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A Week Without Television

Jeffster

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I can't even remember the last time I turned my tv on. It just sits there, getting dusty.

this is why my parents used to always ground me from the internet.

Wow, that makes me feel old. When I was still young enough to be grounded, the internet was just a few nerds talking to each other on their homemade electronic sets.
 

Magic Poriferan

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Aside from occasionally taking a look at C-Span, it's literally been years since I've intentionally watched TV. I mean, I won't avert my gaze if I see one on somewhere (supposing it's not showing crap), but I don't really need to see it.
 
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I guilt-trip myself into reading books when I get the urge to just veg out on the couch... as it is, I can get most of the TV shows I actually enjoy (Family Guy, Prison Break) on the internet or on DVD. News is better on the internet, since it's more diverse.
 
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It's over! Well, almost.

My TV experiment officially ended Saturday night, but I still haven't watched any. I was busy most of Sunday and went out to see two movies, so I didn't watch any TV that day. And so far Monday, I haven't watched any.

I think I've learned to watch TV with purpose, not to leave it on as background. My thinking is a little sharper when I'm not half-paying attention to something else. I've noticed it's not quite the same thing as listening to the radio or a CD, even if it's the same in theory. Another thing I've learned is that I require constant stimulation. If the TV is not on, I might be led into more productive forms of amusing myself. It didn't work for the most part this past week, because as I explained before, I mostly just held on tight and waited for the week to be over. But moving on, I think this will be a valuable idea.

I want to stress though that I didn't do this because I think TV is inherently bad. If I did, I'd probably pick another career. My thinking was more along the lines of "everything in moderation". I think TV is a wonderful tool for people to have a shared experience. Those kind of experiences are in short supply these days as people isolate themselves more. But things like the Olympics or a very popular series give people a common culture and a basis for relating to each other. Like I explained in another entry, sports gives me and my dad a starting point for enjoying each other's company. TV does these things.

The most important thing I learned is that I use TV as a substitute for human connection. TV voices are replacements for the voices that should be coming from friends or family or a girlfriend. SportsCenter anchors, Discovery Channel narrators, and fictional characters are my ersatz friends and acquaintances. I don't think this is bad if it's a minor thing. I think we probably all do it to a slight extent. But when it rivals or trumps the influence of real people in one's social life, then it's a problem. That makes it a problem for me.

I said in an earlier post that I was in love with my television. I think that's an excellent metaphor. What I need to do now is tell my TV that I think we're better off as friends.
 

Wolf

only bites when provoked
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Congrats.

I hope keeping it down goes well, too.
 

cafe

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I feel similarly about books, especially podcast novels right now. My work is mostly mindless and menial and having a book to listen to is like a barrier against boredom. I try, also, to keep a paperback in my purse. Starting in my early teens, keeping something to read with me wherever I went was like an escape hatch. No matter where I was dragged or how long I was stuck there, I could always climb into a book and be gone. It's an addiction, I suppose, but there's not a lot of stigma against it and it doesn't interfere a lot. Well, except for those times when I'm doing dishes or cooking and someone comes up and wants to talk and I get annoyed because I'm going to have to stop what I'm doing, wipe my hands, pause my book and pull off my head phones. :steam:
 

oasispaw

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Jan 2, 2008
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I've been thinking about giving up televison for an entire week for the following reasons.

1. To force me into doing more productive activities
2. To allow the quiet to energize my thinking
3. To catch up on some reading
4. To give me a fun topic to write about
5. Just to see if I can be master of my domain

I have a question though. Would renting DVDs be cheating? I understand that to an extent, it's only cheating if I think so because it's my little experiment. But I'd like a more general opinion on whether this is my attempt to find a loophole or if it's legitimate.

i gave up tv when i moved out of my ex's house. it's been 5.5 months. i feel smarter! hahaha! I spend more time playing with my son and when he's off in bed i read, sew, knit, read some internets. i use netflix, watch maybe 1-2 movies per week. my son is allowed to watch a couple/few movies per week. we don't have the bombardment of commercials, which is awesome.

my sister and family are visiting this weekend and they keep asking my son if he likes barney and crap like that and he doesn't know what they're talking about, it's rad.

i think the thing with dvds is that they end... tv never ends, there's always another show on so you keep watching.
 

JivinJeffJones

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Apr 25, 2007
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Very little TV viewing (rugby matches when they're on, which is about 5 times a year, and world news maybe once a week), but I can't do without my movies. And select TV series on DVD. Like Firefly. And Heroes. Occasionally I'll watch regular TV for irony-value, but that only works when you're watching it with people who can appreciate that you're slumming. Otherwise you just feel pathetic.
 
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I've been thinking about giving up televison for an entire week for the following reasons.

1. To force me into doing more productive activities

ha! I never watch tv and I'm not a very productive person, so good luck with that. I think that the only good thing that you can be sure to get out of it is decreased exposure to utter crap, and the less tv you watch the crappier you realize it is.....sort of like fast food. So it's a step in the right direction but everything isn't going to magically fall into place. You have to force yourself to replace tv-watching with something worthwhile, rather than something equally masturbatory.
 
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