Watching Television
In the digitalized economy, technology is used in various aspects to communicate different information to the audience. Various technologies in information communication are in place with major functions of gathering and communicating varied information to the audience depending on the subject of coverage. Among these technologies is the television which, apart from being used to communicate information, is used for entertainment purposes. This paper seeks to analyze the assertion that watching television makes one smart according to Steen Johnsons.
This is a concept that is open for discussion since watching television does not necessary make you smarter, because at times it contributes to ruining morals of the viewers. The assertion that watching television makes you smarter basically implies that there is added value in terms of thinking and acting to the viewers of television program. This assertion tends to imply that watching television is wholly beneficial to the viewers, which, at times, is not necessarily the case. Those who support this assertion base their arguments to the benefits attached to watching television (Mangal 16).
In support of this assertion, watching television is highly beneficial since some of the programs aired on television are educative. These educative programs are beneficial to the viewers if only they watch these programs with a mind of inquiry. Most educative programs on television touch the current situation. This concept helps the viewers who integrate that information to be in a position to cope with the changing situation in the society and also criticize the actions of certain people within the society. For instance, a television program that educates citizens on their legal rights may use that knowledge in criticizing those who may act in a manner likely to infringe their rights. There are also educative programs designed for audiences in different age brackets. There are programs aired on television that specifically serve to educate children on the use of alphabets. All these programs make one smarter in terms of thinking as they also serve to improve the knowledge capacity of viewers.
The world has become a global village as a result of emergence of the current information technology. People from different states engage each other in different aspects of life including in international trade relations. Investors, especially those who engage in international businesses, will always seek to know the economic and political conditions within the country they wish to invest in. Television serves this role as it confers information to users regarding different aspects of the various states. The Cable News Network (CNN), for instance, is a program aired in various television channels all over the world, and it gives up-to-date information to the viewers. This gives an insight to the viewers who then engage in critical thinking and evaluation on how to handle such a situation. A person will know what is happening in various parts of the world (Mangal 13).
Supporters of this assertion also argue that television programs help in instilling knowledge to viewers regarding different aspects of life. Various programs teach various aspects of life like people’s culture thus encouraging diversity, investment programs, education regarding economic growth among others. Information communicated through television like in advertisement programs triggers business people into thinking. They are in a position to gather information on performance of competitors within the market and the threat posed to their business and products by the competitors. They will engage their mind to come up with the strategies that will assist in coping with the current situation. Engaging your mind to critical thinking and evaluation makes a person smarter (Mangal 63).
The entertainment programs aired on television are educative programs although not all. People will indulge their creativity in entertainment to communicate certain moral values into people’s lives. There are programs that educate viewers on the issue of responsible parentage. This adds value to the way in which parents are supposed to bring up their sons and daughters. Entertainment on different cultures make the viewers accept the diversity of people’s personalities and live in mutual co-existence with one another. All these aspects make one smarter as they help in the development of personality (Hub Pages Inc 1).
However, there are scholars who oppose this assertion by Steen Johnson. They portend that one cannot become smarter when the morals are ruined. Most of the programs aired on television nowadays always have an aspect of sex. Most of advertisements, for instance, involve ladies who are almost nude. The pornography programs aired on television ruin morals, especially in the case with children. This is detrimental to the values of personality and, therefore, does not make one smarter (Mukesh & Ranju 13).
In conclusion, the assertion by Johnson seems to have a huge support. However, the argument by the opponents of this assertion should not be ignored as it can serve to improve the programs aired on our television. It is however worth to conclude that watching television to a certain extent makes one smarter.
