MovieChat Forums > How We Got to Now (2014) Discussion > Watching this now ... as a fairly big fa...

Watching this now ... as a fairly big fan of Steven Johnson.

posted 10 years ago by bruce-129
15 replies | jump to latest

I found out about Steven Johnson with his book "Mind Wide Open" which I listened to in audiobook format while on a driving trip. I liked his style and clear way of writing, but mostly what I liked is that he was telling me, not all, but mostly about stuff I did not know about at the time. He sparked my interest in neuroscience, which I suppose I did not really know existed at the time. I heard Steven talk on his book lectures twice. I am predisposed to look favorably on his work.

"How We Got To Now" cannot help but remind me of the series I watched as a teenager, "Connections", by James Burke. Burke had a sophisticated worldly point of view and spoke like an adult. Before Burke was Jacob Bronowski's "Ascent Of Man" which started this type of programming ... with me anyway.

I want to like and watch "How We Got to Now", but I cannot help but compare it negatively with these other programs that I think far outclass it, as I thought the original "Cosmos" series outclassed the new series that was released on PBS.

I am left wondering ... what happened.

It's not that Johnson's effort is bad ... it is not, in fact it is fairly good. The problem is that it is the same as or less of the the previous versions, and seems to be dumbed down. I am picked by and detest this trend in America.

In every single section of this episode of this series there is Johnson full in the camera acting the clown. When did every public programming about science, math, economics, or anything more complicated than Kim Kardashian's ass become something to be ashamed of, or clown about, or more specifically act stupid about?

There's Johnson at Heathrow Airport making dumb jokes about how bad he is at directing flights in the Air Traffic Controller simulator ... which of course he would be since he just sat down at the seat. Same with the worldwide time syncronization organization. The cue seems to be these things are something to joke at, like calling Galileo a misfit nerd.

So far everything I am seeing seems aimed at adolescent children with ADHD, dumbed down so they will not feel bad. Maybe that is necessary, or maybe it is to appeal to the parents so they will be members of PBS ... I don't know ... but what I do know is that this is less than the stuff what was explained earlier in other series that seemed much better, with a more inspirational view of Western Civilization, science and technology. How is it that we can be going backwards? How is it that these things are dumbing down at a time when we know more and depend more on technology than at any other time, not to mention that the pace of change is not at a level that will hit most of us in a very disorienting way before we are even old or retired.

There is no vision in this program, there is no wonder, it's almost like something a smart person would write to seem stupid so he will feel less likely to be rejected.

Is there a conspiracy to dumb down society and the media? If there is I'd want to think that Steven Johnson would have nothing to do with it. So what is going on? Why don't we get anything useful on Commercial Television for our citizens, and why doesn't Public Broadcasting challenge and inform anymore? Has our national intelligence level really dropped in the last 30 years?

How come this series seems so lightweight?

[–] TxMike 10 years ago

Your comments seems to me unjustly harsh for a program that clearly is made for a wide variety of audiences. I've only seen the episode on glass and I found it totally engrossing. Very informative and very well done.

..*.. TxMike ..*..
Make a choice, to take a chance, to make a difference.

[–] bruce-129 10 years ago

I'm glad you liked it. It's good to know someone did. I know it seemed harsh, but I thought I was fair. Not really directed at Steven Johnson since I know he is a better writer, but as I said, to me, this is a retread of information covered before and far better. Maybe it is what this show aimed to be that I felt let me down. I suppose I was disappointed in a big way that there was not much here for me, and what there was so done so ham-handedly. Then after the remake of Cosmos that barely seemed to get any notice at all ... PBS is slipping.

[–] calamarisoup 9 years ago

Then after the remake of Cosmos that barely seemed to get any notice at all ... PBS is slipping.

The remake of Cosmos was not done by PBS. It was on Fox and produced by Seth MacFarlane. I thought the show got quite a bit of notice since Fox does not usually do this kind of programming. However, Sunday night is a pretty competitive night for tv shows.

[–] bruce-129 9 years ago

THX

[–] vismajorx 9 years ago

Barely got any notice? Just where is the rock you've been living under?

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Maybe we can have Puppet O'Neill jump over a puppet shark?

[–] bruce-129 10 years ago

I saw the episode on glass last night.

I am closing in on an adjective to describe this series ... the closest one I could think of is "dorky".

It is clumsy and thoughtless ... like a teenager's attempt at copying "Connections."

