Hey! You know that episode of your favorite TV show last week? Or which team won last night’s game? Or who’s America’s top model? How about that drug ad last night? Or the discovery of a magical substance that will allow us to keep living the way we do?
Do you know the answers to these questions? I sure don’t… And I’m glad.
I just read of an author that released a new book about her challenge to turn off her Television for 1 week*. And she found it hard to do. But she noticed the positive impact in her life after just a 1-week tryout.
How long could you pull your mind out of the mind-numbing stew of electrons vying for your attention? How about 2 weeks, 1 month, a year? HOW ABOUT A DECADE!?! That’s how long I’ve done it. And I don’t miss it one tick.
An insight in having been away from a drug that long – and yes, it’s a drug: The fact that you cannot turn it off, or live without it, or think you need it, puts TV in your life as an addiction. And this drug has damaging effects on you and your life every bit as much as Heroin or cocaine use.
Being one that works in the business I see it from both ends; the making of programming, and what you the viewer will see. And it’s no different than any other product you consume. That is: It’s manufactured. Made for visual/audible consumption, to stimulate, sway and program you on multiple levels. The top things created for your mind are fear, need, gossip, consumption, strife, low self esteem, desire, celebrity, and greed.
Don’t believe me? If you consume more than 4 hours of television programming per week, try this: Write down what you think, feel and want right now for yourself, your community and the world. Be sure to date it. Turn the TV off for at least 1 full week, or 2 weeks, or a month or year. Then write down the same thing. Compare.
The majority of shows are for entertainment and they’re about trash, or white-trash. Better shows are made to attract advertisers. If a show draws an audience (you) the advertisers will pay. And that’s where networks make their money. In a way, a TV show is an advertising investment by the network to capture your attention. And it doesn’t matter if it’s News, Drama, Comedy, History or whatever.
One of the main things many people think TV does, and actually doesn’t do: Inform you.
What it does do quite well: Create opinion.
Take the News: repeated sound bytes throughout the day. The repetition is important if you watch more than one news program in the same day. Short 20-second sound bytes on usually big topics.
There is no way to be informed about events, politics, business or discoveries; their meaning, why it happened, the social impact, the impact on you or your loved ones in sound bytes of 60 seconds or less. But you can get a great opinion from it. And America is in love with its opinions.
In the space created after turning off the TV ten years ago, what happened was an opening. An opening in my life for quite a few other things. The first one involved reading. I read more. Then people, I saw people face to face more. Then the world. I took my new found time and went out in the town, city or further out in nature and took a new look at it.
I found my way into writing music, writing a journal, reading history, creating a business, making new friends, and ultimately a documentary. Taking the time to find alternative sources of information and getting informed on whatever topic called to me.
I still enjoy DVD’s and great audio.
Quality picture & sound make for a richer sensory experience.
But it doesn’t change the content of major network TV.
So I invite you to try it. Give it a shot. Pull yourself out of your television. Just the removal of commercial bombardment will make a difference. Honestly, it's not good for you.
Link to referenced author: * http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/021608E.shtml
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