TV experiment - are you brave enough??

Originally posted by blanketgirl
Turning off the TV completely changed my life. .

This is what I'm talkin' about. blanketgirl and others have found that without tv, they're not missing much more than headaches and their lives are far more productive. Pretty cool, huh?

When I was in the Army, serving outside the U.S., I wrote more than I ever did back home. Cut out the distractions, like tv, and you'll be amazed at what you can get done.

I watch almost no TV. I do watch DVDs, I don't know if that counts toward TV watching.

UNfortunately, what I do instead takes up more time than watching TV: being on ATS
And, watching TV I read more cuz I would read while my husband surfed.
Although I learn more on ATS than from watching the boob tube, I spend more time in front of my PC monitor.

Done this off and on.

dad took it away for about a year or two back when I was hooked (about 11 years old?)

I went from about average reading level comprehension to college level reading comprehension practically overnight. I had less spacing out episodes.
dirung the years since, some years there'd ber no TV...others, a lot....
sometimes I'd fit in, sometimes, I'd have no clue what was going on.

Right now, my youngest brother is the one that watches a lot of tv....(and video games, he is the only one with impaired vision out of all 3 of us)

well, its friday, theres been over 1000 views of this thread and i still only have 2 members willing to try this experiment

those members that have already cut out tv from their lives have all talked about the positive effects of doing so. some watch so little that it isnt a fair comparison to include them as they watch so little. yet how many more have read this thread and then a few other threads and then gone to watch something on tv without thinking or commenting.

the more observant amongst you should already be drawing conclusions from this and the experiment hasnt even started yet!

is there not even ONE more member out there to make up the 3 (which is the minimum amount of participants also btw) ?????

how sad

[edit on 4-2-2005 by justyc]

Kind of speaks to how limited some folks minds/creativity are, don't you think? They must be afraid of being alone with themselves or their loved ones.

Hopefully:

(a) more folks will volunteer

and

(b) some non-registered ATS viewers will take up the challenge.

Come on people! You have so much to gain. And one month is NOTHING!

kind of makes you wonder if in 1000 years the majority of the world will STILL be sat on their sofas with blank expressions, being spoon-fed drivel into their spnge brains on the latest tv and STILL proclaiming they are not addicted and they can do without it anytime and they only watch it for the odd discovery channel documentary anyway.

Yup.

doesn't the lack of willingness to participate speak volumes? Americans, by and large, are so programmed its scary. If they weren't, you'd see a lot more participation.

This is exactly how the whole WMD thing was sold to the U.S. If people see the newsfakers on tv stating something, people swallow it hook, line and sinker. If it's on tv, it's got to be true!

I cannot bear to watch the "news" programs anymore. I've never seen such blatent, out-and-out lying in my life. And I thought Clinton's gang was bad.

being somebody who doesn't watch tv, just as bad as people's inability to even turn the TV off, is the common reaction to learning you don't watch tv. Usually I am met with blank stares and confusion, "what do you mean NOT watch TV?" is common.
It's almost like a game... "you do realize the desperate housewives aren't real people, right?"
"well, yes, of course, but you should have seen what happened to X last night- I can't believe how her husband responded!"

aargh. they aren't real people, which means exciting things aren't happening to them, they are just being written into the script.

(from an article I wrote for E2)

"(Grunties are)...a fantastical people who live in East London 100 years in the future. They are a happy (if shallow) people who work hard, eat well, and spend their evenings enjoying the carnal pleasures of the "electrical hearth", a machine which "dazzles the eyes while stimulating the baser glands." From the book War Drums on the Maitland by Emily Chesley. Interesting perspective for a book written in 1896. Of course the fact of the matter is that 1996 has already happened. Really! Who could possibly imagine a society held captive at night by a glowing electrical box? That's absurd!"

i have also noticed that when visiting friends, they cannot turn the tv off & eventually what little conversation there was will soon dry up whilst everyone ends up staring at the box in the corner of the room.

personally i dont care if people think im freaky for not having a tv by choice but i find them even freakier in that they have nothing to talk about than what they watched last night! did the world change it's name to stepford overnight or something?

Originally posted by blanketgirl

It's almost like a game... "you do realize the desperate housewives aren't real people, right?"
"well, yes, of course, but you should have seen what happened to X last night- I can't believe how her husband responded!"

I'm glad you brought that show up. I've watched it and found it wasn't nearly as good as everyone makes it out to be. I've also noticed that ABC is promoting the bloody hell out of it. It's everywhere. The cast is everywhere. They're shoving the notion that its great down viewer's throats. It's ridiculous. After viewers have heard over and over how great it is, they start believing it. Why? B/c they said so on TV! Don't get me wrong, I like the actresses who play the wives, but don't tell me over and over how much I love the show. That's a load of horshyte!

TV is in the business of getting people to watch more TV. Every single show is "an episode you'll never forget", every single newsflash is "a groundbreaking report you won't want to miss", every single commercial is for "a produce you can't live without", every single network simultaneously wars with the other in a desperate attempt to not only draw in more viewers, but to obtain the greatest market share from existing viewers. It's not that there's a conspiracy involved, they're just very very good at what they do. Perhaps someday they'll find that TV is like cigarettes, only mentally rather than physically debilitating.

Originally posted by thelibra
Perhaps someday they'll find that TV is like cigarettes, only mentally rather than physically debilitating.

how physically healthy do you think someone who comes home every night, switches on the tv and watches it till bed-time is?

Originally posted by thelibra
Perhaps someday they'll find that TV is like cigarettes, only mentally rather than physically debilitating.

Yes, I've found I can quite smoking. If I want to bad enuff.

Iceland (wonderful country ) used to have no tv on a thursday and christmas eve, though i believe that has now changed.

i thought that was a wonderful idea and am saddened that they never kept it up or that it isnt enforced in other countries.

[edit on 4-2-2005 by justyc]

Originally posted by justyc
i thought that was a wonderful idea and am saddened that they never kept it up or that it isnt enforced in other countries.

Man, if you wanna see some people revolting, here in the USA, take away their must see tv!

Well since I am not going to participate in the experiment....I've decided to cut back almost all of my T.V. viewing habits.

I'm only going to watch it when something good is going to be on The History Channel, Science Channel or Scifi besides the time my mother wants me to watch T.V. with the family...just so ya'll know. Lets see how much better off I am this way!

[edit on 2/4/2005 by hatchedcross]

Originally posted by hatchedcross
besides the time my mother wants me to watch T.V. with the family
[edit on 2/4/2005 by hatchedcross]

you could try explaining to your mother that family time together might be better spent away from the tv and that only one part of the experiment is actually not turn the tv on.

as for your earlier point that she said about cutting out everything electronic and not just tv, that misses the point of the experiement. after all, you wouldnt expect someone to give up eating everything if you were testing them for say a milk allergy for example.

come on, come on - its saturday evening here and STILL no 3rd person brave or daring or inquisitive enough to make up the minimum quota!

remember - only 1 has to give up tv totally for the month

OK people - someone man up. It's 30 days. Are you that weak? Does something a simple as a TV have that much control over you?

If you have a reason (excuse) you can not do this, tell me - I will find a solution!