Don't watch TV !

Kaminsky

I found this following a link off itdaddys page but this particular section is very interesting and something I have always thought...

Quote (god knows who wrote it)
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Don’t watch TV
First, Evidence shows that more than two hours of television per day causes dysfunction of the brain [edit: good beer and good music has the same effect btw], causing demotivation and loss of cognisance functions in the brain. Specifically, the research suggests that it causes the learning and processing part of your brain to be suppressed. The effect lasts while you watch television regularly.

Second, TV is a HUGE time suck. 2 hours watching crap, means two of your life lost. And nothing worthwhile achieved.

That’s pretty grim
So that sounds bad to a lot of people. For me, not watching television has been a great, brilliant, awesome decision. Firstly, I have a better sleeping pattern since I go to bed about the same time during the week. I don’t “stay up for the wotsit show”. I go to bed when I am tired and/or can’t get any more useful stuff done.

Second, I have much more time for family and our family outing and friends are not organised around TV scheduling. We schedule our lives, not the television.

Thirdly, I find that television is boring. If I do watch something, I get border after ten or fifteen minutes because it isn’t very stimulating. I have lost the habit of sitting there waiting for something else to watch. This started to happen after a year or so. Now I just don’t bother.

Movies
I like watching movies, and this gives me common ground with other people. So, yes I think a movie now and then is OK. But not one every night instead of TV.

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This struck a chord with me as I remember when at university, a freind and I hadn't watched television for over 2 years. We went around another student's digs and they had snagged a tv. We walked in the front room and it was on and we were practically pole axed and completely mesmerised by the box in the corner and all that was on was an advert for McDonnalds !!! Our friends were talking to us but we couldn't hear them initially... We were completely transfixed! Very bizzare ! Such is the power of the tv.

Just try not watching TV for a week.. not even the news. If it is on, keep walking to your study area. Be honest... Are you really missing that much ?

Stay away from TV ! It turns your brain into mush.

Check this link out - bit extreme study tips but there's not many study tips around... http://etherealmind.com/2009/02/10/cisco-study-planning-tips/

amp2030

Signed!

I've been off TV for about 7 years now, couldn't be happier about it. While there are TV shows and movies I love, I found it much more satisfying to just rent/buy entire season DVDs and watch at my own leisure.

I regard TV as the most passive form of entertainment, you don't get to choose the content that's thrown at you, you just sit there and watch (commercials, anyone?).

jryantech

I get about 10 hours of TV in a week.
Mostly CNBC for market/economic news and if I am up late enough, The Colbert Report.

I agree TV is a time sink if your are watching 2-3 hours of soap operas, reality TV or bad game shows (Deal or No Deal comes to mind) a day. If you must watch that garbage I would limit it to 30 minutes each weekday.

Movies
I like watching movies, and this gives me common ground with other people. So, yes I think a movie now and then is OK. But not one every night instead of TV.

I like movies because they can motivate you.

CChN

You'll have to pry my TV out of my cold, dead, hands before I give up my CNN and FoxNews.

Kaminsky

CChN wrote: »

You'll have to pry my TV out of my cold, dead, hands before I give up my CNN and FoxNews.

LOL !

My wife is with the soaps and she wants to start college in September to head toward being a teacher.... Getting her her off tv is going to involve lots of cold hard clothes spending cash from now until then, just to get her brain in a state where it can take information given by a real speaking person. The next 5 years are not going to be cheap!


If you have never tried NOT watching any form of tv for a month.. try it.. It is exillerating! It will show you the way to excellence !

dynamik

The only reason I have basic cable is because it costs $6 and gives me a $15 discount because of the bundle with internet. I haven't hooked it up in nearly seven years.

I do like Hulu though. I always watch The Daily Show, and sometimes Colbert. That's about it unless there's a new Always Sunny or The Office.

gojericho0

i heart 24

Plantwiz

Been without for 1 year now.


NO GOING BACK FOR US!

TV is a huge waste of money and time.

sprkymrk

Okay, can anyone beat this? I have not had a TV for almost 18 years. When the wife and I got married in 1990, we had a small apartment and kept our TV/VCR in the coat closet for lack of space in the living room. We pulled it out like 2-3 times in the first year to watch our wedding video and a movie (Moses or Ben Hur, can't recall which Charleton Heston movie it was). We decided then to raise our children without TV, so we got rid of it. That's it, haven't had one in the home since then. Our 2 children (11 and 14) have grown up just fine without it too.

jbayne3

I can't say I am much of a TV person, but I do enjoy a few shows and movies. I try to spend most of my time reading....once I get old enough and tired of these tech books, I might be able to enjoy a good story book for once!

I love thie history channel though I must say

msteinhilber

Not a big TV person myself. I primarily stream anything I have interest in over the net such as on Hulu or similar. Otherwise if there are any particular shows (Dexter for one) that I can't stream I'll DVR them. Other than that I enjoy a movie here and there but it's pretty rare that a movie hits DVD these days that I actually can enjoy enough to capture my attention for it's entirety before I get side tracked by studying or working on my car if it's warmer weather.

Vogon Poet

You mean Alec Baldwin was right?
How can I get creditable news reports if I don't watch The View or Jack van Impe?
Seriously though, it's all about moderation (what isn't?). We're a culture of slackers, but there are some good programs.

blargoe

There's a couple of shows that I watch every week if they're new, otherwise I could live without it but I end up viewing it because my wife is addicted. She would divorce me if I cut our tv service.

