Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!ncis.llnl.gov!helios.ee.lbl.gov!pasteur!agate!bionet!csd4.milw.wisc.edu!mailrus!cornell!rochester!udel!burdvax!emerald!dave From: dave@emerald.PRC.Unisys.COM (David Lee Matuszek) Newsgroups: comp.edu Subject: Re: tEEvEE (was : Re: Are Americans Intellectually Inferior?) Message-ID: <9006@burdvax.PRC.Unisys.COM> Date: 20 Jan 89 15:57:57 GMT References: <14.UUL1.3#913@acw.UUCP> <2085@scolex> <1179@uw-entropy.ms.washington.edu> <1932@buengc.BU.EDU> <828@afit-ab.arpa> Sender: news@PRC.Unisys.COM Distribution: na Organization: Unisys Corporation, Paoli Research Center; Paoli, PA Lines: 57 In article <828@afit-ab.arpa> wbralick@blackbird.afit.af.mil (William A. Bralick) writes: >In article <1932@buengc.BU.EDU> bph@buengc.bu.edu (Blair P. Houghton) writes: >>In article <1179@uw-entropy.ms.washington.edu> charlie@mica.stat.washington.edu (Charlie Geyer) writes: >>> >>>Americans are intellectually inferior because they learn everything >>>they know from TV. >> >>Can you tell who's been watching too much of the tube? >> >>The Boston globe ran an article this past Sunday where the authors took >>every study they could find (a few hunnert...) of TV vs. intellect from >>the past umpteen years, and summarized: >> >>TV doesn't hinder nor does it aid one's education, unless you're learning >>the numbers and letters offa Sesame Street. >> > >I am somehow extremely surprised that the results of this "study," >published in the esteemed (and refereed) journal, _Boston Globe_, >pander to the prejudices of the Globe's tube-head readership. >Everyone *knows* that tEEvEE doesn't turn your brain to mush, it's >educational. Personally, I am amazed at people who can view _Three's >Company_ or a foo-bah game while they read Plato and derive great >intellectual enlightenment from both. > >Of course tEEvEE hinders your education. How can you continue to educate >yourself as an adult while that mindless, insulting drivel sucks up your >attention? I disagree. The Boston Globe's results sound right to me. While I agree that reading Plato is more educational than watching virtually anything on tv, this hardly exhausts the options. The average person who isn't watching tv is probably doing something equally non-educational. Those few of us who prefer more intellectual activities are in such a minority that we won't have much effect on the Globe's statistics. So tv doesn't hinder your education. It provides a convenient and entertaining alternative to gossiping, going to a bar, playing cards, etc. Some things can actually further your education--the nightly news, Nova, Discover, National Geographic, etc. Admittedly most of them are pretty low-level, but that's appropriate too. I think the bottom line is: tv is not the cause of brain mush; it just meets the intellectual needs of its viewers. ---------- BTW, kudos to Sesame Street (and also Square One). Too bad we don't have an equivalent of CTW for adults. -- Dave Matuszek (dave@prc.unisys.com) -- Unisys Corp. / Paoli Research Center / PO Box 517 / Paoli PA 19301 -- Standard disclaimer: Any resemblance between my opinions and those of my employer is strictly coincidental.