Does TV numb our brains and lives?
Hey thinking ones,
I used to watch tons of TV in my twenties. Somehow I got involved in the usually miserable lives of the folks in the sitcoms and dramacoms and mini-series — to the point where I wasn’t involved in my own life. I’d refuse to go out on certain nights to ensure I didn’t miss an episode. I swear my brain started to get numb. If you recall the movie Repo Man, Otto’s parents sit like automatons in front of the TV set whenever the camera pans into the home. Not convinced it’s a stereotype anymore.
Years later I scratch my head wondering why I cared so much about these characters. Does an empty, lonely life lead us to watch too much of the tube or does watching the tube lead to an empty, lonely life or can you lead a full life and watch gobs of TV? We’re all different, of course, but for me the passivity of TV nearly cost me my sanity.
It took some doing but I finally extricated myself from the addictions of TV and instead replaced it with things that made my life feel full – pursuits like painting, singing, dancing, biking, volunteering, attending discussion groups, saving land & historic buildings, reading groups, etc. Looking back, I believe TV had a negative impact on my quality of life. Others may feel differently.
Do I still watch TV? A few times a week, mainly movies and period pieces and the occasional The Good Wife episode. Not sure I could fully withdraw. I’ve been socialized to watch it. Ironically, my mother tried to keep the sibs and me from watching TV as children. I fought her on it. Man, I wish she’d succeeded.
For 14 years I watched Knotts Landing — almost never missing an episode. Fourteen years! And I can barely remember any of it other than the episode where Jill Bennett was found dead in the trunk of Gary Ewing’s car. Leaving off time for summer reruns, I spent 588 hours watching actors pretend to live on a cul-du-sac and now I can’t remember 587 hours of it. (and that was just one show.)
Are certain kinds of shows on certain channels less mind-numbing? Like the Discovery Channel or Masterpiece Theater? I want to say, “yes,” but am I fooling myself? Is it more rewarding if you’re learning something about another part of the world or watching an adaptation of a great literary work like Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles?
I’m wondering if escalating TV watching on the ever increasing numbers of of channels has contributed to recent reports of decreased happiness since the 50’s when TV came onto the scene? Have you ever sat almost catatonic in front of the TV, flipping through 300 channels unable to find anything you want to watch, so you go around again and again hoping for a different outcome?
People talk about all the things they’d like to do in life and then exclaim if only they had the time. Is it true we don’t have the time or is it usurped by TV and now additionally computer/ipod/texting/cell phones, etc?
And what about sports? With all the sports now extended into the seasons of other sports, presumably to make more money from advertising on TV, does that create more audiences glued to the set to see who will make it to the Superbowl, The Stanley Cup, NBA Finals or the World Series? Folks who follow four sports could presumably spend their entire year (read life) watching TV coverage of it.
I wonder, do we hide from our lives in our homes using TV as an excuse to keep us from going out and participating in life or trying to make the world a better place?
How do you feel about TV? Does it numb you in any way? Or do you enjoy watching it. All viewpoints welcome!
Thanks for the read! G.
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Hi!
No TV here, except for a movie maybe once a week and the occasional documentary, or maybe a weather update during a snow storm. Watching anything else, esp. for a long period of time feels as gross as eating a dozen donuts. There are definitely more interesting things to do. However, social media has replaced TV a little…
Hey Sally,
That’s a neat analogy with donuts. I feel sluggish and weighted down after a long TV bender. I see us as being increasingly molded and passified to be consumers. What better platform than TV, with all the commercials for pharmaceuticals and other consumer items. Thx G.
I’m definitely a anti-TV advocate, G. I may have mentioned that I decorated my laptop with a big bumper sticker I found. “Kill Your Television”, it says. I’m six years clean, and I’ll never go back.
But back off from my Twitter and blogging. 🙂
Hi Michael,
Now that’s an interesting, to put a bumper sticker on your laptop. Clever non-watching TV man you are. Love your phrase: six-years clean. That cuts to the chase.
