Why you should throw out your TV

[songwriter]

I think the worst of it all are news. And if you're watching while eating... you're not so aware and it's even worse... There are good things I think, just don't watch the ones you think are awful. Especially all that remarks violence and hate, I think. News, some talk shows, some shows, some sports...

[bellbird]

The funny thing is that since my partner and I stopped watching the tv (news, etc etc), you don't miss it one bit. We only watch dvds now that we actually want to see and it's great. It leaves time to do other things which are way more valuable. Like walking on the beach together and looking at sealions who either wobble around or lie on the sand, snoring. (Like I said, very inspiring )
I enjoy spending more time with my partner now in the evenings and there's no danger anymore of falling in the 'rut stage thing' either. It's great!

[Keith]

Originally Posted by ChrisCountryGirl

In my younger days, I watched a lot of television. Now, I usually only use the TV to watch DVDs. I'd rather go online than watch mindless tv shows.

That's a trap in itself. I was very proud of myself for dramatically cutting back my TV-watching - until I realised I was just using my newly-free time to surf the web.

[Tasaio]

Originally Posted by Keith

That's a trap in itself. I was very proud of myself for dramatically cutting back my TV-watching - until I realised I was just using my newly-free time to surf the web.

You have a point, but I still think surfing is better than TV-viewing:

- You're reading, not listening.
- Many online "addicts" are specifically addicted to Wikipedia...an encyclopedia.
- If you're addicted to a forum, then you're required to write replies. This practices your writing skills.
- There's choice involved in what you click on. With TV, it's up to the station what you watch and when you watch it.

- In general, if you're online, you're accruing knowledge -- I can't say the same for TV.

- Overall, it's better to be addicted to intelligent websurfing than to something worse, like alcohol, WOW, or Coronation Street.

[dor]

Originally Posted by Keith

That's a trap in itself. I was very proud of myself for dramatically cutting back my TV-watching - until I realised I was just using my newly-free time to surf the web.

i did the same thing, and also realized...err i got a little addicted to this forum- and not even constructively but getting into silly debates...on a self improvement forum..

yes the internet can be as big a time waster- but generally speaking its easier to 'tune in' to productive stuff than on tv simply because TV has less choice, more commercials

[dor]

BBC News | TALKING POINT | Can watching television make you violent?

BBC News | HEALTH | TV 'link' to Alzheimer's

BBC News | HEALTH | TV 'encourages poor eating habits'

Kill Your Television TurnOffYourTV.com

Television Attention Deficit

I have long suspected the MTV style quick cutting is bad for you brain.

[ragtag]

I've been without a TV for over 10 years, and haven't missed it one bit. For periods I've been without the any form of VHS or DVD player too, and just gone to the cinema instead.

I think the problem with having a TV is that it's easier to watch TV than do most other things, but it's not very productive. I once went skiing for a month (which was great b.t.w.), planing on spending the evenings drawing. The little hut I rented had a small TV, and as it turned out I didn't get a lot of drawing done. After skiing all day and cooking dinner, it's was simply easier to lie back and watch TV, than put some actual work into my drawings. I'm pretty sure I would have spent more time drawing, if there had been no TV there.

Of course, you can say that it's my weak will and procrastination...and you would be right. But, there is something to be said for changing the environment around you to promote your goals. For instance by, throwing out the TV and having a ready and clean drawingtable with all my tools, and maybe some inspirational art books lying around.

Ragnar

[Cameron Madden]

I thought long and hard about the time wasting and regimentation of my nights by the TV. There were show I COULD NOT MISS. Then I always had it turned up loud when ever something else was on, in case I heard something remotely interesting from another room. If I did I would run out fast as lightning to see what the fuss was all about.

I even used to have it on while I was on the net. Well I decided that it was enough, so I went for a drive late on Saturday Night, with the TV in my car and drove to a river about 2 hours drive from my house, which was secluded enough not to be seen and which had a footpath (side-walk) from which to throw it over. I then tossed the TV over the side. There was a flash from the TV when it hit the water. Probably large capacitors discharging or shorting out the HT coil diode via water and the tube paint.

