“[The news media] should not subtract from the public’s understanding. Yet subtract they nowadays do with endless headlines and talk about ‘record’ oil and gasoline prices. For example, a recent headline in the Financial Times proclaimed: ‘New York investors take flight after price of oil hits record high.’ But the story’s fifth paragraph read: ‘West Texas Intermediate for September delivery settled $1.83 higher at $64.90 a barrel – a new nominal (see Word to the Wise, below) record …’ The real meaning of the word ‘nominal’ is: ‘The headline you just read is rubbish.’ As was the next day’s page-one headline – ‘Oil price hits $66 for a fourth record of the week’ – which was nullified by the story’s first words: ‘Oil prices yesterday broke their fourth consecutive nominal record for the week …’

“For the price of oil – not in nominal dollars but real, inflation-adjusted dollars – to surpass the record set in January 1981, it would have to be $86.72 per barrel.”

- George F. Will , writing in Newsweek

From Adam Curry [ http://www.blognewsnetwork.com/members/0000001/2004/04/06.html#a5496 ]:

I remember as a kid the stories that circulated around television usage. Of course the kid next door was doing poorly at school, his brain was rotting away because he watched too much tv! I think I recall another one about it causing cancer, which was probably too big a concept for me in 1970, when I was a wee lad of 6 years.

The stories are back, only this time a bit more plausable: “TV can cause the developing mind to experience unnatural levels of stimulation.”

The BBC health watch has more on the study.

Don’t forget going blind from sitting too close to the TV….  Indeed, any activity we engage in heavily affects the mind. Meditate for 20 minutes twice a day and your mind will be different even a year later, regardless of age. Those who garden and fish will have different neurological tendencies than those who passively watch TV. With TV we are watching events unfold. There is a stimulation that is inherently non-creative. The creation was done for us. We “entrain” with the creativity of others in order to be entertained. This is done in a way that stimulates attention, yet it also gets us used to the idea that dramatic events and “scene changes” will occur regularly. Contrast that with life in general and the classroom in particular. It just isn’t stiumlating in the same way!

An interesting question for me is the issue of retention for things learned on TV. Our kids do a lot of learning through the computer, participating in classes through Stanford’s EPGY and http://www.k12.com. Retention there seems to be strong. However, for “educational” shows on TV, and certainly for retention of what happened in shows and movies, the level of retention is not there. The lack of interactivity and engagement reduces the effectiveness of television as a learning tool. One thing that may help is if we have specific goals around a show or TV seminar. For example, I am taking DVD learning on EFT. There is an open-book test that goes along with it for certification. The combination of TV-based learning with a specific outcome of knowledge does help make it more effective and retained (for me).

“The one function TV news performs very well is that when there is no news we give it to you with the same emphasis as if there were.”—David Brinkley

“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.” Groucho Marx (1890-1977)

“Television: chewing gum for the eyes. “Frank Lloyd Wright (1869-1959)

“Television is to news as bumperstickers are to philosophy.” Richard Milhous Nixon (b.1913)

“The problem is not that television presents us with entertainining subject matter, but that all subject matter is presented as entertaining.” Neil Postman

“Television is an invention that permits you to be entertained in your living room by people you wouldn’t have in your home.” David Frost (b.1939)

Zen TV Experiment [ http://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/tvturnoff/toolbox/zentv.html ] “The problem is not that TV presents us with entertaining subject matter, but that TV presents all subject matter as entertaining. This transcends TV and spills over into our post-TV life experiences. TV trains us to orient toward and tune in to the entertainment quality of any experience, event, person. We look for that which is entertaining about any phenomenon rather than qualities of depth, social significance, spiritual resonance, beauty, etc. In this sense TV doesn’t imitate life, but social life now aspires to imitate TV.

Further, we become greedy. Not greedy in the traditional sense in reference to material wealth, rather, we experience a greed to be entertained. It’s not just a need for entertainment, but a downright greed for entertainment, and it becomes a 24-hour obsession. In the absence of entertainment, we usually entertain ourselves with plans for future entertainment. “

Adam Curry had the reference to Zen TV Experiment and I encourage you to read his story [ http://live.curry.com/stories/2002/02/19/bloggingTuneOutAndSwitchOn.html ]. I remember when I was dreadfully sick, scared, anxious, and depressed. I went to a teacher who said, “Turn off the TV and newspapers for one month, and see how you feel.”

Today, I am angry and confused. I still crave the TV drug. We’re watching selected DVD movies from Netflix; in my sanest moments I know it is only slightly different. At least the volume of consumption is controlled (at least until I upgrade to the 8 DVD’s out at a time plan

).

