The Sleeper Curve is awake past it's bedtime

TV is making us smarter, so says Steven Johnson who lays down the foundations of proof for intelligent television in his book Everything Bad Is Good For You. Johnson is arguing that popular media such as videogames, television, and the internet are becoming more complex with time because as we watch and participate in these media we become smarter. Johnson thinks that watching television with complex intersecting plotlines and characters is teaching us to be better at reading emotional cues of our social groups in real life. He attributes the rise of IQ scores to problem solving skills needed to play videogames and multiple threading involved in television viewing. “Where pure problem solving is concerned, we’re getting smarter” (144).

So this is the landscape of the Sleeper Curve. Games that force us to probe and telescope. Television shows that require the mind to fill in the blanks, or exercise its emotional intelligence. Software that makes us sit forward, not lean back. But if the long term trend in pop culture is towards increased complexity, is there any evidence that our brains are reflecting that change? If mass media is supplying an increasingly rigorous mental workout, is there any empirical data that shows our cognitive muscles growing in response? In a word: yes (Johnson 136).

We are a nation of over stimulated people. Everywhere we go we are drowning in media. Johnson is saying that this media increasing in complexity using the concepts of multiple threading, probing, and telescoping to measure, and prove how smart we are becoming. He points to rising IQ scores and tries to draw a direct correlation between shows like the Sopranos and this increase in intelligence. What about the content of the internet and rising technology in the class room as a possible explanation for our Nations rising IQ scores. Also consider that illiteracy was common until the civil rights movement had a chance to function and ensure education for peoples of all colors and races. Testing is also becoming more common part of a child’s educational experience. Consider, funding for schools is often dependant on these scores so we are becoming more accustom to the process of testing as a whole and therefore more likes to do better than a different generation.

We are just bored and television is pushing the envelope to keep us from doing something drastic, like reading a book. And let’s face it that’s not where the money in today’s society is. There are no superstar authors selling diet coke during the super bowl. The Sleeper Curve overlooks major changes in our society and our culture. There are many issues and multifaceted opinions of each one floating around. Gay rights, abortion, war, economy. Google, Wikipedia, MySpace. Television and other forms of media are becoming more complex because we are, true. However Johnson is not seeing the big picture when he attempts to break down each form of media separately and point to cause and effect. Because of the 21^st century breakthrough in the easy access of information and ideas media complexity is no longer quantifiable. You really can Google anything and everything. Television, videogames, and other media must introduce us to new and twisted plots and content on a weekly basis. How else do you keep people stimulated who live the notion of instant knowledge within a dozen keystrokes?