Preview

Steven Pinker Mind Over Mass Media Analysis

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
250 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Steven Pinker Mind Over Mass Media Analysis
Katie Guy
Mrs. Newport
English 1301
24 October 2015
SSR #1 In Steven Pinker’s “Mind Over Mass Media” he describes the multiple ways technology along with social networking have, in contrast to popular belief, actually amped our intellect and refined many situations for the good of society and progression of our workplace. He describes the negative connotations we normally tend to see toward video games, twitter, email, or television but responds by giving several examples of how it actually has improved intelligence and community as a whole. Within his writing Pinker establishes a firm foundation with facts to support his understanding of electronic technologies and their benefits. “The decades of television….were decades in which IQ scores

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    With technology comes great responsibility. By depending on technology one is becoming complacent and limiting one’s full potential to grasp new knowledge. This paper will analyze two articles discussed in class “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted” by Malcolm Gladwell and “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” by Nicholas Carr as well as WALL-E. Society at some point will become too dependent on technology without even realizing, affecting the way individuals communicate, think, and learn. Technology will shape our society with both negative and positive effects. Technologies rapid growth is having a lasting effect on our future, where we become desensitized to reality.…

    • 518 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Chapter 13 of They Say I Say by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein analyze the ongoing, controversial topic of social media/ technology. The authors organize both sides of the topic by going back and forth and giving different view points. The two sides of the argument are one, that technology and social media "fries our brain" and makes person to person communication more of a problem than what it used to be. On side two, we hear that technology actually brings us together and gives us immense amounts of information that we never had access to before. "You may have heard parents and journalists complain that smartphones, iPads, and other electronic devices that seem almost wired into our brains are destroying our ability to think, communicate,…

    • 206 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Nicholas Carr in The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to our Brains (2010) asserts that the internet is the single most powerful mind-altering technology. Carr supports this assertion by giving various, significant examples of how people think with the internet today compared to how they thought back then. The writer concludes in order for people to improve skills, they will have to cope with the new technology and the way they think.…

    • 381 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The book Technopoly (1992) by Neil Postman, published more than two decades ago, before social media as we know it today in the 21st century. Despite the passage of time, Postman’s critique of technology remains current and relevant, even though technology has made advances that he could not have been able to fathom. Whether the reader agrees or disagrees with Postman, what he is trying to accomplish is to raise a heightened awareness of ourselves, so that we can get back in touch with our non-technological culture and reconnect with being human; to wake up and reexamine the way we use technology and not allow technology to gain control of us.…

    • 1656 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the article, “Mind over Mass Media, Pinker grabs his reader’s attention right away by giving the reader the background. Pinker uses logical appeal when he states his historical history on the moral panic. Pinker argues that the new day technology such as the internet and mass media has been criticized due to the dangers of the consumer intelligence. In fact, he believes it is the total opposite, and that it enhances their intelligence instead. Pinker references the fact that scientist are heavy users of technology when it comes to the new forms of scientific discoveries, and that because of this, the advancements are…

    • 1397 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    “The use of texting and Facebook and Twitter and other sites as a form of communication is eroding people’s ability to write sentences that communicate real meaning and inhibit the art of dialogue,” Saunders Medlock says. “It also allows people to communicate without ever seeing each other or hearing a voice, and this has a…

    • 1156 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mark Doty Artificial

    • 1427 Words
    • 6 Pages

    We spend so much time on social media that we begin to see the world through the screen of our phones rather than the lens of our own eyes. People experience the entire thrill through a fractured prism of preconceived notions, constructed by digital imagery, second hand experiences, and other’s opinions. I see technology as efficient but it makes us lazy and less intelligent.…

    • 1427 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Analysis 2

    • 688 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The essay “Does the Internet Make You Smarter?” talks about how the internet has evolved from classic print and how it affects people in today’s society. The author talks about what people have the capability to create using the internet and electronics. The author also talks about the mediocre things that are being published on the internet. Throughout the essay the author talks about the issues that society came upon when the first printing press was created and how it is similar to what we are encountering today. Going along in this essay the author brings up how there are things that get released that can help people of today and there are also things created that aren’t as beneficial to society. He goes on to say that what is created that can benefit us takes much longer for the widespread of it than the time it takes for the widespread of something less important.…

    • 688 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The central message of this text is that if people are not careful with the constant bombardment of electronic stimulation, they will go down a path of eventual knowledge bankruptcy. This bankruptcy will lead to our minds becoming hardwired differently than ever before, and could lead to future generations subsequently being more and more unintelligent.…

    • 388 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    According to Lauren Shinozuka, in her essay, “The Dangers of Digital Distractedness,” we are a digital generation. She asserts we are celebrated for our aptitude in effortless interactions with society through technology. However, the author questions the effect that this mass use of digital media has on societal and personal interactions and suggests we are alienating ourselves from those around us. She offers the point that we have developed an obsession with high-tech communication and are afflicted by fruitlessly attempting to do too many things at once, as well as automating our interpersonal interactions, disconnecting from genuine contact, and promoting a falsified version of…

    • 411 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Digital Nation Analysis

    • 738 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the Frontline video titled Digital Nation, Rachel Dretzin and Douglas Rushkoff explored the impact of digital media on today’s society. In the video they cover everything from it’s impact on the brain, to it’s impact on students, to it’s impact on the military. Nothing is spared in this investigation on the effect of digital media, and growing up in a wired world. However the main thing I managed to take away from this film was it has had a dramatic effect on human abilities and communication, which I will be discussing in the following paragraphs.…

    • 738 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Secondly, people should moderately use technology because an over-use of technology, such as in the use of social media sites, causes a vulnerability in real-life social skills. In “What’s the Matter with Kids Today?,” Amy Goldwasser incorrectly points out that children should use their form of reading and writing in their social lives and apply it to education. Goldwasser refutes against the claims of the older generation in that the Internet has negative consequences on children and instead, argues that the Internet beneficially impacts children because it is a form of communication that is composed of a generation of writers, activists, and storytellers. She believes that the internet has encouraged teenagers to “read and write for fun;…

    • 1036 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Dumbest Generation

    • 664 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Modern technology has its merits. As Bauerlein points out in his article “the Dumbest Generation”, the digital revolution has provided us with “miraculous quick and effortless contact with information.” Indeed, we are the generation surrounded by technology, and the immediate access to countless of information has definitely aided us in many aspects of the modern society. Researching information has become…

    • 664 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Since the internet’s public use in 1989, it has affected the population in both positive and negative ways. The ability to remain connected with distant friends and relatives and to exchange vital information has been of extreme use to us personally and as a culture. Yet, as with any new technology, people tend to look at the negative side of things. They see the internet as a place where real life social interaction is ruined and how it is a danger to people on a physical level. The exact same thing occurred when the television was invented and during the time when rock music became very popular. These arguments have already been thoroughly examined with no definite conclusions made. I intend to show people how the internet benefits us in ways that far defeat the negative effects.…

    • 1300 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Man Vs. Technology

    • 390 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Some would say the world has changed for the better because of the technological advances. But our lives are more complicated because these possessions take up our time and choke our spirituality. It makes us miss the simple things in life; like having face-to-face conversations and enjoying the outdoors with friends and family. Technology has changed the way we do everything now; track money, do business and so much more. It has become a huge aspect of our social lives. You see the workforce having to work from home, which is changing the way we live. It brought education to those that don't have the proper schooling as well.…

    • 390 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays