[Markos101]

Hey all,

Thought I'd just share this experience I've had today (or the last couple of days).

I very rarely watch TV, in fact I haven't really watched much of it for half a decade. However today I have been following the events in both Russia and the Republican convention.

I've noticed a change. I've started thinking in images rather than finances, I've found myself daydreaming a lot more, having more needless negative thoughts (likely casued in part no doubt by the disturbing events of today outside Chechnya) and generally finding myself a lot less forward-thinking and confident.

Don't know if anyone else experiences this - will anyone else be glad to see TV go if peakoil hits us hard?

Mark

[gogota]

TV has been the most important tools for our government to gain political success since a long time ago. That is why in Malaysia here TV is tax free, license free and government encourage us to have as many tv as we can.

Because of tv, people here now believe in vampire, ghost and everything what the tv tell you. 99 % of the people here also believe that in the future we will have spaceship flying in the space ( I used to be one of those).

Give back the reality to the people! Let's kill the trusting tv culture !!

BTW : if tv is going to be dead, so did computer too...

[lowem]

I'm an 80's kid. I can not stand the 90's, and today's TV programming

... with the one exception of Babylon 5. But that's finished too.

The local shows are crap. The ads are even crappier. At least the TV's still good for watching DVD's and XVID's ...

[lowem]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('gogota', 'T')V has been the most important tools for our government to gain political success since a long time ago. That is why in Malaysia here TV is tax free, license free and government encourage us to have as many tv as we can ...

[larrydallas]

Overall broadcast television has become more sexual and violent with display of deviant behavior as being mainstream or "cool". I grew up in the 80's and 90's and saw a huge change in what was shown on TV between just those 10 years.

Never did we hear words like "b*tch, azz, sh*t,etc" on broadcast TV. Also, this trend of laughing when someone is injured or killed in situations on TV and film is very disturbing. Because I grew up in a time when we did not do this I know better, but to someone who has seen nothing but this deviant behavior they could think it is normal.

I could write a book on news reporting these days.

Some of the most horrible things are the following:

1. 100% go along with authority - basically if a govt. official or agnecy says something they will repeat it and praise it or pretty much go along with it even if it is compeletly stupid. ie..the plastic and duct tape thing to survive poison gas

2. Reporting news like it is gossip - the reporters act as if they are your friend and looking out for you. They never give an objective account of when who what where why how....they always victimize someone and villify someone else prior to any court of law making a judgement if so required.

3. Always in favor of money and power - Even if some corporation spills like 3000 gallons of toxic waste on main street USA the report will say "so and so compnay provides 500 jobs in the area and is helping with the clean up". Meanwhile the guy that was speeding and "caught on tape" will be plastered all over the place. They also love showing mug shots of balcks, hispanics, and recently people of islamic background.

4. Overly sexualized female journalists - watch any mainstream CNN FOX or even the big 3 networks and they will dress and makeup the women like prostitutes. They will make them have hooker like red lipstick, streetwalker type high heels, and the clothes are usually more fit for working a street corner than reporting. This is a subtle form of mind control because if the viewer (at least male viewer) is sexually aroused in any way it is not likely they will critically evaluate the information and decide if they think it is valid or not. People will go along with things easier if they are told by someone who they are attarcted to.

maybe when the TV goes dark it will not be all so bad

[Devil]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('lowem', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('gogota', 'T')V has been the most important tools for our government to gain political success since a long time ago. That is why in Malaysia here TV is tax free, license free and government encourage us to have as many tv as we can ...

[k_semler]

TV Mutants is a page on the effects that television has on the human brain, and alters critical thinking processes.

Brainwashing is about how television influences human behavior and self opinion.

Electronic Heroin is about the addictive nature of television, and this paper shows how television produces an artificial world which promotes passiveness, and a pleasurable mental state. This paper also compares the impact of television on the basic values of a person and thought to that only equaled by the addiction of heroin.

I have almost completely eliminated television from my life, but not because of the above articles. The reason at first was simple enough, I had just started a job that was during the "prime time" hours of television viewing, and there was only infomercials on at 0230 when I returned home. I reduced it to only 2 hours of television viewing per week, only watching "The Simpsons", "King of the Hill", and "Grounded for Life" on Sunday nights. The first week with the rapid reduction of television, I found that I was actually disturbed at the fact that I could not watch television. I was actually beyond merely distressed, I was actually angry that I could not watch television. After a while, (about 3 days), I noticed that I really did not care if I watched television or not during that exact second, but I still was looking forward to Sunday nights when I could watch "my" shows.

After a while, I began to realize just how much advertisement I was subjected to during my previous schedule of 35-50 hours of television a week, and I was grateful for almost complete elimination of the corporate machine. and I began to wonder if I would be better off if I completely eliminated broadcast television from my life. I decided to try it for 2 weeks, and I did not even notice the 2 hours of television that I did not watch any more, so I decided to completely eliminate broadcast, cable, and satellite television from my life. I have not turned on my television for about two months now, (except for about 10 minutes of that), and I do not intend to turn it back on anytime soon.

I have found that radio is much more engaging, and also does not diminish brain capacity or shrink the attention span. Before I discovered S/W radio, I mainly listened to AM radio. I listen to about 16 hours a day of radio a day, and I do not listen to FM. I feel that FM radio stations broadcast too many commercials, and their programming does not engage any though processes. AM radio is still in a deluge of advertise mt, but the programming, (talk radio), actually requires attention instead of just passive viewing. Since I have discovered S/W radio, I begin listening at dusk, and when it becomes light, I immediately switch over to KQQQ 1150 AM. On S/W, I usually listen to either China Radio International, BBC World Service, Radio Australia International, or Radio New Zealand.

I have found that engaging in thought relevant to the broadcast in radio actually enhances the comprehension of the material, while active thought while watching television actually detracts from the content. Now, radio and the internet is my main sources of news and entertainment, with with newspapers, magazines, and books acting as supplements. I have been basically television free for two months now, as I decided to watch some last week. I watched about 10 minutes of a show, (I have no idea what was on), on Spike TV around 1630, and I actually felt my brain stop the though process. My mind literally went blank, and I realized that I was sitting there like a cripple.

Once I realized this, I immediately decided to turn off the television and do something else. I still watch movies once in a while, but I do not need my television for that, as I have a DVD -/+RW, (well, actually 2), on my computer, and my monitor is larger than my television screen. My television is only 13 inches, while I have a 17 inch screen. If I am going to sit on my rump for 2 hours like a cripple, I might as well have a large screen to view the movie that I decide to view. I have actually been thinking about selling my television, as I do not even use it anymore, and the only barrier to doing so is finding a box to store the TV in while I take it to a pawn shop. That, and I also am still trying to find a VCR that will fit in a 5.25 inch bay on my computer that is controllable with software.

En Sum: Televison decreases your mental capacity, has the same addictive qualities as a drug, and is nothing but an advertisement machine. If you decide to eliminate, (or at least reduce), your television viewing, you will be doing yourself a great favor.

{link highlighting; EE}

[lowem]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Devil', 'E')e Mien

Please allow me to be a surrogate ASEAN member, even as a westerner. Both in my ex-capacity as an UN expert and, occasionally, as a simple tourist, I have visited many SE Asian countries ... I have always been impressed, in different ways, with these countries, the nature and the people(s) who live in them and it would be no exaggeration to say I love SE Asia, in general ...

[RIPSmithianEconomics]

But there is a subtler point made here. Many of the president’s "misstatements" fall in the category of contradictions – mutually exclusive assertions that cannot possibly both, in the same context, be true. "In the same context" is the key phrase here, for it is context that defines contradiction. There is no problem in someone’s remarking that he prefers oranges to apples, and also remarking he prefers apples to oranges – not if one statement is made in the context of choosing a wallpaper design and another in the context of selecting fruit for dessert. In such a case, we have statements that are opposites, but not contradictory. But if the statements are made in a single, continuous, and coherent context, then they are contradictions, and cannot both be true. Contradiction in short, requires that statements and events be perceived as interrelated aspects of a continuous and coherent context. Make the context disappear, or fragment it, and contradiction disappears. This point is nowhere made more clear to me than in conferences with my younger students about their writing. "Look here, " I say. "In this paragraph you have said one thing. And in that you have said the opposite. Which is it to be?" They are polite and wish to please, but they are baffled by the question as I am by the response. "I know," they will say, "but that is there and this is here". The difference between us is that I assume "there" and "here", "now" and "then", one paragraph and the next to be connected, to be continuous, to part of the same world of coherent thought. That is the way of typographic discourse, and typography is the universe I’m "coming from", as they say. But they are coming from a different universe of discourse altogether: the "Now…this" world of television. The fundamental assumption of that world is not coherence but discontinuity. And in a world of discontinuity, contradiction is useless as a test of truth or merit, because contradiction does not exist.

--Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death

[Terran]

I'd agree T.V is bad, most of the shows on T.V are worthless. Healthwise we're better off without T.V, you burn more calories staring at the T.V when it's not turned on than your watching it. There goes the couch potatoes, who just sit home all day and watch T.V. They're at much higher risk of getting heart disease, and other health problems. For sakes go out and get some exercise.

There are some useful shows on T.V. I personally don't watch T.V much, but I do see things are useful. What about the discovery channel? or history channel? or national geographic? those shows have educational values.

Speaking about educational, T.V is one of the contributing factors today to why kids in schools are reading, and writing below their grade level. They spend too much time on the T.V, and not enough time to do well in school.

[Matrim]

I hate TV.

In my opinion it's about the worst thing that could have happened to humanity.

I only watched TV a lot for about 3 or 4 years of my life. During this time there were a lot of decent sitcoms and animated shows on. Thena this whole reality TV thing happened. I would just like to ask all of you (since I'm sure some of you enjoy this nonsense) what in the hell is interesting about watching a bunch of real people do stupid shit on TV?

I ask my friends what they're doing on nearly any given night and I get "I'm watching Big Brother" which translates to me as "I'm gonna go sit on the couch and watch a bunch of strangers sit on the couch and talk behind each others backs on the TV"..........Right.............have fun with that. Honest to god I have no friends anymore because all they ever want to do is watch TV. "We've got a big night tonight Lisa Big brothers on at six, punk'd is on at seven, CSI is 8 O'clock, Nothin on at nine so I guess we'll have to watch american Idol........." Frankly it makes me sick. When's the last time you went for a walk? Read a god damn book? I lent a friend of mine that Michael Moore book Stupid White Men, and let me tell you this is not hard reading, it took me like 3 hours to read this book.
Anyway my friend just had to read this book because he "Loves Michael Moore:lol: " a sentiment I just don't share. 3 Months later I ask him if he's finished the book. HE'S ONLY DONE ONE CHAPTER. So I told him not to worry it's the same as everything else Moore's done since Bowling for Columbine and took my book back.

Anyway, I got a little side tracked on the reality TV there, but man do I hate it. The reason TV is the worst thing that could ever happen to humanity is this. Television has instilled in the youth of today this horrendous apathy, and I know because I AM the youth of today. I see it everyday, we simply don't care. There are several reasons for this but I think the catalyst to all this is TV. Let me tell you why:

TV is perhaps the most addictive drug in the history of man, seriously, almost everyone I know is addicted to TV. Sometimes when I'm around a TV thats on it takes me a couple minutes to pull myself away regardless of the programming. AND I HATE TV. I tell people everywhere I go that TV is the devil I shit you not.But because TV is not a chemical drug, not a substance you inject, snort, smoke, ingest etc..it is not treated as an addictive product. I would guess that these days television does the majority of the parenting in most households, so now we're teaching our children how to be addicted to something at the ages of 4 and 5. It's obscene (For the Record I'm 22 with one 11 month old baby girl and one on the way in Jan. So I'm perfectly entitled to talk about parenting and yes in the context of peak oil that can be a little depressing at times but you can be damn sure I'll be fighting with everything I've got to make the post peak world a better one than the one we have now for my grand kids) Clearly the high numbers of children from my generation who were addicted to TV has translated into a much higher percentage of young men and women severely addicted to drugs like Cocaine, Crystal Meth, and Heroin. Some would argue that so many young people are falling victim to drugs because they're Ultra addictive. I am inclined to reject this Idea. Not that the drugs are addictive (Having done several "ahem" samples in my heyday I can assure you they are addictive) but that it's not that simple. Once again I can assure you that LSD is in it's way every bit as addictive as say Meth but ask any "drug expert" and they'll tell you that's not the case. I mean look at the 60's Acid was everywhere and somehow most of them turned out OK it must be less addictive right?? Wrong, the people in the sixties didn't have 24 hour 7 days a week television to melt their brains and make them heavily dependant on outside influences. We do. People no longer know how to think for themselves, when they try they find themselves swimming in a sea of confusion, unable to organize their own thoughts. The most common question I am asked by peope my age is "What do you want to do?" or "What would you do?" and if I choose not to tell them what to do they simply do nothing. Oh I mean they watch TV.

