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Time
The average person spends more time than they realise watching TV,
playing on their computer or using their mobile phone.
In fact, the habit of watching TV is so ingrained that most people treat TV as
the default activity without even realising it.
How many hours do you spend each day watching TV?
Lotus-eaters
TV is filled with all sorts of programs. Politics, news, current affairs,
gossip, talk shows,
game shows, reality shows, talent shows, drama, crime, action, sci-fi...
There is arguably something for everyone.
Have you ever had a dream, Neo,
that you seemed so sure it was real?
But if were unable to wake up from that dream, how would you tell the
difference between the dream world & the real world?
(The Matrix)
Psychological pollution
How does TV affect you?
Does it change how you think?
Do you ever talk about what you have watched?
Are you influenced by the TV?
Is your
sleep affected?
Emotional investment
Whilst watching TV programs people experience
emotions stimulated by fictional events or
by the news.
How many hours of your life have been spent
following the fictional lives of make-believe characters?
Thinking about make-believe lives?
Worrying?
Do you honestly, sincerely care what happens to
fictional people?
If you do, why?
Ignoring the real
In lieu of addressing real life concerns
that directly affect their own lives, people become
emotionally invested in the drama of the make-believe.
An overweight, unfit,
lazy viewer cares deeply
about fictional TV characters; unconcerned by their own
ill health.
Does this sound even vaguely absurd?
Is this sane?
Body use
When watching TV people sit in appalling
positions.
The mind is so engrossed in the program that posture
and alignment is ignored.
Then people complain that they have a bad back...
Sitting for hours on end is now
considered to be virtually as bad as smoking.
Buffalo hump
Many adults develop 'nerd neck' - a pronounced forward leaning of the
head - akin to a turtle. It comes from watching too much TV,
use of mobile phones, video games, driving and the
internet.
The bones are misaligned by this habit, eventually resulting in an unwanted
fatty
lump forming on both sides of the 7th vertebrae.
The lump acts as a counterweight for the head and actively prevents the
spine from aligning correctly (and naturally). This is very unhealthy
indeed. It is a lifestyle habit induced deformity.
Eating
People often eat food whilst watching TV.
Vaguely bored, the person shovels down food without particularly paying
attention to the act of eating, the nutritional
value etc...
Eating whilst watching TV is considered to be a reliable
method for gaining unwanted body
fat.
An observer
TV makes people passive.
Instead of actively engaging in life, people are content to just watch.
They form opinions, they judge, criticise and
remain spectators.
Whilst this is taking place, their own life is
ebbing away hour by hour...
Rather than do, people observe.
Those who lack wisdom are convinced that they are truly awake;
they think they understand what is happening;
they think that the king is really the king,
and the servants are really servants.
(Chuang Tzu)
Apathy
In Greek mythology there is a story about an island in which the inhabitants
consumed lotus plants; making them dull and
apathetic.
This is what TV does to people.
It hypnotises and stupifies them.
The flickering screen entrances the viewer and they sit gawping for hours on
end.
In the UK there are entire generations within families who have never worked
nor would even want to.
A prison for your mind
Has TV led to an increase or decrease in the
intelligence of the audience?
Are people satisfied with a superficial level of
knowledge?
Is a sound bite enough?
The sad part is that many people are quite convinced that a minuscule
amount of information qualifies as 'knowledge'.
Rest
TV is not restful.
It usually involves placing the body in a physically unsuitable posture, it
works the eyes, provokes emotion and engages the brain.
This is not relaxing for the body.
Calm
When the TV is left switched off, the house is
quieter.
Suddenly there is a lot more free time in the day.
No intrusions.
No global news to incite worry, stress and impotence.
You are in charge of your own mind.
Only when your mind is clean
are you in a suitable state to read books and study the ancients.
(Huanchu Daoren)
Funk
Many TV programs are stressful and address matters that cause
anxiety. People watch actors simulate pain, suffering and loss. Why?
In real life (in your life), these issues are real, genuine,
factual.
At any moment you may suffer in any number of ways, people around you may
fall ill, die, become divorced or lose their jobs or their homes.
Entertained by pain?
Watching an actor simulate suffering is a little perverse. If you want to
see pain, walk down your local high street. Look at the people who live
around you. There is hardship. And it's real.
If you find the faux suffering depicted on your TV or distressing news
stories to be entertaining, isn't this a little sadistic? Life is
hard enough without seeking more ugliness.
Optimism
Why not be entertained by something uplifting, hopeful, joyous?
Instead of being well informed about the travails of the world, be inspired.
Feel happiness, love, humour and friendship.
Imagine coming home from work feeling frustrated from a difficult day and
switching on a light-hearted, fun film that brings a smile to your face and
laughter... Why not? You get to choose.
What do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds
of the people we are trying to save.
But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes
them our enemy.
You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged.
And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that
they will fight to protect it.
(The Matrix)
What can I do?
There are many things you can do instead of watching TV:
Take a walk
Cuddle
Learn a new skill
Deepen your knowledge
Sleep
Hobbies
Clean the house/chores
Gardening
Write
Cycle
Dance
Prepare healthy food
Talk/interact with friends or family
Learn to play a musical instrument
Read for pleasure/leisure
Draw
Learn a new language
Sing
Socialise
Spend time outdoors
Awakening
Are you ready to switch off?
To unplug?
What hinders you?
Why do you hesitate?
Fear. Fear of the unknown.
Fear of freedom.
TV
diet
How about trying a TV diet?
Or a a TV fast? Watch less than you do now...
Set a limit/restriction and cut-back.
Maybe only watch TV on certain days.
When it comes to TV programs, why not switch off
anything that does not enhance your fitness,
wellbeing or
mental faculties?
One program at a time?
Why not watch one TV episode/film at a time and then switch the TV off for
the night?
This helps in terms of time commitment and
mental pollution.
There is also the opportunity to digest what has been watched...
Cold turkey
It is quite difficult for modern people to go 'cold turkey'.
They are so accustomed to watching other people doing things with their
lives that they have completely forgotten about
living their own.
Try watching one movie/TV episode a week? Leave the TV off for the
rest of the week.
Now try to curtail PC usage, mobile phones and any
other technologies you are investing your time (and
life) in.
You will find yourself with a lot of free time.
Start living instead of watching/browsing/commentating/updating.
With today's round-the-clock
access to news we can now receive a twenty-four-hours-a-day parade of mostly
negative information about random shootings, drug wars, environmental
disasters, racially motivated hate crimes, rampaging serial killers, and
gruesome sex crimes. As they say in the world of television news production,
"If it bleeds, it leads." The news, in fact, has become so stressful that
health experts recommend 'news fasts' to improve psychological health.
(Dr Bradley Wilcox, Dr Craig Wilcox and Dr Makoto Suzuki)
Page created
21 May 2000
Last updated
04 May 2023
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