose control over knowing what is reality or fiction. For instance, when viewers intimidate professional wrestling with backyard wrestling major injuries can incur or even death. Americans have always believed that watching too much TV will rot the mind. Generally speaking this is a statement most American households believe. Is too much TV a good thing or a bad thing? Dana Stevens believes it couldn’t hurt turning it down a notch when she said, â€Å"There couldn’t be a better time to test Steven Johnson’s theory than National TV Turnoff Week just turn the set off till Sunday and see if you get any dumber† (298). My own view is why not go and test it out! The worst that can happen is that you’re a week behind of your favorite show. Today’s big TV companies aren’t stressing over if their shows make viewer smarter but really over how they can improve their ratings. I agree one hundred percent with Dana Stevens that Johnson’s theories just do not add up. In her article Dana notes that TV isn’t bad with the right amount of dosage. She couldn’t have said it any way better. I believe that saying can go with everything; correct moderation is the key of not overdoing it or underdoing it.