Have You "Quit TV"?

I put this in the philosophy forum because what prompted me to get rid of television service is a philosophical matter and I thought a discussion of it might be interesting and educational. Mods, feel free to move it if I'm mistaken.

I have just returned from a short (4-day) visit with my sister and her husband in Sedona. They "quit TV" in like 2001 and have never looked back. They didn't know whether the health bill had passed or not, much less know any details about it. I can assure you they don't know who Joe Barton or Eric Holder are. They get the news they need from the internet and are very aware of what's really happening in the Gulf because they're following it closely. Not the political side of it, but the ecological side.

I had a "moment" driving home from my trip to Sedona yesterday about living in he present and I realized how much watching TV actually hampers that. You might know a trip to Sedona would help align and balance me enough to see things more clearly. I'm very grateful for this. I'm surprised I didn't return with a pouch of crystals and a book on chakra alignment.

When I got home, my husband and I talked and decided to give up the satellite service (among making other changes in our lives). He's been wanting to do it for some time, but I was hesitant... Now, I am beginning to see how it affects my life and how tied up I am in the boob tube and the crap that is spewed forth from it on a regular basis. Talk about attachments! I am totally attached and after my trip, I feel like letting go of as many attachments as I possibly can. The TV service is going to be the first victim.

So I'm curious:

Have you quit TV? (All broadcast TV)

Why did you do it?

Have you found it to be a positive or negative change and why?

What have you noticed in your life since you quit?

i quit tv almost 5 years ago and have never looked back! It feels great!
I cant even spend a couple minutes in front of a tv without feeling the need to get up and do something else.

Good luck on your quest, and congrats on taking the first step

Very simple:

For about 5 years, no tv in the house.

Absolutely the best thing i've ever done, even the children agree things are better without it.

I don't miss the news, or the sports, or the programming and especially not all the adverts.

When i get home, i choose a nice album to listen to, help kids with homework etc, and we talk, about anything.

Highly recommended!!!!!

I see no reason to quit on principle, but progammes that are worth watching are very few and far between.
As it happens, the Tour de France is on at this moment. A rare example of something which is actually interesting.

I can't quit TV, I love watching sports. I don't watch much else unless the wife forces me to.

I never quit TV on purpose but just noticed that I havent turned on a TV-set in more than 10 years. Nothing in the news or newspapers or here at ATS is of any consequence or importance because information itself is not the nectar of life, energy is

Originally posted by DISRAELI
As it happens, the Tour de France is on at this moment. A rare example of something which is actually interesting.

This is a good point. But I ask myself, "Is it worth $60 a month to see the occasional something worth watching"? and it's really not to me. I will be fine and better, actually, if I do something productive, even if it's meditate, rather than spend a hour or two with my mind wrapped up in something that doesn't have any real meaning.

I assume you don't mean actually get rid of the hardware itself.

As long as YOU control what shows up on the TV screen, you're safe. I've been cable free for about a year now and i don't mind it. But i still have fun using the TV ( responsibly ) for my own purposes.

While quitting tv would probably save some money, I don't really see a need to quit. I have it on but seldom actually watch it. Most programs simply bore me to tears. I leave it on MSNBC for news alerts, but I am usually wearing headphones while watching/listening to docs on-line. The hubs likes to watch certain shows, but mainly uses his tv for movies. TV is not the demon people want to make it. It's like blaming guns for violence instead of the people who use them.

I am in the first stages of quitting TV. It started about 6 months ago when my wife decided she want to sell the house and move etc.

We went on a work blitz cleaning/painting/cementing/patching etc. The only thing I had was the computer/ATS. (hence the last 6 month activity on my part on ATS).

I have to say, I don't miss a thing. Heck, can't hardly get the Local on the 8's on the Weather Channel anymore. I will admit that I did break down and watched a History Channel episode of Ancient Aliens. (hey the wife was away, me and the TV were home alone, no body would know..... lol).

I am convinced about 95% of modern TV is crap.

reply to post by jaden_x


That's right. I mean stopping broadcast TV from entering our home. We don't get any network TV anyway as we live in the boonies, but we do have satellite. We have a small video library and we'd still watch rentals for entertainment. But we wouldn't mindlessly turn it on to pass time or to keep our brains occupied like we do so any times now.

For those who have quit, is there ANY downside that you can think of?

Do you find you get more done around the house or anything like that?

I quit by acciednt.
I travel in my job and didn't get cable because it wasn't cost effective. There were no local stations available. All I watch is selected movies on DVD and sometimes a series episode on youtube. Even that is almost never.
Pretty much no regular programming for 7-8 years now.

When I see TV now it makes me feel a little ill and disgusted that I was addicted to that trash. It makes me uncomfortable seeing otherwise intelligent people stop thinking and stare at the idiot box for hours on end. They say and do the stupidest things after watching too much TV and are so brainwashed by the process that they seem to be happiest when they are at their stupidest.

