“TV will never be a serious competitor for radio because people must sit and keep their eyes glued on a screen; the average American family hasn’t time for it.” – Author Unknown, from New York Times, 1939
Life is meant to be lived, not watched. To get started living your own life rather than watching others live theirs, consider its impact on your life.
Ten Reasons to Watch Less Television
1. It is influencing your worldview. Anybody who has ever been a policeman, a lawyer, a psychiatrist, an ER doctor, or an FBI agent will attest to the truth that television does not accurately portray their life. In almost all aspects, television rarely depicts the world and life accurately. Too much television results in disillusionment about what to expect from the world around us. This can most commonly be seen in people’s expectations of love, romance, and sexuality.
2. It is influencing your spending habits. If you think you are immune (or too smart) to be influenced by the power of advertisements, you are wrong. Corporations do not spend trillions of dollars in advertising hoping to influence you. They spend trillions of dollars because they know they will influence you.
3. It is taking you away from the real people all around you. The characters on television are not real. They are thought up in an office building and given life on a piece of paper. In contrast, you are surrounded every day by real people living real lives. These real people are facing real problems. They need you. And you need them. Limit your kids’ screen time.
4. It is robbing you of precious mental energy. When your television is on, your concentration is held hostage. Your mental energy is drawn into the screen and your ability to control it is given up.
5. It is costing you money. Americans spend over $6 billion per year just paying for the electricity to power their television sets. Add in the cost of cable/satellite bills, dvd’s, movie subscriptions, peripherals … and we’re starting to talk about real money.
6. It impairs your capacity for rational thought. TV oversimplifies reality. It presents subjects in a matter of minutes and everything is nicely wrapped up at the end. This harms clear thinking by conditioning you to expect that most problems have a simple, clear solution that can be implemented in 60 minutes or less.
7. It is bad for your health. Numerous studies draw direct parallels between excessive television watching and obesity.
8. It results in less satisfaction with life. According to the Journal of Economic Psychology, TV viewers report lower life satisfaction, higher material aspirations, and more anxiety.
9. It results in less sex. Couples who keep a TV in the bedroom have sex half as often as those who don’t. And if you ask me, that should be reason enough.
10. Its opportunity cost is too great. The average American watched an average of 5.1 hours of television per day in 2009. That’s time you could have spent exercising, eating a meal together, entertaining, enjoying nature, meditating, enjoying a hobby, reading a book, or fulfilling a dream.
Gip @ So Much More says
Hmm… I don’t watch much television — and I don’t have cable, dish or anything fancy, just rabbit ears on an digital converter box and an old TV. I even still have a VCR for recording the rare program that I want to time-shift.
I do enjoy watching the obscure British sitcoms and dramas that I obtain from a source in the UK. The quality of writing in some of those comedies inspires me to write better. And a comedy show is a great way to end the day.
Still, I wonder if I would function better if I watched less…
Tyler Regehr says
#9 is my favorite :) haha
Gary Jordon says
Yep I haven’t watch much tv in a long time. I’ll say I’d rather read interesting post and articles on the net. Actually I’m curious if everybody stopped watching tv where would the hero’s go? Where would most people find role models? Maybe one day will find out.
Angelique says
I honestly can’t think of any single person in the entertainment industry that I would consider a hero, and I’ve never put athletes in the “hero” category. Books are filled with stories (fiction and nonfiction) of people who have found the strength and courage to perform heroic deeds in an infinite number of situations. Role models are a very personal thing; one size does not fit all. We find them in looking to the people that have paved the road in accomplishing that which we want to achieve – and that is different for everyone.
Todd Schnick says
turns out, the best thing that ever happened to me was when my DVR broke. as a result, i barely watched TV for months. even when it was fixed, i have hardly watched TV since.
it has been glorious. more time with people, much much more reading!
Tim says
#3 and #10 go well together.
Thanks for this list.
I’m ready to unplug.
Kaloian Parchev says
Me and my wife gave up watching TV almost one year ago and I can tell that from this moment up to now we had much more time for sex, reading books, talking and etc. Moreover we are much calmer than before and have really good time together.
Marcia Wilwerding says
This is so spot on! I was just thinking last night how much I have been missing by not having a television for the past seven years: mostly viewing sex and violence. And, come on, everybody knows that reality t.v. is anything BUT reality. :) Thanks for sharing these great thoughts.
min hus says
It seems very popular these days to jump on the TV is evil bandwagon. Maybe it is. can understand these points, and agree with some of them, but agree that they can be applied to things other than TV. What about mindlessly surfing the internet? I waste more time doing that than TV. And if I read at the end of the day I’m reading fiction for entertainment, not instructive nonfiction.
Plus sometimes by the end of a long day I want to just sit back and relax. I don’t need more time to work or “get things done,” I do enough of that already. I need to refresh and relax each day as well, and a good show or movie provides that for me. I already exercise daily, cook and eat at home, spend time with friends and others, and work all day.
heather says
You reminded me of my experiments in TV freedom, and a couple of great books on the effects of television on people:
http://bookishheather.wordpress.com/2010/05/14/resisting-the-idiot-box/
Lydia says
I absolutely agree and appreciate the focus on LESS t.v. It is not t.v. (or the internet, or ___) per se, it is the love/obsession/addictive qualities of these venues that we need to reflect on in our own lives and adjust as needed. 5 hours a day on average? Really? That IS alarming, especially when you take into consideration the fact that many of us are watching closer to 5 hours a week. Thanks, as always for your insight!