Cultivation Theory

Cultivation Theory is basically the idea that humans begin to believe social norms in society on television and the actions of people on television reflect that of reality. Many times television and reality do not go hand in hand. The best example that the John Oliver video on torture showed of Cultivation Theory is that humans tend to believe terror can be necessary and effective when many times this is not true. In the video, they state that 57% of Americans believe torture can prevent terror attacks. Real examples suggest that may not be true. Out of all of the terrorists that were tortured in Guantanamo Bay following the 9/11 attacks, only two gave any information up, one being pointless information, and the other being a complete lie. Many times in television shows and in video games, torture can be an effective tool in acquiring information. This has lead people to believe that torture works in real life. Though people believe it may work, this very well may not be true.