Mind Over Mass Media

       The title of the article by Steven Pinker is "Mind over Mass Media," which is a reference to the common phrase "mind over matter." This title has several underlying meanings but the main meaning of it is that just like how it takes brain power to force oneself to do something difficult, it also takes brain power to look past the mass media that is present all throughout society. The allusion the title is referencing is "mind over matter." this phrase means that intelligence has powers overriding difficulties or problems that one is facing. An example of this can be taken when someone is in the gym and pushing themselves to the point of collapse. Your body is telling you to stop because it feels pain, but your mind overpowers your body and tells it to keep going in order to get better. In the same way the title of the article imposes that someone has to look through all of the mass media present today to see the real world as it is. Pinker may have chosen this title because first of all it is an attention grabber. You begin to read it thinking it is just the common idiom, but then "Mass Media" is given and the reader is initially drawn into the article. It contributes to the argument because it shows how one has to have developed intellectual powers in order to not be sucked in by mass media. Pinker says that we have to develop self-control so that we are not drawn into this as much and are able to stay away at a safe distance. He also states that parts of mass media are beneficial, such as PowerPoint or Google, but in order to stay beneficial, they must be maintained by intellectuals so that they do not degrade.