I felt a little nervous about getting caught. When I drove away I had mixed feelings of relief for doing it, and of freedom. I think the TV was a big "ball and chain". My life is better for it. I still have friends and family talking about TV shows. The great thing is thay ask "have you seen ...?", at which I answer "No", then they go on to tell me all about it in less than 2 minutes. See all the time I gain back. They sit down for an hour and I find out about the whole thing in minutes.

I tell you, get rid of the things.

Many people may ask "Why didn't you just sell the thing on EBay?" I asked myself the same thing before doing the deed. But what is the greater sin, throwing the TV to the fish or getting someone else to purchase the ball and chain from me?

Now I have more time for vege gardening, reading, study and walking at night. And my time is not compartmentised, only at work is it so. After reading this site more, I might even be able to throw those chains off too.

GET RID OF THE TV AND LIVE!

[Sunnybayes]

LOL. Awesome story. Much more dramatic too than selling it on ebay. Its something you can tell your friends and they can visualize it and maybe get them inspired.

I would spend a summer building a TV trebuchet.
OR maybe start a ritual of blowing them up on the 4th or something.

My total watching a screen time for this semester has been about 10 hours. That includes going to movies with friends. Though, it really helps that I don't understand Chinese yet... lol.

[aabukar]

what i like most about this forum is that it seems people here are reading my mind seriously i was just talking yesterday about how addicted i became to tv shows

Post your FUTURE net worth !

and i even decided to make "reduce amount of watched tv shows" as a goal for my May challenges

i dont think i can now get rid of tV all at once but reducing amount of tv series i watch is just a step

Thank you guys i really appreciate everthing you post

[Andrew Brunelle]

Television is basically a distraction from your real life. I am not completely off television, but I do not watch it often. I may watch two hours a week I suppose, and it is usually with someone in my family, and we comment on the shows and laugh, it is an interactive experience. It is not simply sitting there passively. Sometimes it is fun to have something to react to like that. I do not watch the news, I mostly watch comedy and sometimes shows like Dr. Phil, which I consider to be hilarious.

[Freelancer]

I found the moment I was standing more positive and constructive in my life was the moment TV lost all its appetite, seriously I don't like to brainwash my mind with rubbish and bad news. I'd rather do something productive even if its something as silly as surfing the internet and various forums, I atleast get some form of valuable information and feedback that way.

It has helped me get up every morning at 5 AM, I used to always watch telivision form 20:30 ---> 11:00 or so. Now I just go to bed around 20:30 while the rest of the familie vegs away behind the TV (Busy saving my parents but my brothers are gonna take a bit longer). The plan is to go 'down town' (to the TV and the rest of the family) later and later untill they don't expect to see me after 20:30 anymore, the 'together' time I'm replacing by walking around the house more often listening to Network Marketing audio tapes. I don't want to lose entire contact with my family like I used to when I played wow or poker...

[mlc82]

Originally Posted by dor

» “The Secret” and TV: How Watching TV May Help Manifest Violence, Poverty, and General Negativity · Cultivate Greatness | Personal Development | Self-Help & Success Blog | Motivation Blog | Inspiration Blog | Business Blog | Self Help B
Standard TV Diet - Murder, Violence, and Suffering

The News - War, Disaster, and Suffering

Talk shows - Gossip and Slander

Sports - Winners vs. Losers

Commercials - Lack, Need, and Imperfection


The Solution - No TV


I have seen children raised without TV and with and the difference is remarkable (sure there are other factors but there was something a little disturbing about hearing a four year old wanting a particular brand of shoe).

I got rid of my TV years ago - just watch DVDs and use the internet - I don't miss it in the least.

I'll watch some History or Discovery channel on mine, other than that I keep the big piece of societal conditioning turned off. I stick with computer games, books, and internet for entertainment/news.

[Red Willow]

I think there is some worth-while stuff on tv--some stuff on PBS, Sundance channel. The only thing I really watch on a regular basis are HBO shows because they're fun. I only watch tv on sunday nights to watch the sopranos and entourage and maybe 60 minutes.