(deeeep siiiiiigh shaking head) I can't remember the last time I had a really intelligent conversation with someone my own age, and I feel Television is to blame. I don't watch TV, I read, and increasingly I find that the people I talk to just don't think in the same way as me. Most people fail to notice subtle nuances in speech, and only seem to understand the barest top layer of what I'm trying to say.........perhaps I'm simply not being clear.

Perhaps this will make it clear: We're screwed because the generation that needs to find a way out of this peak oil/Global warming/Failing ecosystem problem, ie. MY generation, has been decimated by the scourge of TV and we really don't give a fuck what happens.........



at least not till the TV goes out


P.S. Sorry about the length I just get exceedingly frustrated at times that something is so obviously wrong with our world and the people who surround me could care less.........I guess thats life and I'll just have to keep on keepin on

[Devil]

Strange! I have a TV and it is controlled by my couch potato's remote. This has a little red button it with the word Power underneath it. I use it. Instead of ranting, why don't more people use that little red button, walk over to the bookcase and read a good yarn? That way, they wouldn't even know how bad the evening's offering is.

My mother died a couple of years back at the ripe age of 98. Until she was 95, she led an active life and watched TV in moderation. In her final three years, because of physical disabilities, including partial blindness, she could no longer read or move about. She watched more TV and listened to more radio than ever before as the only pastimes she could manage. There are millions in similar positions. Would the anti-TV extremists wish to deprive these elderly and disabled people of the only entertainment accessible to them? Like all extremists, for whatever cause, TV, religion, politics, environment, peak oil, you name it, these people are arrogant and obnoxious. Down with extremism!

[Matrim]

Devil,

At any point did I tell you to stop watching TV? I don't recall that I did, and I agree that it would be cruel to deprive people in your mothers situation of what was her main form of entertainment. But I wonder if she really would have been that much less happy if there never had been that TV to watch (Quite possibly she would be less happy, I don't claim to know your situation this is purely hypothetical) Also you may have noticed in my thread that I mainly reffered to my generation (early 20's) and the people I know from my experience. TV has been a horrible influence on virtually everyone I know. That said I have nothing against TV in moderation. I simply can't stand that it has become this all pervasive force in our society. I mean honestly is their any reason for an 18 year old to spend 8 hours or more a day watching TV. And do you think it might have played some small roll in obescity(spelling?) becoming epidemic.

And yes my last post was a bit of a rant but I'm not going to apologize for that. It certainly wasn't insulting. Besides I think I made it clear that while many people seem to have wasted their lives in front of the tube, I wasted a good portion of my life doing lots of drugs and drinking even more booze. I also think I made it clear that I view Drug addiction as being in many ways similar, even connected to, TV addiction.

As for my "Extremism" I'm not exactly sure where you got that. It's not like I was preaching the destruction of all TV sets or something, just expressing my personal distaste for TV. I don't like it so I don't watch it. since this is an open forum I figured I would share some of the reasons I don't like it. Simple as that. Watch all the TV you want, like I said most of my friends watch waaaay to much TV in my opinion, but at the end of the day they were still my friends whether they watched american idol or not.

Peace

P.S. If you thought my little spiel was to extreme what the heck are you doing on a peak oil forum........isn't that just about as extreme as you get??

[Devil]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Matrim', '
')P.S. If you thought my little spiel was to extreme what the heck are you doing on a peak oil forum........isn't that just about as extreme as you get??

[Matrim]

Devil

No foresight does not equal extremism. I just meant that as a whole the peak oil issue is more towards the extreme end of things. I for one find it invaluable that there are many folks at this forum who's main interest is to spread knowledge and awareness about peak oil.

I mean I never actually even came here to discuss TV at all, but hey it was on the list. And I suppose my disgust with TV is a touch extreme, but I'm certainly not on an anti-tv crusade. For one thing it would be a big waste of time, theres no way people would give up TV, I truly doubt most people would really be willing to even cut back their TV consumption. For another thing I can simply not watch it, and I don't. So really it doesn't matter one bit to me if anyone else watches 24/7 TV. Go nuts!! I just think that we all would have been much better off if we never had TV in the first place, and I will not be in the least sad to see it go.

