Second Text

Johnson starts off by giving us the typical view on the bad side on things like our food. Then he gives us the typical view on what people think of books vs. video games. Obviously, people say that kids should be spending time reading books rather than spending time playing video games. Statistically, the number of people who read books for pleasure has been declining. People think that video games is a worse option compare to reading books and Johnson thinks that this is because books came before video games. First, people think highly of books so when video games are invented, people see this opposition as a bad thing. Johnson proposed a theory that if video games were invented before books and video games were thought of as a good thing, then by the time books are wide spread, books would be seen as a bad thing. Video games and books each have their pros. Books convey messages and make the brain work to process and to retain information conveyed from the books. Our ability to pay attention and memorize the story line is becoming more of a challenge for us. On the other hand, video games help us develop a different mental skill that is as significant as the skills we obtain from reading books. Video games may not be entirely a bad thing. What is heard and seen about video games is different than actually experiencing playing the video game. Video games are hard to complete; their virtual tasks are more closely related to chores rather than an entertainment. People have to end up spending their wallet on walkthroughs to guide them through the games. Johnson makes a comparison between walkthroughs and cliffnotes; stating that they are essentially the same thing. He brings up the questions “why would anyone want to constantly play games that irritate them to a point where they have to buy walkthroughs” and “why are complicated games so fun?” He talks about how his 7-year-old nephew learned something from SimCity 2000 and this makes him wonder “why kids learn better from video games rather than from their class.” The answer has to do with how the video games capture kids’ attention. Video games trigger the brain’s reward circuitry, making people happy. If there is no stimulus triggering the reward circuitry, dopamine level drops and people get disappointed. There are a lot of rewards in video games; they force you to unlock rewards after rewards. People tend to want what they don’t already have or what is not yet there so it motivates them to do what is necessary to reward themselves. The rewards are what keep the kids into the screens. Video games force you to make decisions, to learn the rules that are not given to you, and to find the way around the rules. Johnson calls this probing; he says that you have to probe to progress in the game. Probing forces gamers to create a to-do-list naturally, creating stepping stones throughout the game. Johnson introduces another word; telescoping is when gamers keep their ultimate goal in mind while solving the smaller obstacles. He reminds us that telescoping and multitasking are not the same thing. In telescoping, the obstacles are connected to the ultimate goal while in multitasking, the actions are not. Johnson thinks that solving challenging games are more fun than just reading for fun.

Johnson believes that there is a difference between intelligent shows and shows that force you to be intelligent. TV’s complexity is composed of multiple threading, flashing arrows, and social network. Starsky and Hutch has one thread leading to the plot, Hill Street Blue has more than one thread leading to the plot, and The Sopranos have more than one plot. TV shows like The Sopranos train viewers to juggle more than one plot. Flashing arrows are also known as the hints to the plot. More arrows equate to less analytical thinking. TVs capture viewers by leaving out flashing arrows so the viewers can do the thinking and fill in the details. Reality shows force social interactions among contestants, the audience, and the viewers. Whether you are on the show or watching the show, TV tests and improves your AQ. TVs are a great source getting to know someone emotionally. Johnson uses Nixon as an example to prove the power of TVs. TV forces us to practice keeping track of the multiple relationships going on on shows; the more we do so, the more our neurons fire and we become more skilled in keeping track of multiple ideas. Lastly, Johnson talks about the internet. The internet contains a vast amount of information and welcomes us to access them. The internet allows us to learn how to operate computers and to socially interact with a broader group of people. Johnson sees us hunching over our computers as our eagerness to learn the information the internet has to offer. He thinks it is better for people to write about themselves rather than watch other people live their lives. As we write articles on the internet and IM with other people, we are learning how to work with the applications. The internet allows us to connect with more people and exchange more ideas.

I feel that Johnson sometimes contradicts himself and he knows it. In the beginning, he says that video games are better than TVs because video games cause you to be active while TVs cause you to be passive. Then he talks about the pros of TV. Towards the end, he contradicts those pros by saying that we are better off writing about our lives on the internet instead of passively watching TV. It is not a bad thing, but it gets confusing when you are trying to figure out what is worth doing and what is not.

The excerpt ends the internet section on a good note. Johnson says that the internet is a great development because we are able to connect through a large group of people. Without the internet, we are limited to interacting with people in the room. Johnson speaks highly of the internet, knowing the insecurity of the internet. He constantly says that we are able to socially interact with people and it reminds me what we already discussed. Are we really connecting with other people? Connecting through the internet leaves out our voice, our tone in the conversation.

Anderson sees that m-chatting are depriving us from human face to face interactions. And even if two characters are able to see each other, they still use m-chat to avoid any unwanted feelings; like the time when Violet and Titus did not want their conversations to be awkward, so they decided to use m-chat. Johnson does not address this point but he thinks that electronic chatting allow us to reach someone that we cannot reach without the internet. We are able share ideas with people on the other side of the word through the internet. Anderson view the internet as a downfall while Johnson view it as an asset to interacting socially.