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I know we have touched on this in class, and that we have touched on much more that should perhaps be far more troubling, yet I keep coming back to TV. So, forgive this post for not being on the readings themselves, but it’s been on my mind. I have to wonder, is TV really destroying my ability to retain information? Is it really so simple that, as we heard growing up, television rots your brain? I have to admit that I watch a good deal of TV in a week—at least an hour a day and much more on the weekends. I eat dinner in front of the TV, and my breaks from studying tend to be curling up on the couch and watching a TIVO’d episode of House. Since TV first came up—I’ve been telling myself that I should go a week without watching it just to see what happens. But I haven’t, and when it actually comes down to it, it feels a lot harder than I would have thought. I was at first skeptical in class of the claim that TV is addictive (because, of course, I’m not addicted—the classic response). But this weekend I found that I’d gone through all my episodes of House, and ended up watching a show that just wasn’t good, and that I didn’t even like, just because I wanted to watch something. Google searches actually reveal quite a few websites on the topic, and some contain “survivor” stories of the cured. So I have to wonder, am I really addicted to television? | | | I don't really think that this tendency was brought on by years of television viewership. A more compelling explanation seems to be a broad malaise and devaluation of work ethic within a privileged class of which I'm a part. Since the path of least resistance is clearly sitting on the couch and tuning in, a value system that endorses this activity gradually turns it into a learned behavior that is deeply entrenched in my daily life.
-- WalkerNewell - 02 Feb 2009 | |
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I believe the true focus of the discussion should be, as Professor Moglen and some others have pointed out, not the evils of TV in itself, but all forms of escapism. Not just TV, but alcohol, drinking, drugs, Internet surfing, computer/video gaming, etc. While each of these activities may or may not be inherently evil, they all have something in common: when used for escapism, they tend to dull the cognitive senses and bring about the evils mentioned above. When used for other purposes, they can be extremely beneficial: TV shows can educate, moderate alcohol consumption can ease conversation, computer games can train team building/strategy, Internet surfing can spur creativity.
The problem I find with the attack on escapism is that in doing so, basic human nature is denied. Basic human nature? I would go as far as to say that escapism is as result of the condition of being human. You might ask, what did people do back then without TV, internet computer games, drugs? They used the most primitive form of escapism: daydreaming. I firmly believe that our need to have a break from reality is entrenched in our nature. The extent and degree with which it controls our lives may have changed over time, but this need is primal. Denying our urges for escapism would not make us better people or students. If watching an hour of Paris Hilton prevents me from dashing my head out on the concrete and allows me to become a lawyer and help society, then I believe providing and watching the hour of Paris Hilton is a socially useful service.
Instead, the focus should be on how to control/guide/limit our urges for escapism so that we can be constructive with our lives and get where we want. It is useful to study our desires to escape from an analytical perspective, so that 1. we don't dash our heads out on concrete trying to deny our primal needs and 2. we don't allow escapism to control our lives. I believe the biggest problem with modern times is the increased availability of these forms, so that we are constantly being inundated with the urge, desire, and most critically, the ability to escape. Often, many people fall into this temptation (and who is to blame them, given the billions spent in advertising), simply because it is so available. Now, I am not proposing a solution or an analysis of this issue because I have not yet thought it through, but maybe someone else can.
-- AlexHu - 02 Feb 2009 | | |
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