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Running head: MORE INFORMATION LESS KNOWLEDGE
More Information, Less Knowledge:
The Dangers of the Mass Media
Muhammad Danish Azad – 44334
American University of Sharjah
ENG204 - Dr. Sara Cotterall
1/2/13

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MORE INFORMATION, LESS KNOWLEDGE
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Abstract
In the present day, the mass media plays a critical role in the lives of people and the
development of the world. Despite the advantages of the mass media as modern day
communication, its excessive integration and over-reliance in the lives of its users could be
detrimental. These users especially the technology enthusiastic younger generation faces the
effects of lowered cognition and independent critical thinking. This paper examines this
phenomenon by understanding where the problem started by looking into history, and uses
secondary research including scholarly articles and expert books to confirm this thesis.
Conclusions find that even though the excessive usage of mass media can lead to higher brain
activity and improved instinctive brain functions, such as multitasking and reflexes, there is
negative impact cognition and independent critical thinking which can lead to further
negative effects for the young generation.

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More information, less knowledge:
The dangers of the mass media
Introduction
If asked what comes to one’s mind when he/she thinks about the Arab world, a very
probable answer might be the images of deserts, camels or even hard-natured Bedouins. That
answer itself would be proof that one is a victim of the mass media who has overlooked facts
and adapted a false image.
The mass media denoted as different means of “communication (as newspapers, radio,
or television) that is designed to reach the mass of the people” (Merriam-Webster, 2012). For
the simplicity of the argument, this paper will limit its understanding of the mass media to
two of these means of communication; the Internet and the television. This is because the
Internet has proved to be the fastest growing form of communication in all history and has
made the world a much smaller place, contributing significantly to globalization, which is
why it is relied heavily on in the world today. On the other hand, the television media, existed
before the Internet but with the increased globalized environment has also grown to have a
similarly significant role in society. Today, the Internet has integrated itself in the everyday
lives of people and this paper will explore and causes and effects of how the over reliance on
this medium can lead to psychologically detrimental effects of on the young generation.
This paper aims to discuss on the consequences that this phenomenon might bring for
the sake of the society of the future. All in all, the thesis of this paper states that the media
negatively affects the cognition and ability for independent critical thinking of the young
generation.

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Origin and causes of the reliance on media
The problem at hand originated when the Internet contributed to the most significant
event of the century; globalization. According to Thomas Friedman (2005), a journalist and
expert in the field of globalization; originally, global communication meant countries
communicating with other countries, which was called “Globalization 1.0”. As the world
became more globalized, companies started going international and were linked across the
globe, which referred to “Globalization 2.0”.
Yet, the most important form of globalization which was causes every individual to be
over-reliant on the Internet is considered “Globalization 3.0”. “Globalization 3.0” refers to
the level of globalization which connected every individual to another. The start of
Globalization 3.0 was in 1995 when Netscape launched the first internet browser which
brought the Internet to the fingertip of every individual and gave each person the power to
contribute to information, sharing and peer review. This removed almost all physical barriers
from the world as it excelled more rapidly than ever before in history. The reason this fast
and exponential growth took place was because with start of Globalization 3.0, the world
tapped into every individual’s mindset and ideas and these individuals chose to invest in this
easily accessible global platform for resources and means to excel. As the increasing majority
of world moved into this platform, which we call the Internet for information, resources, or
simply the basic need of survival during the rapid excel of the world, this platform, became
integrated into every individual’s life (Friedman, 2005). This event of the Internet
establishing as a basic necessity in people’s life, led to every individual becoming
increasingly reliant on it.
In addition, the spread of the Internet also boosted every other form of media to
integrate into the lives of individuals. As the Internet formed a common network of

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information for the entire world, the world as Friedman(2005) states, shrunk in size in the
socioeconomic context. This linked the various cultures and ideologies of the world together.
The TV and film productions made in the West travelled to the rest of the world where they
were readily accepted and watched by the common people. Globalization made it possible for
Western ideas to purge the mentalities of individuals all over the world. The most vulnerable
of these individuals are the young generation. The young generation as US technologist Marc
Presky(2001) describes it are “the generation of young people born since 1980 as "digital
natives" due to what (is) perceived as an innate confidence in using new technologies such as
the internet, videogames, mobile telephony and "all the other toys and tools of the digital
age” (as cited by Selwyn, 2009, para. 1). The young generation or “digital natives” are most
vulnerable as they grow up in a globalized world and are exposed to them from the beginning
and secondly because they turn to the media as the primary source of information and
knowledge.
Apart from globalization, the reasons the digital natives rely and turn to the media for
answers can be perceived by the Priming Theory and the Social Cognitive Theory. The
“Priming Theory is that stimuli can activate cognitive schemas, and that repeated activation
leads to strengthening of these schema’s and their rapid availability” (Jo and Berkowitz,
1994, as cited in ter Bogt, 2010, para.7). On the other hand, the Social Cognitive Theory,
according to Bandura (1986) states “that people learn from and imitate people”, in this case,
their role models displayed in the media (as cited by ter Bogt, 2010, para. 7)
These theories are backed up in numerous researches based on the media influencing
the mentality of people. One of these researches by Gruber and Grube (2000) conclude that,
“adolescents use the media as sources of information about sex, drugs, AIDS, and violence as
well as to learn how to behave in relationships” (para. 18). This shows that even though
media affects everyone, adolescents are highly vulnerable to it as they are exposed to it

