TV watching as a lifestyle. What do you think of the affects?
611281
Television is not cool...no...Those who create television shows the majority of the time have some kind of psychology degree and they're more interested in manipulating you in some manner rather than educate you or give you pleasurable viewing...Control-control...that's all that television is here on this planet...It's an invention of basically less than 75 years...for the greater part of that most stations being government owned or controlled...Television, most of the time is very bad for an individual...People wasting living years and hours of days in front of the television being constantly manipulated be people...That's the problem, the greater majority of the population never had access to one and then all of a sudden there was a boom...especially in post war years...people should be out there living and communicating...they entice you with they're can you relate to this and that ...when in fact you're being manipulated by government psychologists who want a mind-frame for their region...Television is terrible and I don't like it much.
38799
If Im doing something else rather than just sitting there and listening to it, if Im doign something while listening to it I do like it more. Even sitting with friends and listening to it is better than TV. I dont watch TV much but yeah... I like listening to music more than watching TV.
728193
I can't afford a TV license so I don't have a TV, we get letters through once every 4 months threatening to come and reposes our telly and you know, a load of rubbish.  But honestly, life without a telly isn't too bad.  We play cards, or read, and it really is amazing, I actually have long deep conversations with my boyfriend which we haven't done in a long time.  Try it, it's only a month.
163426
I stopped watching tv. Its the strangest thing. I finally realized thatt everything just repeats. The plots are reused, the topics are reused, even the sports events seem to be reruns. So one day I just stopped watching it and I didn't feel like I was missing anything. I still watch movies every now and then because usually they try to be original but I just don't watch tv anymore.
1135743
Television viewing and your eyesight\nEye care experts generally agree: Watching television will not harm your eyes or vision if the TV room is lit properly and if you follow a few viewing tips. In fact, there is usually less strain involved in TV viewing than in doing close work such as sewing or reading. But TV watching for long stretches of time can leave your eyes fatigued. \n\nhttp://www.us.novartisophthalmics.com/info/helpful-hints/eye-tips.jsp
770634
It's a great question.\n\nI really believe that if we did not have tv, we would be doing exactly the same thing our great-great-great grandfathers were doing.\n\nWe would all as a family be standing around the piano singing Michael Jackson songs - or basically trying to copy anything that we hear on the radio.\n\nWe would be more healthy as well.  It's not so fun sitting on the couch with no tv and remote-control.\n\nWe will probably have a great national football team to this day, if there was no tv as more people would get off their fat arses and run on a field with a ball.\n\nInfact, thank you for asking this.  I'm going to switch my tv off.  I'm not even watching it!  How sad is that?
1027642
I actually experimented with this a few years ago when I returned from living in Japan. Having lived overseas for almost two years, I decided not to simply go back to my life as it was before. So initially, I went without cable (or satellite, which I've never had), a cell phone, magazine subscriptions, etc. Gradually, I began reinstating such habits and possessions but I was intrigued to see how long it would take to make the adjustment.\n\nWell, the television thing was intriguing. I found that without benefit of the usual gazillion channels (and options to waste time sitting in front of the idiot box), I watched little to no TV. In fact, limited as I was to only local network fare, I relied heavily on PBS if and when I actually did watch TV at all. I was almost proud of myself for not returning to form... almost.\n\nWhat ended up happening was that I basically bowed to social pressures. This is almost a topic for another question but I realized how much watching and following sports serves as a function of social bonding (particularly with my fellow males). So that eventually necessitated getting ESPN. Loving films as I do, I also missed TCM. Picture quality was another major issue (have you tried using rabbit ears recently? good grief!). And before I knew it -- in this case, within two months -- I was back to my old habits. \n\nBut hey, I am still living without a cell phone and that's something, isn't it? :-)
1085902
Entirely too much television! I couldn't live without my television. Television has turned my mind into mush.\n\nI can't read without drooling in 2 minutes flat, but I can watch a marathon of Chappell's Show on replay for 2-days straight.\n\nMush... just mush.
32286
It isn't that it's bad for you--as it will directly hurt you.  But it does make you less aware of what you are eating & if you are trying to eat less, you might want to just eat without watching tv.
334906
I think people believe they represent real life situations. \nPeople find the action exciting and stimulating. They like to see the bad get what's coming to him. Then there is the violence, people just have a morbid curiosity about the bad things people do to each other and tv brings right intto the living room now.
106609
Television, especially cable television, allows us to see things that without it, before internet, we would never be able to see. Take for example the Food Network. Here we are able to see concrete examples of cuisine and cooking styles from all kinds of different countries and cultures. \n24-hours news has forced the news services to focus on much more of the world's happenings as they have to fill an entire days worth of programing. \nI live in the South so winter sports are obviously not avaliable in my area. Thanks to TV I am able to witness skiing, snowboarding and curling. Freestyle wrestling is not a practiced sport in my area either, but TV allows me to witness these events. \nThere are countless other examples on how TV has forced us to become more global thinkers (while concurrently rotting our brains).