Mrock4

I watch very little during the week. The little one is stuck on NOGGN (any of you parents know about it I'm sure..), Grey's anatomy/American Idol for the misses. I'll watch COPS briefly (at most, one episode), or RENO 911!, but other then that I don't see any T.V with the exception of CNN playing at work. Movies are another thing in itself, I love em.

djhss68

For the past few years, the only time I've ever watched TV is for episodes of The Shield or NFL/NHL games.

Video games are just as bad if you ask me. Counter Strike: Source and Sim CIty 4 are my guilty pleasures.

networker050184

blargoe wrote: »

There's a couple of shows that I watch every week if they're new, otherwise I could live without it but I end up viewing it because my wife is addicted. She would divorce me if I cut our tv service.

+1

I watch Heros and Fringe with my wife but thats about it. I also like to watch sports and the news.

JavonR

lol, story of my life. I used to be fairly anti tv, for about 4-5 years or so. I now work for a cable company, which means I get free TV (every channel) and a discount on an HD DVR. Needless to say I now watch a lot of TV

puertorico123

i only watch LOST, right now in season 2, (every night). but when finish i purchase the blu-ray (for HD quality purpose) in season 3 and 4.

1 hour * 5 day = 5 hours a week.

Turgon

It's not just TV. Computer games take up a lot of time too. All banned in our house!

JavonR

Turgon wrote: »

It's not just TV. Computer games take up a lot of time too. All banned in our house!

I hope you lift that ban when little turgons start (or already are) running around the place, if not it would make you an EVIL PERSON .

ger the man

Good post - Yes I agree, 90% of tv is utter crap. Celebrity this, celebrity that, sweet sixteen etc (why dont Mtv go back to playing music?). I watch the news, good documantaries, natural history etc. The rest is an insult.

amp2030

sprkymrk wrote: »

Okay, can anyone beat this? I have not had a TV for almost 18 years.

You win an internet!

Turgon

JavonR wrote: »

I hope you lift that ban when little turgons start (or already are) running around the place, if not it would make you an EVIL PERSON .

hehehe..we already have one toddler. He's busy enough without computer games and a handful. No doubt he will want to play them when he get's older though. My wife hates them with a passion. I'm advised I do not have time to waste on computer games when there are so many things we could be doing together as a family and numerous chores to attend to. With fulltime work and all the labprep hours somethings gotta give..computer games!

msteinhilber

Turgon wrote: »

hehehe..we already have one toddler. He's busy enough without computer games and a handful. No doubt he will want to play them when he get's older though. My wife hates them with a passion. I'm advised I do not have time to waste on computer games when there are so many things we could be doing together as a family and numerous chores to attend to. With fulltime work and all the labprep hours somethings gotta give..computer games!

Why not introduce him to the subnetting game on Cisco's website

Turgon

msteinhilber wrote: »

Why not introduce him to the subnetting game on Cisco's website

hehehe..we are not quite there yet. But he does like gadgets and turning things off and on!

sprkymrk

amp2030 wrote: »

You win an internet!

Yay! Woohoo!

Uhh, what's an internet? Do I need a TV to watch it?

jbrown414

My name is Jeremy and I'm a TV-aholic. I watch way too much TV. It's something I know I have a problem with and been trying to work on it. I totally agree that it is what's keeping me from productively studying. My brain is so used to the bright colors of TV that it's hard to focus on the black and white pages of a book. Sometimes when I go to bed I think about how I wasted my day.

doom969

While we have a nice TV in the house, we do not have basic cable or anything.
So we watch movies from time to time or an occasional episode of a series dvd.
We have 2 kids, almost 3 and almost 2 and so far, they don't seem to miss it much.
I've never been much of a tv person, i enjoy movies, but i'm not one schedule tv shows into my agenda.My wife isnt big on tv either, so its all good !

skrpune

jbrown414 wrote: »

My name is Jeremy and I'm a TV-aholic. I watch way too much TV. It's something I know I have a problem with and been trying to work on it. I totally agree that it is what's keeping me from productively studying. My brain is so used to the bright colors of TV that it's hard to focus on the black and white pages of a book. Sometimes when I go to bed I think about how I wasted my day.

I'm right there with you. If I can keep from turning on the TV until the evening, then I'm okay, but if I turn on the flashy picture box during the daytime, I'm sunk and then I have watcher's remorse. To be perfectly honest, I think part of the problem is that my brain enjoys a vacation from my obsessive compulsive tendencies and appreciates the time off from worrying about umpteen billion different things at once.

drainey

Got to have tv for NFL. Will occasionally watch CSI or Without a Trace. Otherwise I couldn't really care less about tv. My wife loves Grey's though, what a black hole of mindlessness that show is. I will set down with her when she turns it on just because 10 minutes will motivate me to go study, or clean the house, or, well pretty much anything but watch that show.

kriscamaro68

TV use to be my life. So did video games for that matter. But I have to give video games credit. It was me wanting to play the original team fortress and counter strike that made me build my first computer. Now I get in a few hours a week of Left 4 Dead with my buddy when the g/f isnt home otherwise I am not allowed to play.