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during a developmental stage of their lives, which leads to this exposure molding their beliefs
and mentality (Gruber & Grube, 2000).
Process that leads from the causes to the effects of over-relying on the media
The network of information created by this phenomenon of globalization has today grown to
the point that today; most of our daily activities are reliant on them. From the workflow at the
workplace, educational systems, and even recreational purposes, the media has integrated
itself into our lives. The young generation is most affected by this because it grows up
mentally programmed to use this technology and be over-reliant on it, thus the term “digital
native”. This section will explore the process of how and why over-reliance on media can
lead to lowered capacity of cognition or independent thinking.
Internet
The answer to how over-reliance on the Internet can lower cognition and independent
thinking can be perceived by understanding the functionality of the brain. Nicholas
Carr(2010), a renowned writer in the field technology and its effects , explains the brain as
having two memory sectors; working and long term. He describes the working memory as the
“scratch pad of consciousness” where information is stored for a short period of time before it
makes it way down to the long term memory section which he calls the brain’s “filing
system”. Carr elaborates that while long term memory of the brain is almost unlimited; the
working memory is a temporary and vulnerable to distraction.
The loss of cognition and independent critical thinking occurs when information is
removed from one’s mind before it reaches the brain’s “filing system”. Carr(2010) states that,
“when facts and experiences enter our long-term memory, the brain’s filing system, we are
able to weave them into the complex ideas that give richness to our thought” (p. 3).

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According to Carr (2010), the information one absorbs into his/her working memory is
technically stated as the cognitive load. He explains that in the case of the Internet,
information is absorbed at a rate into the working memory that the mind is incapable of
processing it and storing it in the long-term memory. This leads to failure in retaining existing
information in the mind as more information pours in. The resultant of this failure is that
there is no contribution to conceptual knowledge and independent understanding in one’s
mind. Carr states this as cognition overload and exhibits that despite the Internet being a vast
source of information, its contribution to one’s cognitive and critical thinking abilities is
minimal.
Carr’s ideas about the Internet failing to contribute to one’s cognitive abilities despite
being an immense network of information are backed up by various scientific researches and
expert studies. One of these researches was an experiment conducted by a UCLA professor
by the name of Gary Small who proved the notion. Small (2007) recruited 6 volunteers for
his experiment, half of who were experienced Internet users while the others were novice
users. These volunteers were asked to surf the Internet for general preselected topics while
their brain activity was monitored by a brain magnetic resonance imager. Results displayed
that brain activity especially in the prefrontal cortex, the primary sector of the brain dedicated
to decision making, seemed to be markedly higher in the experienced users as compared to
the novice ones. The astounding part of this experiment was when the novice surfers were
given a time of 6 days to become more experienced Web surfers, and were reexamined, their
neural scans resembled the scans of the original group of veteran surfers(as cited in Carr,
2010)
Initially these results caused the assumption that the Internet was making people
smarter due to increased brain activity yet that assumption proves to be flawed. As Small
(2007) pointed out that more brain activity does not correlate to better brain activity. He

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summarizes that the way individuals communicate over the Web, which includes “cursory
reading, hurried and distracted thinking, and superficial learning”, leads to the Internet
remolding the brains of the user permanently(as cited in Carr, 2010). This remolded brain, as
Carr(2010) elaborates is suited to fit the needs of this new medium of communication and
supports higher levels of primitive mental capabilities such as multitasking, “reflex responses
and the processing of visual cues” but at the cost of cognition and independent critical
thinking(p.4). This conclusion Carr arrives at can be found to be applicable in the case of
other forms of media such as the, television.
Television
The concept of the decline of cognition and independent thinking due to the extensive
reliant use of the Internet is also reflected with the extensive use of the television media
because both the mediums share the attributes of providing information in a fashion that puts
forward simultaneous mind processing tasks. Various researches prove that multimedia
viewers can face lack of independent understanding. In a study cited in Carr(2010),published
in the Media Psychology journal researches gathered more than 100 volunteers, who were
asked to watch two versions of a documentary. One of these versions was a text-only version
while the other was an incorporated video. Results concluded that viewers who watched the
text-only version reported a deeper understanding of the factual content of the video as
opposed to multimedia viewers.
Along with the In Brain Candy; Books, by Malcolm Gladwell(2005),a book review
for Steven Johnson’s Everything Bad Is Good for You; he introduces the Flynn effect, which
proved that over the course of history Americans were getting smarter over time. It showed
that every year the results of IQ tests would increase by approximately three points.

