Sunflower Seed #3: Cultivation Theory

On this weeks Sunflower Seed we are going to discuss cultivation theory. George Gerbner a graduate from the University of Pennsylvania, majoring in communication, developed the cultivation theory. His interest in it began to evolve throughout his life. Gerbner was born in Hungry in 1919. He became a spy later on in life, where he made his way behind enemy lines by parachute. During his time as a spy if Gerbner saw a Nazi he was ordered to kill them and that's what sparked his curiosity which lead to the cultivation theory. As a student at the University of Pennsylvania Gerbner conducted a study of how the television influences humans and his results fascinated him. Gerbner would soon come to create what we know today as the cultivation theory. The cultivation theory is an hypothesis created by Gerbner that television influences individuals thoughts and ideas of reality. His hypothesis also states that over time due to repetition of repeated visuals on television it can lead people to reprieve things that are not true as being common reality.

In the Cultivation Theory video of John Oliver explaining torture, we can easily understand how it is an example of cultivation theory. John Oliver discusses how if a human were to continually watch repeated acts of violence on television, such as news reports, that they are more likely to become scared of their environment and alter their idea of what common reality is. This is known as Mean World Syndrome. Oliver stresses that because a majority of what we see on television is violence or torturous acts that occur people have created false ideas that the world we live in today is a bad place. This is exactly what Gerbner was trying to get at when he developed the cultivation theory.