Morgan Leavitt

Professor Mansfield

Eng 101

Critical Analysis Essay-Rough Draft

5 March 2020

Mind Over Mass Media

Are new forms of media and technology making us stupid or smarter? According to

Steven Pinker, “Far from making us stupid, these technologies are the only things that will keep

us smart.” In the article, “Mind Over Mass Media”, Steven Pinker discusses why there’s panic

surrounding new forms of media and how we can practice self-control with technology to

improve our minds.

For as long as new forms of media and technology have been popping up, people have

worried that these devices were damaging consumer’s brainpower. “If electronic media were

hazardous to intelligence, the quality of science would be plummeting. Yet, discoveries are

multiplying like fruit flies, and progress is dizzying,” Pinker expressed. I can understand how

people would be apprehensive and suspicious as these new forms of media and technologies

are being created. Having all this knowledge at our fingertips is convenient, although, some

would say it doesn’t allow us to fully use our brains. In the 1950’s, comic books were blamed for

turning juveniles into delinquents, when in reality crime was falling to record lows. Steven

Pinker also mentions how the decades of television, transistor radios and rock videos were also

decades in which I.Q. scores rose continuously. In my opinion, what this means, is that the rise
of technology and media has actually improved our intelligence and understanding. We have

more resources and are able to research more in depth. I agree with this entirely, because we

can search for anything we want, at any time, with our mobile devices. I love that we are able

to do that. If we don’t know much about a topic, we can do a google search and have access to

numerous websites and articles. I find this not only convienant, but necessary. There is little to

no reason we can’t find out about a topic because the internet has so many avenues to go

down and explore. It is empowering to have such knowledge at the tips of our fingertips.

Another topic of debate for critics is that the brain needs to go through experiences to

change and grow. They argue that experiences can change the brain. “Yes, every time we learn

a fact or skill the wiring of the brain changes; it’s not as if the information is stored in the

pancreas. But the existence of neural plasticity does not mean the brain is a blob of clay

pounded into shape by experience.” Pinker argues that going through experiences isn’t the only

thing our brain needs to change. He continues to say, “Experience does not revamp the basic

information-processing capacities of the brain.” What this means to me is that we need more

than experience to utilize our brain. Pinker also argues that if you teach one person to do one

thing, they will get better at that one thing, but nothing else. I agree with what he said because

if we only focus all of our attention on one thing, we’re only going to gain knowledge in that

one thing. I also think this means that we need to stimulate our minds and brains in different

ways. By experiencing something we may not fully comprehend why that something is

happening, but when we learn why, we may be able to fully grasp the concept. By newly

developed forms of media and technology, we’re able to broaden our minds and consume

more knowledge, therefore improving our intelligence.

 Another topic of debate for critics of new media is that it can be distracting and

addicting. Steven Pinker argues that distraction is not a new phenomenon and that the solution

is to practice self-control, as we do with every other temptation in life. He suggests to turn off

e-mail or twitter when we work, put away our BlackBerry at dinner time, and ask our spouse to

call us to bed at a designated hour. These are all great practices and should be done to prevent

distractions or addictive behaviors. I agree when Pinker says that distraction is not a new

phenomenon, but today we just have more things to distract us. With Google, Twitter,

YouTube, and Facebook it’s hard to sit down and completely concentrate on a task. When

trying to do a research assignment, it can be hard to focus on one topic when the internet and

the articles we read can link us to other things, eventually leading us into a rabbit hole. Like

Pinker said, we just need to practice some self-control. We have so many amazing technologies

and media today that can grow our minds and intellect, but those same things can also be

negative. Just like with anything else in life, there are pros and cons and we need to respond to

those accordingly.

Overall, Steven Pinker discusses why critics have a problem with new forms of media,

and how we can solve those issues. He gives examples on how we can practice self-control

while navigating through this new world of media and technology. He explains how technology

can improve our minds and intellectual output more if we manage it correctly; and that these

technologies are far from making us stupid, but are the only things that will keep us smart.