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Steven Johnson (2005) proposes that this so because of pop culture. As an example of
pop culture Johnson uses examples of television where he says that thirty years ago TV
programs used to follow simple and linear storylines with predictive endings while in today’s
media a single episode of a show can contain complex storylines, conflicting emotions and
subtle puns which lead to the audience having a higher cognitive proficiency (as cited by
Gladwell, 2005).
This proposition that media actually enhances cognitive ability is countered by
Patricia Greenfield who also worked on the basis of the Flynn effect. Greenfield (2009)
elaborates that the Flynn effect tends to produce the results it does because the IQ tests it
involves use visual exams. This lead to a positive result for television and other visual
technology because the visual stimulation increases visual intelligence as well as promote
multitasking skills that coincide with the use of such technology. Although, Greenfield
further points out that despite the various visual skills earned there is little or no contribution
made to cognition. Moreover, the divided attention required in multitasking leads to less
“mindful knowledge acquisition, inductive analysis, critical thinking, imagination and
reflection” (para. 24). The conclusion of the studies she cites was that such form of
information is gained at the loss of cognition especially for the younger generation, who are
more proficient with multitasking. Thus, she brings to light the fact that media and visual
technology can be a predictor of the loss of cognition. All things considered, one can
conclude that the as an increasing population of adolescents become over-reliant on the
media, they are affected by the loss of cognition.
Dangers of the reliance on media
Having understood the process of how over-reliance on media can lower cognition
and independent critical thinking, one can comprehend the potential dangers or effects this

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phenomenon can have. The dangers of over-relying media can have direct primary effects of
lowered cognition and independent critical thinking which include media addiction and
permanent brain damage. In addition, a causal chain can also lead to secondary effects such
as stereotyping.
Primary effects
The primary transitional link between over-reliance on media and lowered cognition
and independent thinking is addiction to the media. This addiction can also be classified as
dangerous resultant of the integration of media in people’s life. The effect of this addiction
can be seen when the users are taken away from the medium. In December, 2012, the internet
of the American University of Sharjah went down for 48 hours with only the local network
student mail and online course learning database(iLearn) being functional. When five of the
dormitory residents in the university were inquired regarding the downtime, these individuals
reported high levels of anxiety and inability to mentally function for their academic tasks.
Considering that the local services were fully functional which provided the primary
resources related to academic tasks, these individuals were further questioned why they
couldn’t carry out their work. Answers by the residents reported an unexplained need to
connect to the Internet (Azad, 2012).
Carr (2010) provides the answer to this unexplained need. He writes that one of the
primary reasons of the Internet being an important communication technology is its ability to
automatically update its users on events relevant to their requests. Carr states that “we rely on
that capability to personalize the workings of the system, to program the vast database to
respond to our particular needs, interests, and desires”. It is because of this reliance that users
welcome the Internet’s interruption with every notification or email because each interruption
brings in a piece of knowledge or information the user requested. Thus, habitual users always

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feel the need to be constantly connected to the network and welcome the medium which
lowers their cognitive and critical thinking abilities at the expense of the distractive and
fragmented information they receive.
That being said, the most profound effect that coincides with a lowered cognitive
capability due to over-reliance on media is the permanent damage to the brain. As Michael
Merzinich (n.d.), a veteran in the subject of neuroplasticity, reveals that the brain is a highly
adaptable organ. It as much as changes its physical shape as neurons and synapses shift to
accommodate the use of a multitasking medium of communication. He points out that this
effect develops in an individual’s brain along with the regular habit of the usage of such a
medium, even when the user is not actively using the medium. This leads to neural circuits
permanently remapping themselves in the brain of the individual and his/her brain
permanently loses the ability to think critically and allocates itself to multitasking and
shallow thinking (as cited in Carr, 2010).
Furthermore, researchers at Stanford University (2009) conducted numerous cognitive
tests of two groups of multitaskers; one of which consisted of experienced multitaskers while
the other consisted of comparatively inexperienced ones. Results revealed that adept
multitaskers could not govern their working memory appropriately and tended to be easily
distracted by irrelevant information (as cited in Carr, 2010). This research brought to light the
fact that the effects summarized by Merzinich are already afflicting the minds of ones reliant
on media and the young generation that grows up with it integrated in their lives are even
more vulnerable to it.
Secondary effects
As mentioned earlier in this paper, because of the over-reliance and integration of the
media’s use in the young generations’ lives, the media acts as a significant source of

