Johnson & Weingarten

Without a doubt these are the most interesting articles I have read for class. Johnson made an arguement that tried to counteract the popular belief that modern forms of entertainment do not actually dull a person's cognitive awareness and focus but in fact improve it. I agree that while reading from conventional text should be an instilled joy for children other, more contemporary forms, are very beneficial as well. He argues that the reason why reading is in a decline is because it is no longer the sole form of knowledge and with only so much time in a day that all of the newer forms have taken precedent. Weingarten's article was really long but definitely worth the read. I had never heard of Joshua Bell before, so I looked online and listened to some of his performances....WOW. The man is amazing; whats more is the near complete lack of recognition he recieved from passerbys, aside from music afficianados and oddly enough young children. I found his analysis of why children stopped really insightful. "All babies are born with a knowledge of poetry because the lub-dub of the mother's hear is in iambic meter. Then life slowly starts to choke the poetry out of us." People nowadays seem so completely out of touch with their surroundings, unaware of potential beauty and awe inspiring sights like Bell's performance. I recommend reading both articles. They rocked the foundation of my beliefs about culture and entertainment and im sure they will do the same for anyone else with a genuine interest.