That said I realize that the complete loss of TV would bring about some major problems, but network TV has to go for sure

Matrim

PS I hope you don't take this post as though I'm upset at you for trying to refute my previous posts ..... I welcome criticism, hell I'd almost say I live for dissent. Even if it's against me. In my opinion we should all question everything, take nothing at face value. If you look into something and it doesn't seem to make sense, it probably doesn't, no matter who the author is. If I should say somethin that doesn't make sense.......ignore it cuz I'm right

Jk, I want to hear ALL about it.

Peace

[Guest]

I've had a few brief periods in my life where I get into watching television a lot. It's clear that during those times, I lose my ability to concentrate and see things clearly. In some cases it even causes me to feel physically ill. I've also noticed that television and depression exist in a bit of a mutual feedback loop. When I get depressed, I turn to television to drown it out, but television then interferes with my mental activity and causes me to feel even more depressed. I'll bet anything that television is a big part of why so many people are depressed today.

I think that computers and video games are also traps. I can also speak about both from experience, having been through periods when I have spent way too much time with them. I think there is something about the artificial light from a screen that has a negative effect on the brain.

I don't think any of these things are that bad in moderation. But I think television is like junk food: the less of it you have, the better off you are.

I also take issue with many of the values that are propagated on mainstream American television. Things like entitlement, egotism, and of course consumerism. If this makes me unpatriotic and a misanthrope, then so be it, but I don't want to take part in a culture like that. Fortunately real life is a lot better than what is portrayed on television.

[Devil]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Anonymous', 'I') think there is something about the artificial light from a screen that has a negative effect on the brain.

[bart]

Interesting thread. I stopped watching TV entirely about two years ago and feel much better. In the past I would watch hours of crap when I was feeling bad or had nothing to do. What a time waster.

However, what I'd like to do in this post is to analyze the arguments put forward by Devil. When I read his post, I thought, "Something is wrong here. Somehow he has managed to sidetrack the discussion. How did he do it?."

I looked closely at the post, then consulted the Logical Fallacies index ( http://www.datanation.com/fallacies/index.htm ). Here's what I found.

1. "Straw Man: the author attacks an argument different from (and weaker than) the opposition's best argument"

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'S')trange! I have a TV and it is controlled by my couch potato's remote. This has a little red button with the word Power underneath it. I use it. Instead of ranting, why don't more people use that little red button...

[Devil]

Hee, hee, Bart! Thanks for the compliments. Is it not my job, as the fallen angel, to bring light into the arguments.

I tried to find a tongue-in-cheek emoticon, but haven't succeeded yet.

Remember, it was the Catholic Church that invented the notion of advocatus diaboli. I don't need any advocates; humankind does it for me, all by itself, much better than some priest ill-tutored in my ways. But when the need arises, I can act as my own advocate, just like my disciple Slobodan Milosevic. :D :D

[ShawnAvery]

i have to say here that i completely and utterly agree with matrim in every way on this topic.

first of all, i think that people who regularly watch tv have a different set of values than those who dont. from what ive seen, tv watchers tend to view truth as some watered down concept rather than something specific.

secondly, people who watch tv seem to have a lot more one liners, and a lot less actual thought involved in their communications. their attention seems to shift from having priorities based on survival and quality experiences to consumerism and pacification.


i dont own a tv, they seriously bother me. it hijacks your attention span, and distracts you from whatever you were thinking about. watching tv is a lot like taking a nap... its a dreamworld, its not real, in any way shape or form.

people just like you and me DECIDE what is on that screen. its all made up, and i think people take it way too seriously. how can you take ANYTHING seriously if it is interrupted by commercials every 7 or so minutes? how about if you were reading this message board.. thinking it was a nice post...

when all of a sudden the text disappears for 30 or so seconds.. and i started telling you to buy my shit? you would be pissed, but somehow.. with tv, its alright.

and how about this.. on tv, what you see on the scene or camera change like every 5 seconds or so.. or faster, depending on what you are watching. that means every 5 seconds you are being distracted. unless you are superhuman, being distracted means that you stop what you were thinking about, and start thinking about something else.

for me, if i cant think about one thing for more than 5 seconds, i get frustrated, or upset.. on the other hand, some people really like it.

'hey, i dont have to think anymore?? awesome deal!! i wonder if someone will start wiping my ass for me too??'

im starting to realize that there is a big difference between me and most people. i am a human being.

most people are consumers. think about it.. which one are you?