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Reviews by Pancho @ "Thinking Outside the Idiot Box" by Dana Stevens


⌧Thinking Outside the Idiot Box⌧


The passage “Thinking outside the idiot box” by Dana Stevens counteracts the logic of what Steven Johnson seems to believe when it comes to watching thriller television shows filled with a lot of suspense.  There are some points in her passage that I disagree with.  For example on page 298 where she states “But shouldn’t grown men and women be trusted to judge their own dosages, just as they would decide on the number of drinks they can handle at the bar?”  

Drinking alcohol and watching television are two completely different events that have different effects on people.  Ms. Stevens said that grown adults could be trusted to limit the amount of alcohol they put in their body, but yet most of them who go to the bar end up getting drunk.  The same thing happens with television in an adult’s life.  Some adults who might have lost of their job or just don’t feel the need to get one sit down and watch television for hours.  They continue to watch the T.V until they end up falling asleep, and they never know when to stop.  

While some of the points might have been a contradiction to Steven Johnson, I completely disagree with her point on adults being able to easily limit their time watching television.  The characteristic that made her passage so strong would have to be when she challenges Johnsons’ theory on T.V making you smarter with the National TV Turnoff Week.  

Page 298 clearly states this on the bottom paragraph: “There couldn’t be a better time to test Steven Johnson’s theory than National TV Turnoff Week- just turn the set off till Sunday and see if you get any dumber.” These are my views on the Dana Stevens passage.

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