Over the past forty to fifty years, television has been a major topic of discussion. Specifically, many debate the societal benefits of watching television. A widely held opinion is that watching television makes people dumber. People refer to it with terms like “the idiot box” and don’t think there are any benefits to watching TV. They feel it's a waste of time and that people need to manage their hours more wisely. Others believe that television actually has societal benefits. From this perspective, they argue that the development of program structure now requires intellectual participation in television viewing. Essentially, the argument is whether television is a beneficial societal force or whether it is simply a convenient, but detrimental, means of entertainment. One of the leading proponents of the idea that watching TV is beneficial is technology writer Steven Johnson. In a 2005 New York Times Magazine article, he praised the progress the television industry had made in recent decades. His basic argument is that unlike programming about 20 years ago, one must now actively participate when watching television shows. Referring to the show 24 as an example of such a phenomenon, Johnson says that "to follow entertainment like 24, you have to pay attention, make inferences, and follow changing social relationships" (Johnson, 214-215) . Johnson argues that to fully understand an episode of a modern television show like 24, one must think. You have to be able to follow the many different plots simultaneously, while also keeping track of the different characters and threads from previous episodes. He ultimately argues that it is these cognitive demands that make the watch... middle of paper ... cannot be ignored. Time that was once spent reading, sleeping, studying, and exercising is now spent catching up on an episode of Lost or ER. Additionally, parents need to do a better job monitoring what their children watch. There is too much violence on television for children to control themselves. Television itself may not make people stupider, but the things it keeps them away from would have made them smarter. This, coupled with the disgusting lack of ethics in many shows, tips the scales towards television being detrimental to society overall. Works Cited Johnson, Steven. “Watching TV makes you smarter.” New York Times Magazine. (2005): Print. Stevens, Dana. “Thinking outside the box.” Slate. (2005): Print.Gaddy, Gary D. “The Impact of Television on Academic Achievement.” Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol. 5, no. 3 (fall 1986), pp.. 340-359.