TV experiment - are you brave enough??

i made a suggestion in this post www.abovetopsecret.com... regarding an experiment to be done with television but only 1 person was brave enough to take me up on the offer. Eastcoastkid suggested it should be a thread of its own so i am hoping that there are some members out there who are brave enough to deny tv for 1 month and post their experiences here.

the experiment is to choose one of the following and record in this thread your experiences...

1. do not turn on the tv for 1 month
2. turn the tv picture on but leave the sound off
3. (if tv is capable) turn the tv picture off but leave the sound on

please register your interest here in participating in this experiment.

does this exclude video games? cos i need my gaming fix

yes it does exclude games. it is purely an experiment to see what happens when you do not watch/listen/see tv programmes for 1 month.

Interesting indeed. Funny thing is, that before I was married, I didn't even own a TV. I never watched TV, except for sporting events at a bar. Never really was interested. I read alot, wrote quite a bit, played alot of guitar, and listened to music almost all of the time.
Now several years into a marriage, I still don't watch very much, except for The Simpsons - LOVE that show. Now that I have a baby, the only thing on is Elmo, Sesame street...etc..... I know the words to every freakin Sesame Street song ever.........
I can say absolutely that if I had no family, I would trash the TV.
I'll be interested to see what type of response you get here.

To do what!? What are you trying to accomplish here? I have done all at different times...what are you looking for?

it is to show the influence hidden or blatant that tv has on your mind. not putting your tv on for 1 or two nights every now and then and not thinking about it isnt the same as actively recording what you perceive under 1 of the three conditions of the experiment.

everyone with a tv has at some point done all 3 but you would not have done it for a whole month and recorded your results.

perhaps you would like to take part yourself and record your thoughts here.

I've done this for 2 weeks for a school project.

I got more done in 2 weeks than I usually do in a month.
Interesting enough I found I slept better, I felt happier, and I got rid of headaches that usually plauge me once every three or four days. To this day I try to limit tv to My fav shows, news, and cpac (canadain parlament)

I most certainly have done it for a whole month! I have not recorded the results though.

This might interest you...

www.child.com...

this is the point of the experiment though - to be actively aware that you are doing it for a reason and to record the results of what you see/hear or dont see/hear.

interesting that the few people who have mentioned their time without tv in their lives have recorded results positive to their lives. Halfofone was actively aware of the effects because he/she was looking out for them.

Superdude, you mention that you have a baby but I think that this experiment will be of interest to anyone with children of an early age who watch tv regularly to see the effect of tv deprivation for 1 month on them.

I wish I had the intestinal fortitude to try this experiment, but I absolutely can't make it through the day without watching 'Around the Horn' on ESPN.

Peace

This never occured to me. I am not a big TV watcher to start with..most of it sucks, especially the "reality" show trend.....everyone's IQ drops 20 points for watching it...LOL! I do like Discovery and TLC and I watch the news in the morning while checking the board before work. I also like CSI and other than that....the best shows on TV are 40 years old anyway!

Actually on this one point I have to disagree. I do not use the TV as a babysitter. We play and have fun all the time. Due to the fact that i don't really care much for TV I monitor it's effect on him. At this point in his life, I can actually see the benefit of what he watches. He really does learn from the limited shows we allow him to watch. Everything he watches is educational. ie Sesame Street, between the Lions, and the like. While we can teach him to count, and sing, and all, these programs make it fun, and show multi-cultural things which I believe is very important. I never want him to be a racist. So I will kindly disagree with you!

What is the hypothesis as to what will occur? Or is knowledge of the hypothesis going to bias the experiment?

A whole month without escaping into a fantasy world of video games or scifi movies? No thank you! What will I do to separate myself from reality?

i am not concerned so much with the content of watch children watch (that's another thread i guess) but more on the effect that the act of watching tv has on the mind and especially the mind of the young.

example - sit with them for half an hour in front of their fav chan & record how many times the picture changes from 1 scene to another. or if they are watching a commercial channel, ask them 10 mins into the programme to name all the adverts that were on 10 mins earlier (this one applies to adults also)

I read your initial posting and didn't take the challenge because I hardly ever watch any tele anyways. When I do its when I'm drinking a cup of coffee or thee with my parents and their watching.

Apart from that, I do sometimes watch movies and series like CSI, Stargate and Las Vegas on my PC, with watch I mean they are running in the background while I'm writing code or playing games though, don't know if that counts.

I imagine the results would be something like,

week 1, read a lot of books, ate a lot of comfort food, ran up huge bills
week 2, ran out of books, went out with friends, ran up huge bills
week 3, got really bored, cleaned out the garage
week 4, started calling all my friends every night, ran up a huge bill

TV actually saves money !

the experiment isnt designed for those who only watch it occasionally. it is for people who come in from work/school and switch it on and leave it on.

Also don't forget that there are 3 parts to the experiment and only one involves turning off the tv fully for the whole month. The other two are to record your perceptions of either picture or sound during the time you would normally be watching tv with both.

over 150 views of this thread so far and still no-one has registered their willingness to participate in it. interesting don't you think?

does the internet count as TV ? maybe no one wants to particiate because they don't see the value in it, sell the value !