350719
Hi there.. I'm not sure what your actual question is.  Are you claiming that your generation is not as self-absorbed and selfish as some people accuse?  Or are you saying that today's TV shows portray a generation that is not self-absorbed or selfish?  Who are "we moderns"?  I'm interested in discussing these issues with you, but I need to understand who you speak for.  Certainly not everyone in the world who is your age cheers for the winners on American Idol.  Some of them can't stand the show, much less the winners (i know some young people like this.)\n\nI think a large part of the joy in watching people find success and happiness on TV is that it allows the viewer (i.e. you or me) to experience that pleasure, to live sort of vicariously through the characters we're seeing, and in whom we've invested quite a lot of emotion and interest.   I would say to you that I think it's indicative of a good person to enjoy seeing people find success and happiness, or seeing people solve their problems and work things out.  I believe that's a good thing. \n\nBut there are some inherent problems with buying too much into the stories on TV.  For one, TV shows, reality or not, are nevertheless edited to smithereens; they rarely if ever show the true ebb and flow of a situation, the nature of how real time passes.  It's VERY easy to get used to that and lose your perspective on how long some things take and how much patience and tenacity is required.  Another problem:  there are some people who are so rapt in attention with TV shows, and already experiencing vicariously the pleasures of successes that they're seeing, that they have simply stopped investing enough time in their own happiness.   When you relate to much of life through a perspective of TV shows, you lose sense of how things really are.  Everything is very grand and overly dramatic and heavily edited on TV.  When one then has to deal with regular life, and it appears to them (relative to TV) mundane, slow, and undramatic, they may become discouraged and lose a lot of drive or ambition to pursue their interests.  \n\nThere are other problems.  I refer you to a great essay by David Foster Wallace entitled "E Unibus Pluram:  Television and U.S. Fiction".  \n\nBut to better answer your question, I need to know more specifics.  Who are you "moderns"?  Who is accusing you of being self-absorbed and selfish, and if someone is, why should you care?  Do you feel like a self-absorbed or selfish person?  If not, then who cares what other people say?  If they're judging you without knowing you, that's pretty presumptuous.  Screw 'em.  Live your life, be happy, be yourself.  Write me back if you'd like.
887007
In the summer I stopped seeing TV for a week, and I was happy about it, because you break your routine and try new things.  Try it and see how you feel after a week.  But you cannot cheat, you cannot use the Internet to see what's on TV.  Also, don't spend hours answering questions here, because that's cheating again.    I'm like you, I love seeing TV, but picture the reality, they are making money and doing exciting things, and you are just sitting there, watching, ONLY watching what the tv stars are doing.  Try to find a new way to relax.
111241
TV is a bunch of plastic, metal, and glass - it does not effect children.\n\nThe PROGRAMMING that PARENTS ALLOW their children to watch can and does affect kids.  Some programs can educate and inform and have a good effect.  Others (the majority of what's on) can be harmful because it is not intended for kids, and so is inappropriate; or, some is targeted at kids, but is simply a mindless, time-wasting, marketing ploy (e.g. pokemon, yu-gi-oh, etc.).\n\nPARENTS have to invest the time and energy to supervise and limit what their kids are watching, and to watch with them and discuss it - so they understand that it is make-believe and so they get what you want them to get out of it.
483274
An overload of negative reinforcement of ideas generated by the media is the main thing. Giving people false ideas about many things is a big problem (mainly with children who take it too seriously and believe what they see is the norm). Not to mention, the excessive amount of time you are on 'autopilot' by sitting in front of the 'boob tube'. There's a lot being lost by not thinking outside of the box (figuratively speaking) and sitting in front of one. If you get out and do more than being holed up watching the TV, you are usually a better person for it, assuming your choice of recreation is a good one. TV in moderation can be a good thing - keeping up on current events, and for entertainment, but moderation is the key to a good balance. Don't get me wrong, I have a few favorite shows I hate to miss, but it's not the end of the world if I do - there's another one out there.
762721
I agree with Connie K.\n\nI think that violence desensitizes our children.  We never really see the consequences or aftermath of violence on TV or Movies.   We just see the violence and then the good guy always wins.  \n\nBut this is not just limited to violence, it also applies to behaviors and sex.  I think after you see enough promiscuous sex on TV, you think that is the normal way of life and that is how everyone lives.  Same thing with behaviors.  When kids watch shows geared to kids or teens, and the kids and teens are behaving badly with no consequences, I think that they start thinking that it is normal to act that way and to behave that way. \n\nThis is why I think that it is very important to monitor the programs that we all watch and especially our children, more closely.
83749
I would give up TV. I mean, you can listen to music, watch tv, chat with friends, and just have fun on the Internet! With TV, all we can do is watch what other people chose. The Internet gives us freedom!