Blog Entry # 7, George F. Will "Reality television: Oxymoron"

George F. Will in his article "Reality television: Oxymoron" describes as a "race to the bottom" the TV shows in which people "degrade themselves for money." One of George F. Will's main points is the fact that television is all about imitation. For example, in this article it is the television show "Fear Factor." "Fear Factor" was created based on the MTV show and takes the basic concept of Jackass to gain viewers and participants. George F. Will claims the networks that air these shows like "Fear Factor" for the addiction that can be compared to heroin.
In the article "Watching TV Makes You Smarter" by Steven Johnson, Johnson underlines that it takes more brain power to understand and think through some of the shows that are on today. As for George F. Will, he might argue that even if the television shows deal with more complicated concepts and it takes more brain power to pick up on the humor, those television shows are also contributing to our "desensitized nature". He also said, "entertainment seeking a mass audience is ratcheting up the violence, sexuality, and degradation, becoming increasingly coarse and trying to be - its largest challenge - shocking in an unshockable society".
In the article "Thinking Outside the Idiot Box" by Dana Stevens, she argues that Steven Johnson's article was a weak argument,"as long as Johnson defines intelligence strictly in quantitative cog-sci terms ("attention, patience, retention, the parsing of narrative threads," etc.), his case may seem solid... But does that make us any smarter? .. Johnson's claim for television as a tool for brain enhancement seems deeply, hilariously bogus." George F. Will might also agree with the argument that Stevens makes. He forms a list of different technological devices and says, “this is progress: more sophisticated delivery of stupidity.”
As for Dana Stevens, she emphasizes the idea that the new complicated television shows don't make people use their brain and think outside the box. And I'd like to agree with her that television viewers don't watch TV shows for the brain stimulation, they watch it for entertainment and because it is what is popular today.