Gin, Television, and Cognitive Surplus

Gin, Television, and Cognitive Surplus

The main argument in this article is that it is better to do something, anything, than do nothing. People are realizing all they can do with their free time and coming up with great ideas.

Literacy is defined in the article as watching or reading something and acting on what you see or read. Instead of just sitting and watching for no particular reason, investigate what you are seeing, even if it seems stupid because it is better to do something, no matter what it is, than nothing at all.

Cognitive surplus is the free time that people have to create new ideas.

The article matters because the author wants us to realize that we have the ability, especially with the technology we have, to create so much. People just have to refrain from laziness and being afraid of trying new things.

The author emphasizes the fact that the lady he was in an interview with, was not really buying what he was saying. He continually repeats this by saying, “she was not digging the line of thought at all.” This is important because it shows his point that people need to realize the opportunities they have and not just disregard them or be too lazy to do something about it. That is his main point in the article.  

Is Google Making Us Stupid?

Is Google Making Us Stupid?

The main argument in this article is that because information is so easy for us to access now, we are losing the ability to sit and read things and soak up information. People are getting lazy and our minds are constantly wandering if we sit and try to read something that is longer than a couple paragraphs.

The author, like a growing number of people, relies on the Internet to gain quick information. This has caused a problem with people staying focused on one thing. He starts to quickly skim the text and get the basic information rather than try to understand it fully.

I think literature in this article is described as “Our ability to interpret text, to make the rich mental connections that form when we read deeply”.

The definitions from the two articles are very similar. They are both about reading information and not just taking it for face value, but digging deeper and seeing the whole meaning.

People have formed new forms of reading. We “power browse” and quickly skim through articles and look at the titles. People want things immediately now.

The author uses Nietzsche, Frederick Taylor, and the main goal of Google to support his claims.

It is very effective evidence because the sources are popular and reliable. It backs up all of his claims about the brain and how technology has changed it.

“As we come to rely on computers to mediate our understanding of the world, it is our own intelligence that flattens into artificial intelligence.” The topic matters because we do not want to give up the intelligence we have just because of laziness or because we can rely on computers to do things for us. The author does also say that not everything that comes with technology is bad and that we should be “skeptical of my skepticism”. But we also cannot deny that technology has “dumbed” people down in some ways.

I am going to analyze the account of Chad Johnson, also known as Ochocinco. Chad is a retired NFL wide receiver. Since his playing days, he has been a frequently talked about figure and he is very active on his Twitter and Instagram accounts. He interacts with fans on a daily basis asking questions and even meeting up with them when he is in a followers city. He constantly states his love for his followers, and he does have a lot of them, about 3.7 million on Twitter. He tweets tons of times per day and frequently posts pictures or videos on Instagram. As a follower of Chad Johnson, you feel like you know exactly what is going on in his life and it is very enjoyable to see what he is thinking and how he feels. That could be a dangerous thing for him, but that is just the way he is.