2 things come to mind from last night.

One was that stupid sight gag of his cleaning the window - from the inside. Why have Johnson participating in all the stupid actions that go not add anything to the point of the series, they just burn brain bandwidth. This series may not be for those with ADHD, but I think it's ham-handed approach may contribute to it.

The other one was that he talked "at-length" about how clear glass was so important, and yet all he said about it was that they burned some plant from the Middle East and put the ashes into the glass mix ... totally useless and uninteresting. It is actually something they either should have explained or not included in the series. Looking it up on the Internet it is not simple including soda ash and lime in pure forms.

[–] dmiller2000 9 years ago

bruce-129, I agree Johnson's comedy and sight gags were distracting, but there are only a couple per episode and they can be easily ignored. I think scientists want to show they are not cardboard stiffs. I can't fault him for that.

I also agree that I wanted to know more about the science - show us how the clear glass was made, for example.

That said, I enjoyed the series, as it sometimes connected things in new and unexpected ways for me.

I prefer more hands-on, hard-science series, but this was entertaining in a relaxing, "easy listening", casual experience that might spark an interest in someone otherwise not familiar with this material and inspire them to dig deeper.

[–] bruce-129 9 years ago

> I think scientists want to show they are not cardboard stiffs. I can't fault him for that.

I can.

Johnson, by the way is not a scientist, he is an English major, with a degree in Semiotics: the relation between signs and the things to which they refer; their denotata, or meaning.

I want to like this show, but it is just lame, at least for an adult.

[–] neerood 10 years ago

I really like this program, which I'm assuming is a television variant of his book.

I too saw and enjoyed "Connections" back in the day.

I would agree with you that I'd rather they left out the "comic" moments. Nobody is watching this for laughs, so why lower the dignity and significance of an otherwise engaging and smart series. On the bright side, these comic moments are 90% reduced in frequency and cringe-worthiness from the embarrassing David Pogue antics on "Nova Science Now"

[–] bruce-129 10 years ago

>> Nobody is watching this for laughs, so why lower the dignity and significance of an otherwise engaging and smart series.

I could not have said it better myself neerood.

[–] neerood 10 years ago

For some reason every TV science narcissist thinks they are appearing on "Big Bang Theory". I say if your day job is historian/scientist/biographer/etc, then stick to your strengths.

If you want to do science/education comedy, then commit to it, like this:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3813416/

"Going Deep With David Rees"

[–] mimosveta 9 years ago

You can put a review in the review section, this is more for discussing where short input on what you like, or didn't like, or what you thought or aren't sure about is best suited. When you write such long opening post, no one's gonna read it, and you leave no room for discussion (which is exactly what these boards are for, discussion, not reviews)

Such as, "I love how he doesn't burrow too deep into his subject matter which would bore viewer with no scientific proclivity, but he covers various aspects of the topic just to remind you how awesome these things, that we are all too used to today, really are, and to tell you how to look for further information if specific topic tickles your fancy. Good job."

___
Anyone who has ever read any spoilers,
knows that Winter Is Coming

[–] bruce-129 9 years ago

Yeah, and conversely there is no room for discussion at all in the review section, which is why I wrote here. Discussion, why don't you try it?

I mean it does say that I have been here since 2001, meaning that if I don't know what I am doing by now or have bad habits I'm not bloody likely to change them now.

[–] Kompressor_Fan 8 years ago

When you write such long opening post, no one's gonna read it...

I read the whole thing.

It's the dumbed down folks the OP refers to....who won't read anything longer than a Twitter comment...who refuse to read a short, to the point essay such as this.

[–] defcon79 9 years ago

The US is anti-intellectual. Even the supposedly 'smart' channels like History/Discovery have shows that are a far cry from BBC.

There is a very real fear of anything actually intelligent in this country, and everyone 'hates the smart kid', but will admire celebrities and filthy trash talk. Smart people acting stupid is supposed to help them 'relate to the common man', because the idea that someone could aspire to be better or actually learn something is a dangerous one.

That is why educational/science programming/teaching in this country has to be disguised as comedy and dumbed down because thats the only way people will watch it, and hopefully they will accidentally retain something.

If any tv/movie actually dares to be smart and require you to think, it will be slammed in reviews. The new Cosmos series with its huge budget and fancy CGI is targeted towards kids, the original still inspires wonder in adults.