TV Is Good For The Mind?

from the hmmm dept

Maybe this week is the week we learn various bad habits are good. Last week we had some issues with a questionable study suggesting that emailing and text messaging made you stupid, but today we’ve already had an article suggesting the easy access to porn may have benefits for children and Steven Johnson has an excerpt from his new book Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Today’s Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter published in the NY Times focusing on how today’s TV may make people smarter than TV in the past. Again, it’s easy to raise questions about the claim — since it’s not supported (at least not in the excerpt) with any data, but just anecdotes and conjecture. However, the basic concept is that it’s much more complicated to follow plot, character and story lines in today’s television than it was in the past — and you need to be a bit more aware mentally to keep up.


Rate this comment as insightful
Rate this comment as funny
You have rated this comment as insightful
You have rated this comment as funny
Flag this comment as abusive/trolling/spam
You have flagged this comment
The first word has already been claimed
The last word has already been claimed
Insightful Lightbulb icon Funny Laughing icon Abusive/trolling/spam Flag icon Insightful badge Lightbulb icon Funny badge Laughing icon Comments icon

Comments on “TV Is Good For The Mind?”

Subscribe: RSS Leave a comment
4 Comments

Add Your Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Have a Techdirt Account? Sign in now. Want one? Register here

Comment Options:

Make this the or (get credits or sign in to see balance) what's this?

What's this?

Techdirt community members with Techdirt Credits can spotlight a comment as either the "First Word" or "Last Word" on a particular comment thread. Credits can be purchased at the Techdirt Insider Shop »

Follow Techdirt

Techdirt Daily Newsletter

Ctrl-Alt-Speech

A weekly news podcast from
Mike Masnick & Ben Whitelaw

Subscribe now to Ctrl-Alt-Speech »
Techdirt Deals
Techdirt Insider Discord
The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...
Loading...