Television is a major component of American culture. A home without one is a rarity. Even those who forgo owning a television often follow shows on websites such as Hulu. For over fifty years they have been watched by people seeking to escape their own lives and watch and enjoy the lives of others on television. However, television has a bad reputation for pulping brains and reducing its content to the lowest common denominator. Television may not be as problematic as people make it out to be. In Steven Johnson's article "Watching TV Makes You Smarter", he states that television is beneficial for the development of cognitive reasoning skills. Shows with complex plots and multiple storylines within a single episode encourage viewers to pay attention and make sense of what's happening on screen. He takes the example of series 24, in which there are twenty-one characters with arcs and nine narrative threads in forty-four minutes. He says television programs are becoming more and more stimulating, not less, as many would have you believe. Moral clarity rather than quality diminishes on television: antiheroes become more prevalent and morals become darker. This makes television more ambiguous and therefore more interesting to a wide variety of viewers. Dana Stevens, on the other hand, argues in “Outside the Idiot Box” that even the most intellectually stimulating shows only teach viewers to watch more television. Complex plots and characters only prepare us for more plots and characters on television and therefore have no real benefit. In response to Johnson's claims that 24 enlightens viewers about social relationships, Stevens discusses the approval of torture and...... middle of paper ......e compared, it is easy to see that complexity has been highlighted. a steady increase for decades, and that the average viewer is now bored with the simplicity of previous shows. Stevens disputes this, saying that personally she still prefers the old shows. This is the preference of one person, and specifically of one person who has launched personal attacks against Johnson. It's easy to ignore one's preference after noticing one's inherent biases. In conclusion, television is neither good nor bad in itself. Both authors admit that there are excellent and bad shows. It's about what you watch and why: watching a sitcom because you find it funny is good. Watching 24 hours a day because you find it interesting and controversial is good. It's important to allow people to make their own choices, because without that choice the world would be a much duller place. Respect the choices of others and enjoy yours.