I can't imagine going back to it but I know that, like all other addictions, I could pick it back up and be a drooling idiot again within a few weeks.

Worse than smoking or alcohol.

reply to post by darkelf


I don't mean to be blaming TV for anything. I am totally accountable for what I do and how I occupy my time. It's more like I don't want this thing in my life anymore and I can't see paying for it to have it there, 'just in case'.

I think 99% of TV is crap. I don't really want to spend hours staring at it because there's nothing better to do. I'm afraid I'm an irresponsible user.

Last night, we didn't even turn it on and we sat in the living room, talking about stuff instead as the sun went down and the room became dark. It was one of the best evenings we've had and I feel like the HABIT of TV watching is an attachment that I really just don't want anymore.

I don't know about this....however, now that there is no Star Trek TV show in current production (first time in something like 20 years, since TNG started in 1987) I no longer have a reason to live...( )...kidding.

There's always that pistol Kathy Griffin to float my boat....

....'course, nowadays so much is available online, entertainment-wise....news seems less and less so. Still, take it all with some salt.

TV will always have entertainment value...of some sort...perhaps.

...maybe it's evolving into a new attitude and paradigm, in this next decade of the 21st century???

I gave up TV almost three years ago, and it was a very happy decision and result, in large part because I realized TV and most especially the News but not limited to the News was a huge source of negativity in my life.

The war is peace, hate is love, insecurity is security, being unreasonable is reasonable dogmas it promotes are without a doubt responsible for much of the violence, deprivation and negativity in the world, as the TV and the News above all is the medium that most promotes these dysfunctional and ludicrous concepts.

Repeat a lie unchallenged a thousand times and it becomes the truth in just about everyone’s mind. That’s what the network’s news shows do, report lies as true in a controlled environment where they go unchallenged, and the rare occasions they allow a ‘quest’ to challenge them, it’s for the sake of having a so called panel of ‘experts’ ridicule and mock the person speaking the truth, to make it seem like the truth is the lie, and people who believe the truth are crazy or unstable.

When you couple that with how most entertainment offerings are designed to appeal to the lowest possible common denominator or to promote the police state with endless shows about the virtue of police versus the dangers of a criminal minded citizenry all it is, is exactly what they call it openly, programming.

The great vast once considered wasteland of TV has turned most of the world into one vast wasteland, of disaffected, misinformed, manipulated and lied to mass of humanity who employ a negative perspective and dysfunctional social skills as a result.

my wife and i dumped cable.us we do wacht ofice and my name is earl.us then put the radio on or talk about survival skills and conspiracies.

in the good ol'days id play guitar all night much better than any show .

we laugh at ppl who shell out up to 70 a month to be force fed ideas and subliminal. some inlaws litteraly look like labatamy patients when the "programs" are oncoming. yikes. gota love ats u2u me friends-peace

[edit on 14-7-2010 by jplaysguitar]

TV.... well actually display technology is what I watch...

I rarely watch TV. the programmes that are presented by the broadcasters are truely worthless and the news is only useful when something major is happening....

I use Display technology...

I use technology to download programmes that I want to watch and when I have the time I watch them.

This normally falls into three categories..

1. Documentaries.... Plenty of em out there!!
2. Series - Battle Star Galactica / Lost etc...
3. Films - You name it I probably have it.

I have a home network I built and with a display in each room and some media selection software I can serve content to any place in the house.

Who needs TV stations? Who needs endless hours of noncontent content??

Pick what you like, store it and play it back at your leisure.

Its the future.

TV is dead!!!

Korg.

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic


The hubs and I spend about half an hour every morning and an hour or so on the weekends drinking coffee and having discussions. This is our time and we have done this for over 13 years. We are happier and mentally healthier for this, I believe. We do stuff together and stuff apart, but we always come together each morning to share.

I believe in balance. If someone wishes to not watch tv or get rid of it altogether, that is their decision and they shouldn't have to explain or appologise to anyone.

In 2005 I decided to opt out of buying cable/sat service in my new residence. I've downloaded whatever I wanted to watch commercial-free since then. When I go over to people's houses and observe them watching the tube I notice how zombified they all are. I jump into my own internal world of thoughts and am 100% sure I'm learning near infinitely more than they are. The tube is filled with amoral, mindless garbage. Anyone would be wise to turn it off and go for a walk in nature. Go connect with your neighbors, community, and put a smile on your face for the simple things in life. More are disconnecting from the beast and doing so. You'd be surprised!

I quit cable television several years ago - the internet provides all the news and entertainment my brain needs to sustain itself.

Felt like such a waste to spend $60+ a month on a service I rarely, if ever, used for more than an hour a week.

- Fry