Let's kill this turgid, mind-numbing forum. It's just a distraction from real life.

a reply to: and14263

So if you watch TV on your laptop/tablet, it's okay?

I killed the glass teat years ago.
12 gauge to the face.
No regrets.

I am a little on the fnce regarding this, is it a trifle odd that a forum such as this has a tv forum? No odder than one on guns or pets to me but there you go.

As to TV bieng a bad thing it's the same as anything and it's how you use it. If used like a stereo or a book case or internet connection, something to be used at times for the purpose of entertainment or learning then it can only be a good thing.

If however it is used execessively then the OP has a valid point. Spending your lifestaring at mindnumbing #e on a box regardless of the quality or content is something of a waste of life and I know many people who do just this. One person I know wanted to study at nightschool but never did as it would mean missing her favorite tv shows and that is a scary concept in my opinion.

Someone related TV to tales around the campfire but I disagree as a campfire forms a circle where everyone faces everybody and interacts, A tv makes everyone face the screen and I always get told to be quiet if it's on. We have no "TV" and our living room has seating that means your looking at the people your in the room with and it encourages communication far better than the standard setup.

If I do wish to watch a tv programme I do so on my PC prefferably in solitude so I can watch without interuption and them move onto something else.

a reply to: kaylaluv

I'm uncertain that a laptop/PC screen will not have the same alpha brain wave producing effect - although I'm not sure I would guess that the effect would be less. Because although the screen is not flickering like an old style TV there are still flat colours and moving light images.

So the laptop idea is a good start.

However the effect of being pulled to the TV every free minute of the day is still there, it's still addictive and distracting.

a reply to: and14263

Addiction is never a good thing, but then again, I think I am addicted to ATS way more than I am addicted to TV shows. Is that a bad thing?

a reply to: and14263

Dude the TV forum is about the shows, the content not the actual TV they are shown on.
I would agree shut them down If they were full of Panasonic 42 inch model 48000 threads but....

a reply to: and14263

It's also worth pointing out that most activities involving screens, including computer gaming and even activity on this site, ALSO have the effects detailed in your links, so what makes television any different to being active in the datasphere, from a neurochemical point of view?

Sorry can't miss GAME OF THRONES!!!..

I am HOOKED DAMMIT!! need ma fix.

a reply to: TrueBrit

Evidence?

Not asking to be clever - but because I am genuinely interested in effects of different monitor/display types.

a reply to: and14263

Given that you can choose settings on a modern monitor I am interested to see if there are better/worse refresh rates to use?

Also the difference between cathode ray TV's and flatscreens.

a reply to: and14263

www.psychologytoday.com...

There is also evidence that computer games and the internet both have the capacity to cause addiction in teens, and I am certain that the effect in adults, if probed, will start to become more widely noted the older computer gaming gets as a habit.

Exactly what I was thinking. You know that feeling when you can't pull your eyes away even though it's meaningless... like when you go into a blank stare. I associate that with old style TVs but am very interested to find out if it is apparent on modern monitors as the poster suggests above.


a reply to: TrueBrit

It's clear that games induce endorphines but I'm interested in alpha waves and the near meditative state, not simply pleasure leading to addiction.

On the subject of addiction.. I did a paper on Internet Addiction Syndrome/Disorder a long time ago - some of what we wrote about focused on the need for people to constantly log in, no matter what their purpose was... sheer addiction. I have a feeling this is a brain wave thing but the paper was just an essay, nothing in depth with vast supporting research.

a reply to: and14263

There was a news story just today on the BBC (although... Well, you know) that suggested that any activity including use of a screen, whether it be a PC screen for the internet or gaming, televisual entertainment, or even activity on a hand held device, has about the same effect, and a specifically negative effect on kids learning aptitude.

I do not think it has anything to do with the hardware itself, just the mindset we fall into when using it...

a reply to: TrueBrit

I do not think it has anything to do with the hardware itself, just the mindset we fall into when using it.

A very valid point.