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information. The Primal and Social Cognition theories mentioned previously highlight why
young individuals allow media to influence their judgment. Apart from that the flawed
imagery displayed in the media can be understood by the Media Practice Model (MPM).
According to Steele and Brown(1995), MPM states that the media displays the wants and
preferences of its consumers (as cited in ter Bogt, 2010). This shows that the media tends to
show its users what they desire instead of reality and thus false imagery and formation of
stereotypes. The influence of the media on the young generation can ascertain that the media
leads to lowered independent critical thinking. This lack of independent critical thinking
allows the media to influence the young generation and form media stereotypes in their mind
which can lead to further detrimental effects.
Nevertheless, the effects of media stereotyping are vast and beyond the boundaries of
this paper, but a few significant aspects can include terrorism and mental and physical health.
These aspects can be undertaken as examples of the lack of independent thinking among the
victims of the mass media.
Michael Medved(2012) writes about the American entertainment industry and how it
distorts the image of the American society and the minds the worldwide viewers. He cites an
incidence in Pakistan in October 2001, when mobs burnt down five theatres for displaying
American movies with the motive of the rejection of American culture and values within the
Pakistani community. What Medved points is that the movie displayed at that time was
Desperado, which was and R-rated, hyper-violent movie which in no way represented
American society.
Moreover, Susan Bordo(2008) in The Globalization of Eating Disorders elaborates on
how the globalization of media has saturated the world with fashion and health stereotypes.
She cites the case of a young adult by the name of Tenisha Williams who suffers from

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anorexia and claims that she “rather die than gain a single pound” because she wants to look
like the perfect, unrealistic images spread over the media.(para.3). That is to show that the
media reduces the ability for independent thinking and understanding amongst youngsters
like Tenisha Williams and influences their minds, which leads these detrimental health
effects.
Conclusion
All things considered, one can deduce that even though the mass media, especially the
Internet and the television industry, has excelled rapidly and exponentially over the past few
decades and contributed as a major element of world development, it has done so at the
expense of the minds of its users. The event of globalization invested in the importance and
integration of the mass media in the lives of individuals. The most vulnerable of these
individuals were found to be the digital natives who grow up with the strong need of usage of
the mass media. This has led to their mind facing the process of remolding and lowering of
cognition and independent critical thinking which in turn has had various detrimental
effects such as addiction to the mass media, permanent brain damage and susceptibility to
media imagery and stereotypes in their lives.
This paper is limited due to the boundaries of time and space to the most significantly
relevant elements of the over-reliance on media and calls for further research into the subject.
Further research may include the researching how this over-reliance can be countered and
what steps can be taken to avoid the next generation of mankind to suffer from s lower level
of cognition and independent critical thinking. All in all, until further research questions the
validity of this phenomenon, this paper concludes that over-reliance on the mass media leads
to a lower level of cognition and independent critical thinking, primarily in the young
generation.

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References
Carr, N. M. (2010, May 24). The web shatters focus, rewires brains. Wired, 18(6). Retrieved
from http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/05/ff_nicholas_carr/2/.
Friedman, T. L. (2006). The world is flat: A brief history of the 21st century. New
York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Gladwell, M. (2005). Brain candy; books. The New Yorker, 81(13), 88-89. Retrieved from
http://ezproxy.aus.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.aus.edu/docview
/233145180?accountid=16946.
Greenfield, P. M. (2009). Technology and Informal Education: What Is Taught, What Is
Learned. Science, 323(5910), 69-71. doi:10.1126/science.1167190
Gruber, E., & Grube, J. W. (2000). Adolescent sexuality and the media. Western Journal of
Medicine, 172(3), 210–214. Retrieved from
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1070813/.
Medved, M. (2012). That’s entertainment? Hollywood’s contribution to anti-Americanism. In
A. Abusalim (Ed.), Where I stand: The center and the periphery (pp. 256-270).
London: Pearson Education
Media. 2012. In Merriam-Webster.com.
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webster.com/dictionary/media.
Selwyn, N. (2009). The digital native - myth and reality. Aslib Proceedings, 61(4), 364-
379. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.aus.edu/login?

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Ter Bogt, T. F. (2010). “Shake it baby, shake it”: media preferences, sexual attitudes and
gender stereotypes among adolescents. Sex Roles, 63(11-12), 844–859. doi:
10.1007/s11199-010-9815-1.

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