Since getting the full cable package and digital box, I've noticed that my television viewing has been going up, probably to 2 hours a day or so. In many ways, it is similar to a substance addiction, in that there is a promise of providing something, yet I flip around the channels, and I don't find a fucking thing.
Individuals in the industrialized world spend an average of 3 hours per day watching television. This is half their leisure time, and more than any single activity except for work and sleep. For a person who lives to the age of 75, this means 9 years of their life has been spent staring at the box. And this doesn't include the hours spent talking about a show, or writing about it in other media *cough simpsons*.
Part of TV's attraction springs from what's known as the "orienting response" in biology, which is an instinctive visual or auditory reaction to any sudden or novel stimulus. Good for hunting and staying away from predators, not so good for keeping away from TV. Watch kids in a mall walking by a television store-- they stop and stare transfixed, oblivious to the world around them. The medium (form) is the (evolutionary) message. The content is secondary to the cuts, edits, zooms, pans, sudden noises that are used to hypnotize.
Studies show that when people turn on their televisions, they become more relaxed and passive. When the set is turned off, the feeling of relaxation ends, but the feelings of passivity and lowered alertness continue. After watching tv, people report their overall mood as the same or worse, compared to people who engage in sports or hobbies, or who read a book-- these activities tend to improve moods.
Simple conditioning, then, is what makes people watch tv. Turn it on, they feel relaxed, turn it off, the relaxation is gone. The psychological benefits are weak.
How many of you have tried to quit watching? Can you do it? I find myself walking around like an autistic child fluttering my hands in front of my face to get my fix... I NEED MY ORIENTING RESPONSE TO BE FULFILLED...
Individuals in the industrialized world spend an average of 3 hours per day watching television. This is half their leisure time, and more than any single activity except for work and sleep. For a person who lives to the age of 75, this means 9 years of their life has been spent staring at the box. And this doesn't include the hours spent talking about a show, or writing about it in other media *cough simpsons*.
Part of TV's attraction springs from what's known as the "orienting response" in biology, which is an instinctive visual or auditory reaction to any sudden or novel stimulus. Good for hunting and staying away from predators, not so good for keeping away from TV. Watch kids in a mall walking by a television store-- they stop and stare transfixed, oblivious to the world around them. The medium (form) is the (evolutionary) message. The content is secondary to the cuts, edits, zooms, pans, sudden noises that are used to hypnotize.
Studies show that when people turn on their televisions, they become more relaxed and passive. When the set is turned off, the feeling of relaxation ends, but the feelings of passivity and lowered alertness continue. After watching tv, people report their overall mood as the same or worse, compared to people who engage in sports or hobbies, or who read a book-- these activities tend to improve moods.
Simple conditioning, then, is what makes people watch tv. Turn it on, they feel relaxed, turn it off, the relaxation is gone. The psychological benefits are weak.
How many of you have tried to quit watching? Can you do it? I find myself walking around like an autistic child fluttering my hands in front of my face to get my fix... I NEED MY ORIENTING RESPONSE TO BE FULFILLED...
