Perhaps the most ironic aspect of the struggle for survival is how easily organisms can be harmed by that which they desire. The trout is caught by the fisherman's lure, the mouse by cheese. But at least those creatures have the excuse that bait and cheese look like sustenance. Humans seldom have that consolation. The temptations that can disrupt their lives are often pure indulgences. No one has to drink alcohol, for example. Realizing when a diversion has gotten out of control is one of the great challenges of life.

Excessive cravings do not necessarily involve physical substances. Gambling can become compulsive; sex can become obsessive. One activity, however, stands out for its prominence and ubiquity--the world's most popular leisure pastime, television. Most people admit to having a love-hate relationship with it. They complain about the "boob tube" and "couch potatoes," then they settle into their sofas and grab the remote control. Parents commonly fret about their children's viewing (if not their own). Even researchers who study TV for a living marvel at the medium's hold on them personally. Percy Tannenbaum of the University of California at Berkeley has written: "Among life's more embarrassing moments have been countless occasions when I am engaged in conversation in a room while a TV set is on, and I cannot for the life of me stop from periodically glancing over to the screen. This occurs not only during dull conversations but during reasonably interesting ones just as well."

5 Comments

1. 1. cuteaccountant 11:48 AM 12/7/07

   I recently got married. my husband has the TV on from the time he gets home from work til we go to bed. We sit in silence. Maybe a comment or two during a commercial. I thought (stupid of me) that once we got a house that he'd be busy doing other things around the house. Wrong. He says I can talk to him while the TVs on yet I don't have his full attention. His eyes go back and forth from me to the TV to me to the TV. Even intimacy is difficult. The TV goes off at 10 p.m.- bedtime. If anything happens between us it's a race against the clock since we both get up quite early. I'm to the point now where I shut down when I hear the TV on. I go on a drive or back to the office or into another room in the house. He rules our lives, but- he insists that he 'likes' to watch TV. Why then would he need a wife?

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2. 2. TerryS 09:13 AM 3/3/08

   Excellent article!
   
   Especially important is the part where the
   authors describe how (and why) watching TV makes
   the viewers brainwaves slow down (from Beta to
   Alpha in adults).
   
   This slowing down of the brainwaves from watching
   TV (or any fast-paced video) has been well documented
   and established, especially by scientists studying
   TV commercials (for the advertising industry).
   
   But, what I find amazing is how this important
   fact is virtually unknown among the general public.
   With the exception of this excellent article,
   science writers (and bloggers) have not written
   at all about this far-reaching phenomenon.
   
   Considering that 8-14 year olds watch (on average)
   over 4 hours of TV/videos per day, and that
   2 year olds watch (on average) 1:30 hours per day,
   this is extremely important information for parents
   to have.
   
   (Also, the general public does not realize that, at
   the neurological level, there is a difference between
   voluntary attention and involuntary attention.)
   
   So please, any science writers and/or bloggers
   out there, be a hero and write about this very,
   very important neurological effect of TV on our
   minds.

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3. 3. AET RaDAL 03:02 PM 3/26/08

   As the creator of the first, and still only, psychoactive rock music video album, ( http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1800166509/info) as well as the creator of technocogninetics, I am intrigued by the article although I haven't read the whole thing. From what I've read, a number questions come to mind:
   
   1. The rest state of the people tested - meaning what was the state of their conscious mind at the time they were tested? Were they tired, agitated, hungry, thirsty, etc?
   
   2. What were their normal TV habits and what types of programs do they normally watch?
   
   3. Are they in habit of buying what they see on TV regardless whether or not they need it? Are they in a habit of buying what they see on TV when they need it, regardless of another brand that might be available at the same or lower price that they haven't seen on TV?
   
   4. Do slower brain waves mean a more relaxed and docile state of mind?
   
   I'll be doing more research for an article for my blog here.

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4. 4. AET RaDAL 03:16 PM 3/26/08

   OK. I just got access to the entire article. I will be doing comprehensive piece on the subject, raising a number of issues that I feel are a part of this phenomena. I don't know exactly when, but next I will add a short piece on my 8 dimensional theory of sound and vision, which deals in a more robust way with the same visual aspect that the article refers to as "formal features".
   
   Technocogninetics deals with the effect that things have on the human mind, but there is a cognitive feedback component that is important. I find that missing in the article and will explain this significance in mine.

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5. 5. killtv2012 in reply to cuteaccountant 05:51 AM 4/25/12

   I'm in the exact situation as you are. Me and my spouse have moved in together for almost one year and television is literally controlling my spouse's life. I can talk to him (thanks to the PVR recorder)..I have the ''honour'' of speaking to him while it's on ''pause''...He even defends his tv, giving all the excuses that I know by heart. After one year of living together, we haven't been able to decorate/renovate our apartment... I do it by myself...I remember when I was younger and scientists said that too much tv watching was harmful...but people don't care...an article I read said that doing nothing and staring at a wall was better for your brain than watching tv (meaning that being passive is better than having images shoved in your brain)...I'm sure there will come a day very soon that psychiatrists and psychologists will have a new very hip diagnosis after depression ...it WILL be tv addiction...Because basically, for so many people it is much easier to watch other people's lives, strangers, living THEIR lives, than actually moving their butts from the tube and living their own.

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