-- EllaAiken - 02 Feb 2009

I know we have touched on this in class, and that we have touched on much more that should perhaps be far more troubling, yet I keep coming back to TV. So, forgive this post for not being on the readings themselves, but it’s been on my mind. I have to wonder, is TV really destroying my ability to retain information? Is it really so simple that, as we heard growing up, television rots your brain? I have to admit that I watch a good deal of TV in a week—at least an hour a day and much more on the weekends. I eat dinner in front of the TV, and my breaks from studying tend to be curling up on the couch and watching a TIVO’d episode of House. Since TV first came up—I’ve been telling myself that I should go a week without watching it just to see what happens. But I haven’t, and when it actually comes down to it, it feels a lot harder than I would have thought. I was at first skeptical in class of the claim that TV is addictive (because, of course, I’m not addicted—the classic response). But this weekend I found that I’d gone through all my episodes of House, and ended up watching a show that just wasn’t good, and that I didn’t even like, just because I wanted to watch something. Google searches actually reveal quite a few websites on the topic, and some contain “survivor” stories of the cured. So I have to wonder, am I really addicted to television?

Some rehab programs ask you to list the benefits you receive from using your substance of choice, and then to list the negative effects it has on your life. Then, you “rate” how great the benefits are, and how high the disadvantages (say, on a scale of 1-5). The goal is to show you that the disadvantages outweigh the benefits (though I always wonder what the counselor would say if your benefits came out stronger). I won’t bore you with my list, but I’ve got to say that my benefits aren’t sounding that great. Is spending an hour not thinking really such a benefit? If we truly believe that cognito, ergo sum what exactly is going in our brains on when we stop thinking entirely for sometimes hours at a time? One of the google results suggests that (and please forgive me if you have any more of a biology background than myself) TV-watching turns off your analytical left brain and on your emotional right-brain, which releases endorphins. The endorphins not only make you happy (and addicted), but because of that happiness, make you particularly susceptible to advertising. It all sounds like some huge conspiracy theory. TV makes happy citizens and strong consumers. But is it possible that there is some truth in it?

My “disadvantages” list is somewhat uncertain right now, and I can’t really evaluate it because I’m not sure what I’m losing when I watch TV. So, I know the answer is to just give it a shot, which I think I finally will. Any other TV watchers up for the challenge?