Is Entertainment Good For Society?

Sean Combs is a music mogul who made a
portion of his wealth exploiting both
his own, and the creative abilities of others.

The Income Gap

There was a time in our society when the most important educational competencies were considered to be those of English, science, and mathematics (and almost all science is based on math anyway.) Anyone who’s endured c-span for any amount of seconds can pretty much sum up the type of society it created. We have become a society so starved of creativity that the small ratio of individuals who have excelled at creative activities, whether by natural ability or nurturing of average ability, are some of the most highly compensated members of society. Someone always wants to rant about the fact that athletes and entertainers are the best-paid people in society, but I answer that with a simple question: “Can you do it?”

This image depicts the disposition of many young people

who suffer with school due to rigid, antiquated, and inadequate

teaching methods.

But we’re smart… right?

The unfortunate side effect of the age of enlightenment, industrial age, and space age, is that creative abilities have been marginalized. Our society has for quite some time downplayed the relevance of creativity in early childhood development. Children who have difficulty concentrating are labeled as hyperactive, having learning disorders, or (if they’re lucky) labeled as dumb jocks/jockettes in some point of their education. I can’t help but shake my head as I type this. I find myself wondering when it was that we as a society forgot that all people are different; when it became acceptable to put everyone into a convenient cookie cutter category and break off all the edges that don’t conform. I believe that decades from now, this will be looked back upon as one of the greatest failures of our era. But there is hope. On the horizon, there is a silver lining.

This visual aid highlights the many
ways that one might learn most effectively.

Know Thyself

Many of the discoveries that came as a result of such stringent scientific practices and methodologies helped lead to amazing discoveries about the physiology of the human being. We now know that no two human beings are 100% alike. At the most rudimentary levels, we are all slightly different. The human genome project, which was completed in 2003, revealed that our genetic composition is immensely complex, and largely not understood. Much of the genetic material that affects our personalities, mental capacity, and the way that we learn and understand the world around us differ from person to person. This seems to confirm the recent discovery that we all learn in different ways. While some students may be ideally suited to absorb information from the traditional lecture environment, others may retain material better if presented in a musical format, when presented in conjunction with vivid imagery, or when illustrated through a physically interactive example. I am most certainly not an educational expert, but the information presented above and verified below provide evidence of a much more far-reaching principal affecting society as a whole.

Modern dancers are one example of professional
applications for natural creative abilities.

How does entertainment figure in?

I have come to believe that part of the reason that the entertainment industry is regarded in the way it is by the general population is because it fulfills a deep need we have to be creative vicariously through someone else (see my earlier post “The Relationship Between Talent and Entertainment.”) In all too many cases, young people are encouraged to abandon a pursuit of a career path that allows them to exploit their natural creativity in the name of practicality. As a result, we have produced a society composed primarily of a sedentary workforce that fails to excel in careers that they may or may not be genetically predisposed to excel at; in other words, a society rife with individuals not fulfilling their purpose. As a result, people find a way to live out their repressed ambitions through films, television series, video games, and music. Studies have shown that playing music can increase work productivity and increase the cell density and connections between neurons in the brain. In addition, video games have been shown to improve multi-tasking, brain function, and can serve as a bonding tool between families.

Apple's highly popular tablet device "iPad" is similar to
devices used in the fictional "Star Trek" television series.

Coming Full Circle

One of the last points that should really be addressed is how the fantasy world of the entertainment industry and the real world interact with each other. The point can indeed be made that art imitates life, as many films have a basis in the world in which we live, but as anyone knows, life imitates art as well. If we lived in a static world it would be rather boring. The ability of some of the most creative film makers in recent years to conceive of ideas and discoveries considered to be decades if not centuries ahead of their time have captivated the minds of the young viewers of their product. Many young people witnessed strange, amazing, and wonderful things unfold on the silver screen before their eyes. A portion of these visionary young people was caught before they adopted the tired ideas of most of the population, which state “That can’t be done.” This has prompted some of the greatest scientific and technological advances that recent history has seen. Fictional ideas taken from film have been developed and improved upon by some of the very same young people who were inspired by them. I believe that if we as a society truly wish to see the future that we all envision come to fruition, we must go forward with the realization that no two people are alike, and all people must be treated, taught, and respected for what they are, individuals. It is our diversity that makes us unique; our differences make us stronger.