Sometimes I literally want to do chuck all these old TVs out into the snow. A part of me, though, can’t bear to completely let go. Maybe I need a support group? You can run a teleseminar from Canada. Thanks, G.
Hey,
Great post! I truly believe it’s different for men and women. I am speaking from my POV but I think men don’t buy into the same amount of character drama and don’t live through the characters we watch. If any analogy would be made for the male species it would be video games and the false sense of achievement when completing one. If we spent as much time on our own crafts and athletics rather than perfecting the stats for our video game avatars we would all be more productive individuals.
Thanks for stopping by Brick. Great name by the way. And I noted your karaoke company/blog. Will check it out. You’re probably right that men don’t get as attached to the characters. Yes, that’s how I felt attached to them, like I cared about them. And they weren’t even real! I didn’t even think of video games. That is a good analogy. Why don’t we just experience our own lives? Appreciate your comment. G.
I’ve stopped watching TV for about a year now, except when Australian Idol is on (lol, that’s because I’m a frustrated singer). PC (the net etc) has taken over my TV time/life! I don’t miss TV at all. 🙂
Hi Earthianne,
Singing is the greatest hobby. I highly recommend it!
Like you, I don’t miss my TV watching time either. So many other options out there. Great to see you back. Your recent post intrigues me. Sounds horse oriented … G.
This is an interesting question. I have trouble sitting and “watching” TV anymore, even just a movie. If I am listening while I am doing something else, it is fine… but even movies don’t hold my attention as they once did. And my shows were Seinfeld, Allie McBeal, and Northern Exposure… the “out there” shows!
My daughter is now limited to watching the History Channel or DVDs. She was the kid that couldn’t sit still through anything and then, suddenly, she aged and could sit through hours of TV if allowed blocking out anything and everything else. So, the TV went off during the week… and now, the TV remains off most of the time with an hour or two exception on the weekends (largely during the winter). There are so many other ways she could be spending her time and entertaining herself and creating. She doesn’t need to become accustomed to being entertained by something… and I have come to believe that the constant “input” offered by the TV doesn’t allow for the “output” of creativity, inspiration, or original thought. I do allow History channel as it is exposure to different (supposedly) fact based topics… but one can only watch so much of it before it is time to move on!
Hi TE,
I’m with you on feeling increasingly antsy sitting there. Too much sitting in our world.
I like your point about the constant “input.” That’s what concerns me most about TV. It’s very passive. You could be a zombie and it would still keep flashing stuff at you. There’s a huge subliminal element as well. It seems to be directed us to buy stuff. Only two countries in the world advertise pharmaceuticals on TV as far as I know: the US and New Zealand.
It’s mind boggling that we do this. Drugs of any kind of quite serious, too serious to be on TV with the long litanies of side effects tacked onto the end. thx, G.
Knotts Landing! How funny. I watch a lot less TV than I used too, but I don’t think it’s all bad. As with a lot of things, moderation is key. TV is there for our entertainment. When it begins to fill a void is when we get into trouble. I will say that I absolutely can not watch TV before I write… and I’ve cut out shows that give off too much negative energy or have too much “drama.”
Angie,
I actually styled my hair “big” after CG’s! Me imitating a character on Knotts Landing. Took a lot of AquaNet to get it to stay up when it wanted to go down.
Yes, it’s not all bad. I adore the period pieces on masterpiece theater. They remind me of times when folks had conversations and entertained each other with music or poetry. And the sexual tension! Talk about alluring.
I hear you about the negative energy. It’s interesting how many shows involve solving murders or treating horrific medical symptoms. Yet none of those folks seem to do anything but go to work. No hobbies, no activism, no anything but working 21/7 shifts.
More lightness on TV might lift people’s spirits more.
Thanks! G.
I’m wondering if Oprah can do it with her new network. And I’m loving the visual I have of you with big aqua net hair. We all went down that road, it seems. 🙂
As a child, I didn’t have TV at home and even as an adult, I watched TV selectively. Maybe as I grew older and my social life slowed down, I started to watch more, but only after 9 when I want to relax.
