Dumbing down is viewed either as a pejorative term for a perceived over-simplification of, amongst other things, education, news and television, or as a statement of truth about real cultural trends in education and culture. Education encompasses both the Teaching and Learning of Knowledge, proper conduct, and technical competency News is any new information or information on Current events which is presented by print, broadcast, Internet, or Word of mouth Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic
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Some authorities believe that the audience — be it of television or print media — is being fed a mass-produced, poor quality, and populist diet that leads to an ever-decreasing audience attention span. Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic Printing is a process for reproducing text and image typically with ink on Paper using a printing press Attention span is the amount of time a person can concentrate on a single Activity. These ideas have been in circulation for many decades in the social science literature on mass culture argued, for example, by Richard Hoggart, Rosenberg and David Manning White, and Raymond Williams. Herbert Richard Hoggart (born 24 September 1918) is a British Academic and Public figure, whose career has covered the fields of Raymond Henry Williams ( 31 August 1921 &ndash 26 January 1988) was a Welsh academic Novelist and Critic. The sentiment has its roots in the Matthew Arnold and F. R. Leavis approach to culture, particularly the former's Culture and Anarchy. Matthew Arnold (24 December 1822 &ndash 15 April 1888 was an English Poet, and Cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools Frank Raymond Leavis CH ( 14 July 1895 - 14 April 1978) was an influential British Literary critic of the early-to-mid-twentieth Culture and Anarchy is a series of periodical essays by Matthew Arnold, first published in Cornhill Magazine 1867-68 and collected as a book in 1869.
The concept "dumbing down" can point to a variety of different things but the concept always involves a claim about the simplification of culture, education, and thought, a decline in creativity and innovation, a degradation of artistic, cultural, and intellectual standards, or the undermining of the very idea of a standard, and the trivialisation of cultural, artistic, and academic creations.
The term can be seen as subjective since what is labelled as "dumbed down" often depends upon the values of individuals of specific groups. Not to be confused with the subiectum or Hypokeimenon in Aristotelianism Taste in the general sense is the same as Preference. Taste is also a sociological concept in that it is not just personal but subject to Social pressures Pierre Bourdieu discusses how the practices of dominant groups in society are legitimised to the disadvantage of subordinate groups. Pierre Bourdieu ( August 1, 1930 – January 23, 2002) was an acclaimed French Sociologist and writer known for his However, there is also evidence that knowledge of areas outside that defined by popular culture has diminished progressively in the late twentieth century (see Dumbing Down link below).
Education
Increased participation in higher education has attracted the maintenance of distinctions through the construction of the category Mickey Mouse degrees. La Distinction, a sociological book by French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu (1930–2002 takes as its basis Bourdieu's Empirical research carried Mickey Mouse degrees is the Dysphemism built from the common usage of the term "Mickey Mouse" as a Pejorative. Psychology, sociology and media studies are often the key targets in media discourse, although the defender of these subjects argue that the representations of such disciplines are often inaccurate. Psychology (from Greek grc ψῡχή psȳkhē, "breath life soul" and grc -λογία -logia) is an Academic and Sociology (from Latin: socius "companion" and the suffix -ology "the study of" from Greek λόγος lógos "knowledge" Media studies is a collection of academic programs regarding the content history meaning and effects of various media.
In the UK, there is now an annual moral panic every August when GCSE and A-level results are released. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located A moral panic can be defined as "the intensity of feeling expressed by a large number of people about a specific group of people who appear to threaten the social order at a given The General Certificate of Secondary Education ( GCSE) is the name of an academic qualification awarded in a specified subject generally taken in a number of subjects by The A-level, short for Advanced Level, is a General Certificate of Education qualification in England, Northern Ireland and Wales, The pass rate by students has consistently risen for past two decades and Grade inflation is attributed to rising pass rates. Grade inflation is the supposed increase over time of academic grades, faster than any real increase in standards Comparisons between examination questions are often produced as evidence of dumbing down (in mathematics as syllabus has been continuously cut during the past year. Mathematics is the body of Knowledge and Academic discipline that studies such concepts as Quantity, Structure, Space and For example, an algebraic equation would be compared to a recent question about a "real life" problem). Algebra is a branch of Mathematics concerning the study of structure, relation, and Quantity.
A secondary school physics teacher, Wellington Grey, ran an Internet petition, stating that "I am a physics teacher. Or, at least I used to be. " According to him, "Calculations — the very soul of physics — are absent from the new GCSE. ". Few examples he listed ranged from "`Q:why would radio stations broadcast digital signals rather than analogue signals? A: Can be processed by computer / ipod [sic]" to "`Q: Why must we develop renewable energy sources?’"[1]
In teaching history, Simon Schama has been accused of 'dumbing down' through his various television series and coffee table books, such as A History of Britain, The Power of Art, and Rough Crossings. Simon Michael Schama, CBE (born 13 February 1945 is a British professor of history and art history at Columbia University. Indeed, the term 'Schamafication' has been used to suggest that this is a neologism equivalent to McDonaldization or Disneyfication. A neologism (from Greek neo = "new" + logos = "word" is a word that although devised relatively recently in a specific time period has been McDonaldization (or McDonaldisation) is a term used by Sociologist George Ritzer in his book The McDonaldization of Society Disneyfication (also called Disneyization and McDisneyization) is a Pejorative term which describes the transformation
And, of course, educationalists are increasingly concerned that Wikipedia itself is becoming a major source of ideas and information, and there are voices to be heard that this internet facility is also contributing to 'dumbing down'. ***************************************************************************************** * *
Media
Increased competition and the introduction of econometric methods have radically changed mass media. Econometrics is concerned with the tasks of developing and applying Quantitative or Statistical methods to the study and elucidation of economic principles "Popular press" redirects here note that the University of Wisconsin Press publishes under the imprint "The Popular Press" Media consolidation has reduced both the breadth and depth of stories covered by mass media. Concentration of media ownership (also known as media consolidation) is a commonly used term that refers to the majority of the media outlets being owned by a small number of Cost reduction leads to the elimination of foreign bureaus and correspondents in favor of news releases by political parties or businesses. A news release, media release, press release or press statement is a written or recorded Communication directed at members of the News
Ratings and audience tracking promotes the most simplified writing and articles with the widest possible interest. This often means celebrity gossip, entertainment marketing, and sensationalism. Sensationalism is a manner of being extremely Controversial, loud or attention grabbing
Complicated argument is made as simple as possible in order to "sell it" / communicate to the largest number of people possible.