I feel the rise of smart phones is turning children and young adults alike into cabbage zombies (extreme phrase obv.)

a reply to: and14263

I think the problem goes far deeper than children and the youth. I know thirty something's who have grown up during the true beginning of the digital age, born in the eighties, who can sit in a room with one another, and yet be glued to their phones, tablets and phablets, eschewing proper conversation, and instead engaging their twitter and Facebook friends in discussion, or playing one of the plethora of tedious online games, often micromanagement enablers like Simpsons Tapped Out, or FarmVille, or some similar nonsense.

They often have the TV on in the background. Brainwave and neurotransmitter levels all over the shop, and a screen at every compass point.

a reply to: TrueBrit

Very, very true. A common scene in many households I bet.

And what an invention those micromanagement games are - tweaked to perfection to induce purchases and the need to keep coming back to the game to make sure all is as it should be.

I admit, I play a game on my phone, 'WordChums' - it's basically Scrabble but often it times out because I can't be bothered as it's too fiddly. Even that is tweaked to make me want to buy things.

a reply to: and14263

I watch History channel, H2, TLC, Discovery, SCi, anda NASA? I like resting and expanding my mind when I do so. The problem with this is unclear to me.

I am not invading anyone's space, proselytising their support of my choice of tv, or any such thing.

What I do in my time is between myself and my maker, thank you.

I do think there are exceptions.

Like any tool or technology, it can be used for self-enrichment or abused. I'm of the mind that there's no danger or harm in escapism, provided one knows what they're doing and why, and engages in it willingly and in moderation sufficient to curtail any detrimental effects. This of course, however, requires mindfulness.

There is also an educational aspect but, again, one must be discerning, skeptical, and critical in their thinking while consuming that content.

I for one will never tell anyone else what to consume re: their chosen entertainment. The most I would do is offer gentle advice that they might consider being conscious of any potential abuse. That goes for television, drugs, anything. But it is not my place to tell them not to consume those things or to judge their consumption.

As for being transfixed by mindless programming... it's rare that I watch TV programs today. When I do, I can assure you, if I'm not either emotionally engaged or mentally stimulated in some way, I'm not transfixed such that I keep watching like a zombie anyway. If anything, I have so little patience these days for anything that doesn't move, inspire, or stimulate me, that I find myself turning it off immediately.

This is not denial. This is a conscious, witting choice to engage in escapism as is my prerogative, while also being selective and careful. Things aren't black and white IMHO.

Someone made a similar thread about sports recently. As I said in that topic: in my humble opinion, it is not my place nor anyone else's place to judge others' form of escapism. Everyone does it, whether they admit it to themselves or not. It seems to be a prerequisite for coping with this life. And the older I get, the more physical and emotional pain I suffer, the less inclined I am to worry about how others spend their time, frankly. I've got enough on my own plate. Gentle advice, yes. Judgmental and/or elitist blanket condemnation of others' pastimes, no. Not from me, at least.

As always, feel free to disagree, and I will politely respect the views of those who do. Just my imperfect two cents, same as anyone's.

Peace.

originally posted by: and14263
a reply to: TrueBrit

An effort is to point out to all these people in denial that TV is a distraction.

Not art.

Not a wind-down tool.

But a distraction that has negative effects on your brain and humanity.


If the thread was about the next episode of Walking Dead I'd be the next ATS star.

You do not have the final say of anything in life other than what you can control. So right now all we are reading is your opinion. If you don't like TV , distractions, art, music, or anything along those lines then it's an easy move for you , ignore them.

Keep feeling like you have some moral or intellectual superiority though because you don't partake in any distractions.

Before you fall back on your weak line of "you must be a TV watcher" I haven't had a TV for over 2 months now due to my current living situation I just don't get people that think they have a superiority complex..

"Omg you make money in life, you aren't as noble or honorable as I am because im poor.. "
"What you dare watch a TV show , you must be a distracted zombie because I say so. "

Good luck with all that..

originally posted by: and14263
a reply to: Shamrock6

I wouldn't come into your home even if you invited me.. Especially if you had the TV on.

I wouldn't invite you, so don't worry your pretty little head over it.