I have a love-hate addiction for the Internet, spending far too much time reading news, commentaries, blog posts, going to social sites, in discussion groups, watching videos, etc. and though part of it is related to my work, a lot can be as time wasting as watching TV.
Hi Penelope!
How grand not to have TV. Then you need to find your own forms of entertainment. As children, it was almost unheard of to watch tv before 7 pm. We spent all our time outside doing all sorts of things. I also started to watch more as I got older, replacing my outdoor stuff w/TV watching (most depressing.)
I hear you on the Internet. It too can be a form of addiction that wastes our lives.
Now, that would be a good book – The year I went without the Internet. what would a person do in such a year?
thanks! g.
Giulietta — Interesting post. I do watch TV, but it limited to around 8pm to 11pm. I enjoy some TV shows, mostly mysteries, which is my genre for fiction books, as well.
While I was never addicted to regular TV shows, I was, at one point, addicted to CNN and other news programs.
I had the news on all the time until I realized how anxious I always felt. I quit watching and now get my news from my online mail services, which I can choose to open or not.
Sometimes I miss important things, but most of the time I’ll learn about them anyway from another source. The main thing is I’m really a lot happier without TV news 24/7:~)
Hi Sara,
You’re on to something with the 24/7 news provoking anxiety in folks. It’s not like they’re telling us good stuff for the most part. They seem to go out of their way to find the really awful stuff going on and then serve it up to us.
Makes us think it’s not safe to even go down to the mailbox. And being anxious all the time pushes some folks over the edge, so it can become self-fulfilling.
Why would we want to do this to each other and to the children?
Appreciate the comment. Made me think about the news. G.
I never realized how much the TV shows I’ve watched have given me inspiration and ideas for what’s possible in life, as well as how to deal with the setbacks.
I think books helped too. Rather than just draw from my immediate surroundings, between the TV shows and the books I read, I have an endless toolbox of possibilities.
I appreciate this more now that I realize how much our mental models limit or enable us.
Hi J.D.,
Like your “endless toolbox of possibilities” – that’s a cool way of looking at TV and something I didn’t think of.
Books I’ve always had a love affair with. Only on rare occasions have I looked back at a book I’ve read and thought the time ill-spent. Most of the shows I’ve enjoyed on TV seem to be adaptations of books. Have a real affinity for Victorian/Edwardian themed novels.
Thanks for stopping in! Most appreciated. G.
“It took some doing but I finally extricated myself from the addictions of TV and instead replaced it with things that made my life feel full – pursuits like painting, singing, dancing, biking, volunteering, attending discussion groups, saving land & historic buildings, reading groups, etc.”
That sounds great!
I have stopped watching TV about 6 years ago. I’m still watching some TV shows but only the ones I really want to see and only when I want to see them.
I don’t miss anything. Especially not the news show that I watched every day. It’s much easier to stay a positive person if you’re not bombarded by negativity.
Thanks Alice! Like the name of your web site. Most Alice in Wonderland.
The news is especially disconcerting on the psyche. People become terrified of the magnified horrors. I’d love to see it go back to twice a day … I appreciate you stopping by! Will check out your site.
G.
When I tell people I don’t watch TV, they think I mean I don’t watch much TV. No, I really rarely watch TV. Often I’ll hear of a show and want to watch it and then forget all about it. Here’s the but…for some reason I love American Idol, and I’ll watch it all season. And after two hours of sitting on the couch staring at television I’m about to go out of my mind. It feels weirdly soul-sucking to me, like it has eaten part of my brain.
Hi Charlotte!
I spent one season watching American Idol, so I understand the attraction. As a singer myself, it was kinda neat to see which songs the singers would pick each week and how they’d make them their own. Yet, I completely understand what you call the soul-sucking aspect of staring obediently at the tube. It continues to feel like a passivity-indoctrination tool. A way to keep the “you are a consumer” mantra going. Otherwise, folks might not see stuff they should buy and might actually take a closer look at what’s going on around them. Thanks for stopping in… G.