There is an argument that television contributes to 'dumbing down'. Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic Cultural theorists including Richard Hoggart, Raymond Williams, Neil Postman, Henry Giroux and Pierre Bourdieu have all made statements against the uses of television. Herbert Richard Hoggart (born 24 September 1918) is a British Academic and Public figure, whose career has covered the fields of Raymond Henry Williams ( 31 August 1921 &ndash 26 January 1988) was a Welsh academic Novelist and Critic. Neil Postman ( March 8, 1931 - October 5, 2003) was an American professor media theorist, and cultural critic who is best Henry Giroux, born September 18 1943 in Providence, is a US cultural critic Pierre Bourdieu ( August 1, 1930 – January 23, 2002) was an acclaimed French Sociologist and writer known for his Stuart Hall, on the other hand, is more favorable towards the critical use of television.
Some believe that Hollywood nepotism is contributing to the volume of shows that would not other wise have access to the media based on their own merit. Nepotism is the showing of favoritism toward relatives and friends based upon that relationship rather than on an objective evaluation of ability Meritocracy or suitability
Some believe that the dumbing down phenomenon is being waged on purpose in order to coerce an ignorant populace into following popular and political trends.
Computing
Some old-timers and hackers in the computer geek community regard the rise of GUIs in place of command line interfaces, the commercial exploitation of the Internet, and the consequent great increase in use by the non-technical public, as resulting in a great dumbing down in these areas, with the following of "proper" standards (technical and netiquette) declining precipitously. The word geek is a Slang term noting individuals as "a peculiar or otherwise odd person especially one who is perceived to be overly obsessed with one or more things The Internet is a global system of interconnected Computer networks Netiquette, a portmanteau of " network Etiquette " is a set of social conventions that facilitate interaction over networks ranging from
As a response to the growing accessibility to the internet, the phrase Eternal September was coined, referring to the period starting from September 1993 when 'newbies' were no longer encountered only at the start of the academic year. Eternal September (also Never-ending September, The Long September, September that never ended, perpetual September, or endless September Year 1993 ( MCMXCIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar)
The use of short cuts, abbreviations, improper grammar, SMS language lead to speculation on a populace that is too lazy to communicate properly. SMS language (also known as chatspeak, txt, txtspk, txtk, texting language or txt talk) is the English language Others believe that today's fast paced society needs to reduce the time it takes to get a point across in order to raise productivity.
Developers of console-based computer games are also sometimes accused of dumbing down their products, particularly console-based sequels to earlier PC games. It is often alleged that the reason for this is the assumption that console owners are either less patient/intelligent, or simply prefer a more "direct" experience. Some recent examples of games accused of "console dumbing down" are Thief: Deadly Shadows (where several gameplay aspects of the earlier PC games are stripped out and little or no reference is made to plot details of either of the earlier games) and games like The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (which has arguably been oversimplified compared to its predecessors in areas such as gameplay, skill, stat management, and storyline). Thief Deadly Shadows is a 2004 Stealth game developed by Ion Storm Austin (the last ever game produced by that studio rather than The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion is a Single player Fantasy -themed action-oriented Computer role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios
Other Uses of the Term
The term has been appropriated as a jocular phrase for simplifying instructions, explanations, and so on, as in "could you dumb it down for me?"
References to dumbing down in popular culture
The 2005 film Idiocracy portrays a society 500 years in the future massively dumbed down by consumerism. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Idiocracy is a 2006 American dark comedy directed by Mike Judge, and starring Luke Wilson and Maya Rudolph.
American rapper Lupe Fiasco attacks dumbing down lyrics on his song "Dumb It Down" saying "They told me I should come down cousin, but I flatly refuse, I ain't dumb down nothing. Wasalu Muhammad Jaco (born February 16 1982 better known by his Stage name Lupe Fiasco, is a Grammy -winning American rapper. Lupe Fiasco's The Cool, commonly referred to as simply The Cool, is the critically acclaimed second studio album by Chicago hip hop "
American rapper Jay-Z was quoted on the song "Moment of Clarity" off of his "Black Album" saying, "I dumb down for my audience and double my dollars / they criticize me for it; but they all yell "holla!"
See also
References
- Andrew Keen, The cult of the amateur: how today's internet is killing our culture
- Janet Coles and Paul Armstrong Dumbing down history through popular culture: communities of interest or learning as consumption?". Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4 1969 better known as Jay-Z, is an American Rapper and former CEO of Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Political correctness (adjectivally politically correct; both forms commonly abbreviated to PC) is a term applied to Language, ideas policies or behavior
External links
- Dumbing Down Review of the Dumbing Down phenomenon
- Is the internet dumbing us down? Review of The Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet is Killing Our Culture, by Andrew Keen
- The History of Schama Schama accused of dumbing down history
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