I will say that it used to be a habit of mine to put on the Today show in the morning while I made breakfast for my daughter, fed the dogs, etc, but since I've turned the tv off in the morning and turned on Mozart or bluegrass music instead, I'm in a way better mood all day.

[alexyeo]

Though I seldom watch TV nowadays, I still believe TV has its benefits too.

We should look into the benefits and not solely its negativities. If you said that TV are full of negative stuffs, then newspapers are the same too.

Newspapers are also full of disasters news, gossips in tabloids, advertisements etc etc....

Should we not read newspapers too??

Focus on the benefits instead. It's how we think and use it to our full advantages.

[JohnPlace]

I believe that movies are one of the most powerful forms of art available to the world. They have an ability to communicate a message deeply and specifically, incorporating elements of music, theater, writing, and photography.

I love watching quality, commercial-free movies (the key word being quality) in my dedicated home theater. One benefit of having a TV (or a projector, in my case), is that I get to enjoy great works of art in the privacy of my own home, which is truly uplifting, rejuvenating, and often thought-provoking.

However, if by television we are referring to the standard programming and not the appliance itself, I completely agree! Most TV programming is nothing but a parade of consumerism and fear.

I'm not sure the answer is throwing the baby out with the bathwater. I do enjoy the documentary channel -- lots of very enlightening stuff on there.

[Lychee]

Subliminal messages.

[jamestl2]

I only use the TV to play video games every once in a while, which aren't as bad as some people make them out to be (certain Politicians).

[bert eats dirt]

Pardon me for changing the subject slightly, but I'd like to issue a call to "throw out the internet" too. I've never watched much TV, but I have tended to spend a lot of time on the computer. When I was a kid this involved playing games and satisfying my curiosities about computers and what I could make them do. Nowadays it means checking my email, reading blogs, reading forums, boring monotonous ************ that I've recently realised is a complete waste of my precious time on this glorious planet. It distracts me from my studies, it distracts me from talking to my friends (on MSN messenger, naturally), and distracts me from spending my time doing things far more profound and soul stirring and worthwhile. I'm sure other 21 year olds have spent their time doing far greater things than sitting on their computer day in day out waiting for something interesting to happen, and I'm not going to do it any more. Starting TOMORROW I'm going to embark on most righteous quest to fill my life with mindblowingly awesome experiences (although this will at first be hampered somewhat by my need to work on an assignment, so far delayed partially because I've been spending my time on blogs and whatnot). I've got myself a 30 day trial planned out (great concept by the way!), and it's gonna be bitchin. I'm going to write some music, find myself a woman and get outside and run through the forest! In fact I'm going to go wander the neighbour right now, at 10pm this fine night. I bid you adieu, and wish you copious coolness in your experience.

[Scipio]

If I didn't have TV, I couldn't watch any of the UFC shows on SPIKE. I just record them so I can watch them whenever. So I disagree about not having TV.

Right now I'm in Thailand training kickboxing though so there is just Thai TV here. I obviously don't watch.

[Thomas Jensen]

Quitting TV is the best thing I even did.

The funny thing is, I find the more I 'abstain' from TV viewing, the more sensitive I am to TV's negative effects whenever it's switched on and I'm in the room. For example, my parents watch a fair amount of TV, so in order to have some social interaction with them, it's necessary to brave some of rubbish they happen to be watching at the time. And I honestly struggle to be in the same room as that thing.

[yougetajob]

Hey all, great thread.

I used to argue against television as an evangelical christian (which I was). I'd tell people why I thought some people (including myself) had a sort of idol-worshipper dynamic with their TV sets. I'd mention how most of us have the TV as the main focal point of our living rooms, where we all gather round and sit at it's feet, ready to swallow whatever it fed us.

I still think TV is bad, but for additional, and somewhat different reasons.

Though I haven't read the book I am about to mention, what I've read about it makes me want to suggest it to all of you. It's called Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television and it's written by a former ad exec named Jerry Mander.

Mander's main point is that TV, like all technology, is not neutral. TV is not as good, or as bad, as the program it is currently showing. It is just inherantly bad.

I'll leave the reasons for this conclusion of Manders up to you to explore, should you choose.

A summary of some of the arguments:

Amazon page for the book

[JohnB23]

A few comments on tv in general...

