Will Twinkies and TV Bring Down America the Way Bread and Circuses Brought Down Rome?
June 5, 2007
Americans today have a better standard of living than any other group of people at any time in history. Thanks to venture capital and innovation, we have such comforts as air conditioning, pillow-top mattresses, birth control pills and iPods. When we have a headache, we take an over-the-counter non-steroidal anti-inflammatory. If we sneeze from pollen or mold, an anti-histamine does the trick.
When our ancestors were hungry, they ate roots and berries. Today, we consume sugary, packaged snacks. And when we crave entertainment we watch television rather than picking up a book. As Theodore Roosevelt once feared, we have become “over-civilized.” We care more for our comforts than sacrifice. We care more for empty images flickering on a screen than we do for discourse.
That’s the claim at the center of Al Gore’s new book The Assault on Reason. I’ll confess that I’m barely into it, but already I think it’s going to be a read on par with Andrew Sullivan’s The Conservative Soul.
One of the most striking aspects of Gore’s book so far is the way he uses neuroscience to explain what is happening to our country, particularly with regard to the amount of television we watch:
The parts of the human brain that are central to the reasoning process are continually activated by the very act of reading printed words…Television, by contrast, presents to its viewers a much more fully formed representation of reality — without requiring the creative collaboration that words have always demanded…
Neil Postman, said, “Every technology has a philosophy which is given expression in how the technology makes people use their minds, in what it makes us to with our bodies, in how it codifies the world, in which of our senses it amplified, in which of our emotional and intellectual tendencies it disregards. This idea is the sum and substance of what the great Catholic prophet Marshall McLuhan meant when he coined the famous sentence ‘The medium is the message…’ “
When a new technology emerges as the primary medium for the sharing of information — like the printing press in the fifteenth century or television in the twentieth century — those who adapt to the new technology have to literally change the way they process information. As a result, their brains may actually undergo subtle change. When millions of people experience the same changes simultaneously in the course of a few decades, their interactions with on another begin to take new forms.
An individual who spends four and a half hours a day watching television is likely to have a very different pattern of brain activity from an individual who spends four and a half hours a day reading. Different parts of the brain are stimulated repetitively.
When you consider that the average American spends about 30 hours a week watching television — almost a full work week — you start to realize why we could have elected such a dullard as president. A nation that cannot reason cannot elect a sensible leader. A nation that cannot reason cannot develop any kind of real discourse about national decisions.
A nation that is too anesthetized by television and twinkies to reason at all can do nothing to save itself from ruin. I fear that America has reached that precipice. I hope that I’m wrong.
Andy has a different perspective, which I hope he will share with us in the comments. I promise you, it’s far more uplifting than mine.
The Roman Empire was tiny compared to America in terms of population, area, and diversity. More importantly, only a small number had the ability to affect the whole empire. Things are different today. George W. Bush was not even listed among the 25 most influential people in the world. Yes, we as a country are too brainwashed by TV to elect the right people, or even to really care when the only two candidates both suck.
Fortunately, this country is full of geniuses who keep it on top. As long as Congress continues to be a bunch of douchebags who stay out the way and bang hookers (see DC Madam’s scandal), people like Sergey Brin and Larry Page (google creators) will keep America on top.
I only have two fears. One is that the “VIP” immigration loophole will be removed from the new immigration bill. Currently, all the Charles Simonyi’s of the world want to come to America (He created Word and Excel). That’s why kick everyone’s ass in terms of patents.
The other is that some shit might get started between us and Russia. I have no fear whatsoever of terrorists, Iran, or North Korea. The idea of them getting their hands on a nuke does not scare me. The idea of them even managing to set one off in the US does not scare me. What scares me is Bush and Putin with several thousand nukes pointed at each other. I don’t think I could have handled being around back when Reagan and Gorbachev were playing that game.
But I want my MTV……
Just a quick remark.
In regards to Mr. Gore, I’m growing increasingly suspicious of this man’s consistent use of science as the unquestionable basis for his political arguments. As he lacks the credibility, of having any form of scientific background or education.
That said, I’m sure a little more time spent reading could do us all a lot of good. But, I’m not going to discount the possible benefits we may be getting from the large variety of visual and intellectual stimulation we experience in today’s world. We should just do a better job of balancing our consumption.
