In 2000, three simple words circling a tiki torch and a palm tree defined not just a television series, but an entirely new culture of entertainment: outwit, outwit, survive. When the competitive reality show Survivor first aired, producers Mark Burnett and Jeff Probst left sixteen Americans stranded on a tropical island, hoping only for nature to take its course and drama to ensue. . No one could have predicted the phenomenon that would be a catalyst not only for reality TV, but also for competitive game shows aimed at putting people at their most vulnerable. Now that ten years have passed, many people have quickly begun to view Survivor as the destroyer of thoughtful television: a show focused solely on plotting, connivance, and bug-eating, all for the sole purpose of winning a million dollars. Going even further, intellectuals argue that shows like Survivor encourage blatant discrimination, racism, sexism and ageism – after all, the idea of ​​the show is to form social cliques (called "alliances") and electing people both off the game and off the island, sometimes for no reason other than not "liking" them. Not to mention the fact that it always seems to magically start pouring rain the moment two people find themselves standing on a pole ten feet above the Atlantic Ocean during the final challenge, introducing the controversial concept of knowing whether reality TV is real or not. , but simply an artificial series of events captured by a camera. While all of these negative arguments are valid, critics underestimate the show's positives. The reason the series has managed to last ten years, twenty seasons, two hundred participants and dozens of locations ranging from jungle islands to desert oases is that it offers a... middle of paper psychological... . .. March 24, 2010. Television.--. “I trust you, but I trust myself more.” Survivor. CBS. May 17, 2009. Television.--. “The Meltdown.” Survivor. CBS. March 8, 2001. Television.--. “The Puppet Master.” Survivor. CBS. September 17, 2009. Television. Cardona, Erik. "Best...entrance...ever." Web log publication. Erik's Immunity Blog. CBS. Internet.--. "Hero? Hero?? Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Web log publication. Erik's Immunity Blog. CBS. Web. Klosterman, Chuck. “Billy Sim.” Sex, drugs and cocoa puffs. New York: Scribner, 2003. 13. Print. Ross, Dalton, ed. “Best and Worst Survivor.” Entertainment Weekly April 13, 2010: 80-83. EBSCO. Web.Tremblay, Tony. “Reading the “Real” in Survivor: Unearthing Republican Roots in the Reality Narrative.” » Topia 9 (2003): 147. ProQuest. Web. Woodman, Tenley. “Stole Again: Mariano Reflects on Survivor's Disappearance.” Tribune Business News April 3, 2010. Print.