-I get turned off by all the arrogance, the self importance, the self congratulating, the backslapping by tv anchors and news types. It's such an incredible turn off.

Anyone could be successful if they had a tv show. You're beamed into 150 or 200 million homes, ratings for the news are 8 million people a night. You're only getting a 4% share of the pie. The other guy has 5%, and 3 1/2%. The failure rate of shows is very high, ratings are down because of the internet, cable, etc...you're not that important anymore.

If you had a restaurant that had steadily been losing customers for decades to other restaurants (i.e. cable, satellite, internet), you wouldn't run around with all this self importance and self congratulation. It's laughable.

-Some of it is ok...I watch a little bill maher, simpsons. Alot of people on tv though are sad to watch. Think about the personal lives of people on tv.

-Multiple marriages
-Serious addictions
-Way, way out there
-How many represent quality family time, going to the kids baseball games, strong marriages?

All the E! True Hollywood stories, Behind the Music types, Vh1 celebrities. Even a guy like Larry King (married 7 times). These are a different kind of people than most.

[JohnPlace]

While I do advocate the responsible use of television, I stumbled upon a video at AdBusters that I thought was pertinent to this thread. Just so you know, AdBusters is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to de-branding the world.

Anyway, check out the link below. At the very bottom of the page, there is a video entitled "Evidence" by Godfrey Reggio. The movie is a little bit boring, but also ominous and a little disturbing. The premise for the short movie is simple: Godfrey pointed a video camera at a bunch of children while they watched television. These children look absolutely catatonic.

Watching Godfrey's movie reminds me just how receptive we are to advertising and other messages while we're watching TV.

Adbusters Culturejammer Headquarters

[Imaginativeone]

Originally Posted by bigthinkerofcentury

As a whole TV sure is a waste. However if used properly it can be a wonderful tool for all your needs.

1. Watch Inspirational Movies / Documentaries such as "The Secret"
2. Watch your Vision Movie (Mind Movie whatever you may call it)
3. Watch Educational Programs (You can get schedule of all the channels and you can plan what to see so that you don't land up just scanning through the channels to see anything interesting going on)
4. Watch your recorded good memories (your own video recordings with family and friends)
5. Watch some fun stuff (Yes, Laughter is a Good Medicine. You must spend some time watching some fun stuff, but one should not get addicted to it... hahaha)


I agree to the original comments of this post,

• Standard TV Diet - Murder, Violence, and Suffering

• The News - War, Disaster, and Suffering

• Talk shows - Gossip and Slander

• Sports - Winners vs. Losers

• Commercials - Lack, Need, and Imperfection

Hence focus on what you should see not these things.
Cheers,

Atul
Abundance Attraction Law

I agree with this idea. With TIVO, I only watch "the good stuff".

[llong]

I stopped owning a TV in 1993. I do not regret it in the least.

My next issue to tackle is the internet.

[Sam988]

I like TV because it has a lot of good stuff there (even though 95% of it is trash). But i keep TV for the 5% goods of it. Its like the internet, theres a LOT LOT of crap, but there's good stuff also, like this website.

[993125002]

all tv is really good for are the documentaries, discovery channel, and the olympics

[Trezker]

All the good stuff that comes on TV can more comfortably be obtained through the internet.

TV is obsolete. I'm just waiting for the media industries to realize it and adapt.

[Liveformx64]

TV is just like any other tool, medium etc...

Its not the Television that is the problem it is how we use it.

On one hand I think television has completely idiotized our nation into apathetic complacent celebrity worshiping drones of the slave/police state we now live in.

On the other hand, it is a great tool for sharing ideas, and bringing things to light that would otherwise take years through old fashioned media.

However, once NBC/ABC regulated television in the 50's televisions' power shifted to the hands of the few, and has stayed that way ever since. The power has, as it always will shift from the masses to the few on top. Rupert Murdoch is arguably one of the most powerful men in the world because of the television and broadcasting.

Conversely, all of the above is what makes the internet beautiful. Anyone can has the potential to literally share their ideas with the world. Unfortunately there are already motions to regulate this as most of you already know.