“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.
What a terrible post Joshua! also I know that you are an author of several minimalism/self-improvement a.k.a unrealistic self-improvement books that uneducates people instead of educate! all of the 10 reasons to stop watching television including the sources that you cited are a FRAUD! trust me! as I’m telling you the truth! okay?
television doesn’t do nothing of the 10 reasons to stop watching television you told on your post above! in fact it does the opposite: watching television is more likely to make a more respected person in society unlike reading a book including your unrealistic self-improvement books! also: watching television doesn’t provide unrealistic expectations! what does provide unrealistic expectations is reading a book! trust me as I’m telling you the truth! also: the opportunity cost of reading a book instead of watching television is great! and I’m NOT mistaken okay? also: the problems does have a simple solution in reality! and unlike you, I’m CORRECT! therefore the #6 reason to watch less television is a lie as well! trust me as it’s the truth!
and please don’t ask me for sources that shows the truth above as it’s not necessary! due to unsourceable insider research that found that watching television offers benefits (and that reading a book is harmful to your brain and has 10 harmful effects that you shown on your article! and that you replaced “read less books” with “watch less television” which the former is the truth and the latter is not!) and insider research does exists! and I’m NOT mistaken okay?
Trust me! as this is the ONLY comment that does tell you the truth! your article and ALL of other comments are lies! okay?
Thanks
Ant1sh31l4f1x3r
There is a parrot and eagle. You are the parrot.
I am in the middle of a bout of insomnia and came across this site. I just had to leave my comment.
During the pandemic for several weeks, I decided not to turn on my TV in the daytime.
I’ve been working from home for literally decades, and sometimes, no most of the time, the television is on in the background, and I called it, my electronic babysitter. It’s just a noise in the background, the same way there would be ambient noise in a restaurant or in an office. The sound of silence is a bit much for me.
Anyway, for the time that I did not turn on my TV for those weeks was amazing. I was better rested at night and developed new interests. It’s no wonder I had trouble sleeping when the last thing I heard at night was the 11 o’clock news. That’s not soothing. That’s not the last thing I want in my mind before I go to sleep. I rarely watch the news anymore, as a matter of fact.
I just want to comment on the one thing that keeps me from cutting the cord all together. It’s the fact that here in New Jersey I cannot just buy a modem and get just Internet service. That’s really all I need cable for, the Internet. I couldn’t really care less about television and movies. I can work around that. But I can’t live in my apartment without Internet connection. It pisses me off that I pay over $100 a month just for basic cable in order to have high-speed Internet. It is absolutely prohibitive.
And believe me, I’ve been back-and-forth with my cable company because I’m a techie at heart. I know I can buy my own modem and some companies will give you just Internet, but the two companies that provide Internet in my area will not do it. It’s just such a rip off, and it pisses me off.
Ironically, I do think this is why I keep the TV on so damn much. Because if I’ve got a pay $100 a month for some thing that I don’t even want, I’m going to use the hell out of it.
Although I’m spending more time listening to podcasts, and that makes me feel better.
Until I find a way to get cheaper Internet I’m a slave to Optimum. 😢
I have been a widow since 2017 and though you are correct that watching TV too much is affecting my weight, the characters keep my (and my cat) company and they can’t hurt me or try to take advantage of me like other people. Sometimes people enjoy being solitary without being involved in all of the drama of other people’s lives. You make some good points but there are some who just prefer the people on TV that we can turn off when we get tired of listening to them.
Most of christians homes do not have time to read bibles and prayer,they no longer have enough time for God because of tv,even most of the families are not peacefull and there are family conflicts,children are also rebellious because catoons,and even it corrupts people’s minds and hearts with sinfull desires,so christians who watch all devilish films and have naked images their minds are marked with evil.
In his Road to Hell album, was not Chris Rea right to tell TV producers that “they must be evil”?