the smart debate...

ok, another confession: i watched a lot of tv as a child, an adolescent, and now still do as an adult. many of my memories involve tv shows - case in point: i became more excited about high school chemistry and physics due to my avid viewing of the show macgyver. this was a key text of one of my important adolescent friendships. i spent a bit too much time, perhaps, deciphering the science behind using chocolate (a base) to stop an acid leak. and excitedly answering correctly the question about what element combusts instantaneously upon contact with the air (phosphorous).

so, am i smarter or dumber than someone who didn't watch quite as much tv? does it matter what i watched? and how sense do i make of the countless hours spent watching hunter with my grandmother? or watching equally countless hours of the mclaughlin group? (i should note that one of my favorite moments was when john mclaughlin said, with earnest, to a then-regular panelist: "lawrence kudlow...wazzzzzzup??" this, following on the then-popular budweiser commercial)

tv, as many in this course have noted, is a part of life for many people, and especially for many young people. just what does it do and what is it for still remains open for debate...