Rhetorical Analysis Of Mind Over Mass Media Pinker
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Many people today believe that technology has a negative influence on society. They believe that watching too much TV or spending too much time on the Internet is having a negative effect on brainpower. Steven Pinker, writer for The New York Times, writes about this effect that technology has over people today in an article titled, “Mind Over Mass Media”. In the article, Pinker disputes the popular argument that technology is making humans dumber. He provides many facts and examples that back up his opinion that technology does not make people dumber. At some points in the article his writing takes on a condescending and sarcastic tone when discrediting some popular beliefs about technology’s effect on people. Steven Pinker connects with his audience to make a compelling argument that technology’s effect on people today is more beneficial than harmful. Steven Pinker is a professor of psychology at Harvard and a published author. This gives his opinion credibility in this article. His obvious audience of the article is readers of The New York Times. More specifically I believe his intended audience is anybody that is influenced by technology and…show more content… He addresses the common belief that technology is dumbing down society and changing our brains. Pinker disputed these claims by providing evidence of earlier beliefs that were discredited. He talks about how people used to think comic books were influencing young people and turning them into delinquents. He provides evidence that shows that crime rates during this time were dropping to an all-time low, thus discrediting the theory about comic books. Pinker also makes a strong claim about how science is improving and discoveries are more frequent because of technology. He makes a point that if technology had such a negative impact on brainpower, then the progress in the scientific world would not be advancing as quickly as it is