Brain Candy By Malcolm Gladwell Analysis

Are We Really Getting Smarter? How many times do you think the kids of this generation have heard from their parents/guardians that video games are bad for them and can ruin their brain? Probably the majority of the younger population in America has heard that at least once. But is it really that bad for you? Although that topic can be very controversial, it is a fact that this generation of kids are going through a revolutionary time period in terms of technology. Many kids today have the luxury of having the internet available at any point in the day, anywhere they want. The internet is not the only thing that today’s technology and media has improved, but could it have also improved the current intelligence levels of people today? Malcolm

Gladwell believes that through advancements in technology and media is making today’s generation of children more intelligent. Gladwell brought this up in his article by stating “Americans-at least, as measured by I.Q. tests-were getting smarter. This fact had been obscured for years, because people who gave I.Q. tests continually recalibrate the scoring system to keep the average at 100” (Gladwell). In other words, Gladwell is stating that over time, technology, media, and maybe even economy has made people smarter than previously, but seems to have been “disguised” from the public by changing the scores. He believes that today’s media (such as TV shows and movies) is actually making the viewer’s brain work in multiple different ways all at once while older media did not. Not only does media have an intriguing effect on the brain, but so does video games. Not only does Gladwell bring up controversial points in his argument, but the way he explains those points

Gladwell states how older films used to not make someone think as much as current films do. He brings this up in his article by saying “A typical episode of “Starsky and Hutch,” in the nineteen-seventies, followed an essentially linear path: two characters, engaged in a single story line, moving toward a decisive conclusion” (Gladwell). Meaning that an episode of Starsky and Hutch has a very slow, dull plotline that does not involve the viewer to think about what might be going on. But since then, films have made a dramatic change in order to make a viewer think and handle a lot more. Gladwell then states that “A single episode of “The Sopranos,” by contrast, might follow five narrative threads, involving a dozen characters who weave in and out of the plot. Modern television also requires the viewer to do a lot of what Johnson calls “filling in,” as in a “Seinfeld” episode that subtly parodies the Kennedy assassination conspiracists, or a typical “Simpsons” episode, which may contain numerous allusions to politics or cinema or pop culture” (Gladwell). In this statement, Gladwell is stating how modern films have changed the way that media affect the way the brain interprets these shows. Instead of only focusing on only one or two characters, modern films can have more than five different