Analysis Of Watching Tv Makes You Smarter
Steven Johnson, the author of “Watching TV makes you smarter” sheds light on the concept he calls the Sleeper Curve that essentially states that the cognitive complexity of today’s popular media is steadily increasing with passing time. And shows like Greys Anatomy and House clearly portraits the sleeper curve that Johnson is talking about when it comes to multithreading, flashing arrows and social networks. These shows are both medical dramas which use a ton of medical jargon which could make it difficult to comprehend by a layperson but still has viewers hooked on and tuning in every week. The reason is the flashing arrow concept of giving enough information to make sense of the plot without overwhelming the viewer. The thrill of complex
material that the viewer has to uncover or decode is the driving factor to the sleeper curve. And can be seen as discussion blogs for shows is a big thing these days as every segment of a show is dissected and analyzed each week. For example, Pretty little liars has the viewers speculating each week of who the notorious “A” is and each character is seen as a potential suspect with every frame of the episode analyzed by fans. Today’s TV demands much more from its viewers than the past, as past episodes interlink with the future episodes making it far more complex and requires the viewers to remain focused and dedicated to the show. And as my fellow classmate Justin Walker points out that shows like Game of thrones have millions of followers tuning in every season making these shows the ultimate reason the sleeper curve exists to generate money. As more complex the show the more likely the viewers will have to go back and re-watch the episodes and more clues can be uncovered each time they are re-watched. I definitely agree that today’s popular media is more cognitively stimulating than the past, but not everything on TV is, we as viewers have to be smart about the content we watch and sort the good from the bad.
material that the viewer has to uncover or decode is the driving factor to the sleeper curve. And can be seen as discussion blogs for shows is a big thing these days as every segment of a show is dissected and analyzed each week. For example, Pretty little liars has the viewers speculating each week of who the notorious “A” is and each character is seen as a potential suspect with every frame of the episode analyzed by fans. Today’s TV demands much more from its viewers than the past, as past episodes interlink with the future episodes making it far more complex and requires the viewers to remain focused and dedicated to the show. And as my fellow classmate Justin Walker points out that shows like Game of thrones have millions of followers tuning in every season making these shows the ultimate reason the sleeper curve exists to generate money. As more complex the show the more likely the viewers will have to go back and re-watch the episodes and more clues can be uncovered each time they are re-watched. I definitely agree that today’s popular media is more cognitively stimulating than the past, but not everything on TV is, we as viewers have to be smart about the content we watch and sort the good from the bad.