A Television Education “For decades we have worked on the hypothesis that mass culture followed a path that gradually declined toward lowest common denominator norms, probably because “ The masses “want nonsense” (Johnson 214). But do the masses really want to get the opposite from their television programs? Steven Johnson, author of Mind Wide Open: Your brain and the neuroscience of everyday life and five other books, believes he is and has done a lot of research to try to prove that watching television can actually be stimulating and that the Audiences may demand smarter television and Johnson says they understand. Because of multiple threads, attention, and patience, new television shows speak to audiences cognitively; Johnson believes that television can actually make you smarter. In Steven Johnson's article, he argues that television actually makes you smarter, rather than the common idea that "culture follows a path that steadily declines toward lowest common denominator norms" (214). He compares many shows to support his argument and even has charts to illustrate his argument that shows are becoming more and more complex. As a result of this increasing complexity, Johnson even believes that people are becoming more “cognitively demanding, not less” (214). Johnson also believes the entertainment industry is making TV smarter for a reason. “Of course, the entertainment industry does not increase the cognitive complexity of its products without reason. The dormant curve exists because there is money to be made by making television smarter” (228). Although he seems to say that all TV shows make you smarter towards the end of the article, he clarifies that he is not talking about all shows. Johnson's logic seemed very sound to me. He didn't try to back up his arguments with an opinion...in the middle of the article...on whether television makes you smarter. Is Stevens ignoring the fact that there are shows like the ones just mentioned that are there for purely educational purposes? Or does he not think these shows can be beneficial either? Johnson and Stevens should have considered these types of shows and people who are completely convinced that TV makes you dumber should also consider these shows. Experiencing the heightened mental experience of newer shows can actually make you smarter. Because watching TV requires a higher state of consciousness than shows of the past, people exercise their brains and perhaps end up becoming smarter. So the TV you once thought was harming your brain might actually be benefiting you. But as Johnson says, some shows are more beneficial than others and television can be beneficial if the right shows are watched..