The distinguished author Ray Bradbury does indeed denounce the common belief that his book Fahrenheit 451 is about censorship and indicates that it is about the negative effects television has had (or at the time of publication will have) on culture, based on the “bombardment of factoids”.
http://www.raybradbury.com/at_home_clips.html# (choose the censorship clip)
This is hard to argue since the esteemed author claims this himself. However, isn’t any government regulation of what is and what is not ok to read or watch censorship in itself? Isn’t any group forced to go underground to preserve literary works of any kind (The group that Guy Montag ended up with at the end of the book) a direct result of censorship? Regardless of what position you take on the meaning of Mr. Bradbury’s work, the question at hand is whether or not today’s media (specifically television and internet) have destroyed our ability to think critically about ideas.
The internet has provided us with a plethora of information right at our fingertips. There is most definitely a benefit to having available whatever information, whenever we want it, and nearly wherever we are. However, the downfall to this is an overabundance and multitude of site after site that ultimately serves to confuse, overwhelm, and convolute much of the information being sought out. Credibility becomes ever-more questioned and verifiability ever-more difficult. The adage more is less and less is more speaks to this problem well. In addition, the internet provides a constant stream of endless videos and news feeds to barrage the user in often a passive form just as television does.
Recent research by UCLA psychology professor Patricia Greenfield in a published article in Science Daily reflects on the effects technology and media has had in declining critical thinking. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090128092341.htm
Professor Greenfield concedes that current technology and media has improved our “visual literacy” and multi tasking abilities. However, the reduction in reading for pleasure has had a detrimental effect on critical thinking. Professor Greenfield states, “Studies show that reading develops imagination, induction, reflection and critical thinking, as well as vocabulary”. She goes on to say that, “most visual media are real-time media that do not allow time for reflection analysis or imagination—those do not get developed by real time –media such as television or video games”. Several of the studies analyzed by Professor Greenfield show that students had less distraction and better performance after didactic lecture when internet access during the lecture was removed and news tickers were removed from newscasts. Television specifically is largely visual media, and minutely literary. Because of this viewers tend to watch television in a passive role verses an active one.
Another article written by Lynn Berry and supported by research from Dr. Aric Sigman, Professor Herbert Krugman and The World Federation of Neurology suggests that watching television affects our critical thinking skills and abilities.
Berry states, “The world’s biggest leisure activity is watching television……..television is a controlling medium, relaxing us enough to switch off our analytical brain so that we uncritically, or un-logically, process the information beaming from the television. This means we are less able to make decisions or judgments about what we hear on television”. He goes on to explain through scientific evidence that we turn off the left side of our brains (the side we use for critical thinking) when we watch television. Similar to what happens when someone undergoes hypnosis. This places the individual in a sort of semi consciousness where our minds are in a heightened influential state. This is why television is the perfect medium used by advertisers.
Finally, are television and the internet destroying Americans ability to read and think critically about ideas? The answer is an unequivocal yes. Televisions’ impact on this decline is greater than that of the internet. This is largely due to the greater passive role of viewers watching television verses a larger active role while using the internet. However the internet plays a significant role in the decline of critical thinking due to the multitude and barrage of information found on the internet. This barrage requires a greater amount of time spent on verifying sources, and wading through the muck and the mud to find related, reliable, and accurate information. Television is a passive source of entertainment that allows all of us to zone out, tune out, veg out, and turn off our minds. It is no wonder that the parents of my generation coined the name for television as the “boob tube”.
Picture used with permission
copyright by Brad Fitzpatrick
http://www.bradfitzpatrick.com/illustration/tv-zoning-out-illustration/
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