I completely agree. It is clear that television stunts the imagination, attention span and ability to think, and I have nothing but contempt for people who choose to waste their few days on this planet passively watching garbage on the tube. I used to be full of ideas about how to make this country better. Now I am just cynical and bitter, of the opinion that there is nothing I can do for a population that does not want to be helped. We get the governments we deserve.
Irene, I have to disagree with you there. Television as a medium does not necessarily stunt imagination, attention span, and ability to think. There are television shows which increase these things: education shows, such as Bill Nye the Science Guy, the new History videos by AAS are good examples. And Star Trek and 24 (I’m not joking). That stuff is so tech-heavy it increases imagination and reason skills. It just makes you stupid if you want American Idol and the Simple Life.
Andy, I have to add in the Discovery Health Channel. I have learned so much from that channel. Did you know that two embryos can fuse together and create one person, so that you are essentially your own twin? I learned that yesterday from TV.
The History Channel is pretty sweet too. Anyone reading this who has not seen “Band of Brothers” need to rent it this weekend.
Andy:
I have seen Band of Brothers - absolutely excellent series.
I do not think TV in and of itself rots the brain; the various mediums of communication we’ve invented are all capable of stimulating the intelligent, reasoning parts of us. I like to hold up Babylon 5 as the paragon of this concept - it is the single most well-developed show I have ever seen where the characters are real, identifiable, not wholly good and not pure evil, but people whose positions and motivations you can understand given their experiences. THAT is real life, and the series is so complex as a result that you’d be wasting your time to watch it with your brain turned off.
Given my scientific background I generally don’t glean much from TLC or the Discovery channel, but once in awhile someone will mention something they saw and their eyes (or demeanor, on IM) simply light up - it’s wonderful to see those mental cogs turning.
That said, I’ve rather come to agree with Teresa and Irene. While there is the occasional exception, the vast majority of the tube is designed to appeal to the lowest common denominator, and so long as it does so, that “common” will become even more dumb.
It’s not that people are too dumb to be involved: they don’t want to be. They are too busy, the world too big, their lives too complicated, their entertainment too appealing, to ever consider giving any of it up for the sake of our and our children’s future.
The world I envision is the one Daniel Quinn talks about, what he calls the New Tribal Revolution. We’re drunk on civilization and it is destroying us.. and we can’t even see it. We’re too limited by what we think we know.
I’m totally not limited by what I think I know because I definitely know asbsolutely everything. Ever.
Andy, I should have been more specific and said “most” television or “popular” television. The reason for this is simple: anything supported by advertising will tend to appeal to broader audiences, and half the population will always by definition be “below average”. Television caters to the average, the mediocre, the below average and the downright stupid in the population simply because there are more of them. Sorry.
While not all tv is worthless and bad (some is quite good and educational or even artistic), I think more brainwork and mental growth is still accomplished by Doing Things. I learned more from collecting and observing bugs in my backyard than watching Bill Nye or whoever do it for me on the tube.
I was just thinking about what you said and something occured to me. I know I’m a little late on this blog but I have spent the past few days getting caught up because I just found this insightful little page. I was just wondering why it is said that television is bad for you and yet you devote an entire page to the iPhone. It seems this technology is just as bad if it not worse. I’m not saying that there is anything wrong with tv or the iPhone but if one is the problem, isn’t the other?
Amanda: That’s a great question. Like TV, technology does have the possibility to be abused. But unlike television, technology goes two ways. I can express myself, articulate my opinions and really communicate with others via my blog and the comments I leave on other people’s blogs.
What do you think about that?
Amanda, I disagree with Teresa’s position. I feel that television, even going one way, can be a great way to stimulate the mind, encourage creative thinking, and learn a great deal. Band of Brothers, for example, is a great way to learn about WWII. Most of the stuff on the History and Discovery Channel will expand your mind. There’s no better way for a kid to learn the alphabet than Sesame Street, “Today’s show is brought to you by… the letter K.” Even less-educational shows such as 24, Lost, or even Desperate Housewives has some intellectual merit. The problem, like anything, is keeping things in moderation. A half-hour a day of the discovery channel, combined with an episode of Battlestar Galactica or Lost once a week will probably make you smarter and more creative. 6 hours a day of Cable News on the other hand, will turn you into a dribbling moron.