Final Post

In the book by Steven Johnson, Everything Bad is Good For You, brings us in by talking about how the trash or junk that we usually are trying to get rid of is making us smarter. He brings this theory from the basis of neuroscience and literal theory. Johnson claims that video games like, Tetris , Pack Man or Sim City are actually causing us to use our brains more. He also says that parent's shouldn't get so upset about their children playing a lot of video games , because it is causing them to use more of their mental and motor skills. I believe for that to be true, however, some games such as Grand Theft Auto teaches kids to be violent and think negative thoughts. Johnson doesn't think that we should think like that he says that by playing games like that will build up their cognitive skills. In addition, he says that with certain things in reading you wouldn't learn if you were not playing a video game. He wants people to see a different side to things with the media. Additionally, in the book he questions if the things that we watch or do is actually making us dumber within our culture or smarter. Back to video games, he says that now days video games are becoming more complex because of the rules and steps in which the game entails. In addition, you are learning by logic and trial and error, which can be frustrating . There for by this happening you are constantly using your cognitive skills to figure out how to get through the game. An example could be a mystery game or a game that involves adventure and that causes you to go through desicion making which is called learning. So I agree with him with that but what about the content mentally? Usually now days the content in video games are too complex and are negative and inappropriate for young children to play. This can damage the child's psych and that isn't good either. As far as content video games now day some times has sex and a lot of violence and how can that make us smarter? Video games are not the only thing that has sex an violence because TV does too. A lot of shows now days have more dramtic plots and the complexity causes us to think more. For instance shows like ER causes people to use more brain power. Diane Kristine quoted from his book that, " the aduience now has a willigness to be confused , to be challenged." However, there are a lot of shows that are just comedy or reality shows that have no depth. Those are the type of shows that don't cause us to think and in that case those shows are surly not making us smarter. There is no serious thinking or logic to them and that is where the name coach potato comes in. So with saying that this part of popular culture is making us dumber, if you are watching these types f shows for hours on end. Further, I don't agree that parents should let their children watch a lot of TV because kids mostly want to watch nosense stuff. I didn't undertsand Johnson when he said that statement. That was one of his arguments about popular culture and I disagree when he said don't focus too much on the content but in this day in age you have to. There is god knows what on TV. In fact, in the article, Pop Culture Is Brain Food. Really , by Diane Kristine says, " the prime weakness of Johnsons argument is that he almost completely is divorcing content from his thesis. Any complaints about violence, morality, or even sheer stupidity have not place in his tight focus". With reading that quote I asked my self why did he avoid those obvious issues?
So in that case I believe that popular culture needs to realize the importance of this generation and want to help the youth become smarter and think more positive. However, it really has to start in the home cause pop culture is there for itself and what ever sells is what gets put out there. Furthermore, pop culture should continue to have complex shows but at the same time allow the audience to still be stimulated in the correct way and have fun as well. Additionally, as far as the video games children under 18 years of age shouldn't be able to play video games with sex and violence because they are still learning. Children are too impressionable and they don't even realize it. With concluding that statement, there is an importance that popular culture plays in out society and it is up to the producers that our society grows to be healthier instead of more filthy.
In some ways popular culture is making us smarter when if comes to complex things and decision making but at the same time in many ways its making a lot of people dumber because very often there are those that don't like to think. If there is know strenuous thinking information is just coming in and out with no real impact. Popular culture effects us every day because it surrounds us. There is no getting around it because there is music,TV, newpapers, and magazines every where. There are even people talking about things in our culture and you are bound to hear them. It is up to people to decide how much that they are going to be influenced to and no one can make those decisions for them, but themselves.