http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071206093014.htm
I was looking through articles on the topic of violence and the media and I came across this and it reminded me of the "Is Google making us stupid?" article. Researchers at Columbia University have used MRI scans to look at people's brains while they watched clips of violent movies. Their data shows that a brain network associated with the suppression of unwarranted behaviors like aggression became noticeably less active. Also, when shown equally engaging clips of horror or dramatic movies did not yield the same brain network suppression.
This, to me, is extremely important because of the fact that whenever something is shown to literally re-wire our brains it must be carefully considered. Media and especially violent media is a norm in the everyday of our world, and if our brain is constantly processing this action as possibly warranted, how could we be surprised if the violence in our society increases? There is concept called "Cultivation Theory" that talks about how the more socialized we become through a medium such as television, the more we will begin to lose our understanding of the division between what is playing on the screen in front of us and what is actually going on next to us. It appears that this research tends to support that on a neurological basis as well.
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I am familiar with the Cultivation Theory, but would like to study it more in depth. It's true that the media plays a large role in our socialization and often times defines how we see something. Movies are not real life. They are simply a form of entertainment, but unfortunately today's youth is missing the first part: movies, video games, they are not real! However, because of this Cultivation Theory and the inability to decipher what is happening on the screen from what is actually happening right next to us -- in other words, two separate things have seemingly become interchangeable.
ReplyDeleteI would hate to see our society devolve to one that cannot differentiate between what is on the screen from what is real life. But I feel that it is not too unfair to say that many of the norms for social behavior and human interaction are heavily influenced by television.
ReplyDeleteIn sociology studies there seems to be all these statistics verifying the disappearance of traditional nuclear families and television reflects, if not promotes, that trend. That may be good thing or a bad thing depending on the beholder's personal concept of a family: whether it pertains to just biological relatives, whether it can be same sex marriage, etc. Regardless, television shows force certain arrangements and dysfunctional families and friends into our consciousness.
Another trend, one which has been proven (my proof is statistics from my sociology textbook but i feel that's decent enough to say "proven") to have very low rates of success(success meaning staying together or getting married eventually), is the increasingly more common relationship of two people living together who are not married. Television has come a long way from having Lucy and Ricky in separate twin beds to unmarried couples hopping in bed together at night.
Its debatable how much society mirrors the negative norms of television and not the other way around, but it seems only logical to conclude that all of us in a society, perhaps to different extents, form our opinions of social norms with varying degrees of influence from television.
caroline is right the problem is that people today cant differentiate from whats on tv or video games from whats goin on in real life. for people not to understand that what they see on tv or movies or video games or internet is not ok for them to do in real life. to be able to distinguish whats right and wrong all comes down to parenting. i know i sound like a broken record but its the basis of all the problems
ReplyDeleteI agree with Brad and Caroline. People today who are obsessed with television and video games, etc etc etc live their life in a fantasy world. Their brain is so warped that they don't understand the difference.
ReplyDeleteAnd once again, Brad has hit it right on the button. As I have stressed in almost all of my comments, parenting is the basis of the problem.
Dr. Phil; where are you? :)