I want to live a life that feels real, alive, meaningful. I’ll be 40 on September 17th of this year. And while I lust after a wide screen HDTV, I am not sure why. It is nothing compared to how I feel taking a walk with my wife, or spending two hours helping a friend physically heal through massage therapy and heartfelt talk.

Perhaps it is that during much of my life, TV has been there when I was alone, scared, or sick. When I was sick as a child, I watched TV all day long since Mom was usually at work (when I was older). When I had broken up with a girlfriend, or just plain didn’t have one because I was a pimply runt, TV provided distraction.

Can TV as a technology be helpful or used in balance? I don’t know yet. I do know that watching selected movies as a family and talking about them before and afterwards changes the dynamic. It feels less like entertainment—and thus there is some resistance on all our parts. Yet, it also feel more like a shared experience.

My Comments to Dan Gillmor on the lecture [ http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/reith2002/lecture5_text.shtml ]: Truth is relative and changing. If one looks at religion or politics, one can quickly see people who have developed perceptions of issues which are diametrically opposed. Is it deception to not be willing or able to craft a middle of the road piece?

If there is a deception, it is in the very concept of “objective journalism.” Our brains process all input through a combination of primitive emotional centers and higher intellect. If a person “fears global warming” that person (or organization) will use different words and choose different sources than someone who doesn’t care or from someone who is stuck in Minnesota in December and figures a little global warming might not be a bad idea!

To me, the issue is not control over the media. Each publication decides what they sell in the marketplace. Each writer decides what he sells in the marketplace. As one of the Q&A individuals pointed out, much fo the media today is focused on “tittle-tattle” because such topics combine both story telling and gossip. Much of the rest is around “fear of loss” emotional manipulations. People tune in, and buy what is being sold.

When teaching my children, I try to convey that:

• Each of us has our own unique view of truth. Ultimate reality (what some call Truth with a capital T), like the Mind of God, is beyond human comprehension.
• Every article, report, news brief, book, and research study is a story. As such it is a mixture of fact and fancy. Enjoy it as such, even get lost in the drama of it. Just remember that there is always more to the story.
• Each of us is selling—in exchange for money, respect, position, or attention. And, we adapt what we offer to the marketplace—consciously or unconsciously.
• The wisest individuals understand in their hearts that they can never be objective. (def. expressing or dealing with facts or conditions as perceived without distortion by personal feelings, prejudices, or interpretations).

From a cultural standpoint, we carry around illusions, propogated by the media, of objectivity, trustworthiness, and independence. More accurately it is infotainment or entertainment that gets us thinking, interacting, responding, fearing, or rejoicing.

A 60-year-old man was sentenced to house arrest without television “in order that he have ample opportunity to reflect on the ways of harm he has brought to his family.” The defendant was willing to go for the deal rather than face prison, but his lawyers were outraged. “Given the state of the world and these dangerous and uncertain times, television is the primary way we get news,” his attorney explained. The defendant’s wife agreed: “A television is sort of like your umbilical cord to life,” she said. [via EarlyToRise]

Without the TV, my wife and son are reading like mad. They are staying up to all hours reading, and are sometimes totally zonked the next day. That’s the problem with a good book; it has a pause but you are not forced to wait until the next episode to see what happens. I’ve been reading to the kids nearly an hour a night, too.

I still spend too much time lusting over a Hitachi 53SWX12B 53” Digital 16:9 HDTV Monitor/Projection Television with anti-reflective screen. BUT! I’ve committed to waiting until my birthday to re-consider purchase. Or at least near my birthday. Or at least in the same year as my birthday. Yeah, it one of those kinds of commitments.

From Television Addiction in Scientific American: [thanks MMF]

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.

[From ]http://www.slashdot.org]

There is a difference between watching tv and watching a tv show. When a person decides to watch a tv show, that’s 30 minutes to an hour that the person has planned. When a person sits down to watch tv and channel surfs all afternoon, that’s a period of time the person has made the choice to forego planning of one’s activities in deference to programming schedulers.

Here is where technology like Tivo and other PVR’s can make a huge difference. If used in balance to select specific TV shows, it makes the experience a time-limited event. When we were watching a single episode of 7th Heaven, skipping over the ads with the jump button, and turning off the TV afterwards, the effect was quite different than just cruising 500 channels.
 
Also Television Addiction in Scientific American:

What is more surprising is that the sense of relaxation ends when the set is turned off, but the feelings of passivity and lowered alertness continue. Survey participants commonly reflect that television has somehow absorbed or sucked out their energy, leaving them depleted.

I can anecdotally confirm this from observing my children, especially my son. After watching “too much” T.V., he gets stupid—mentally and emotionally. He has to struggle to answer math questions, and he is more sensitive and fragile in his relations with others. While this is somewhat less pronounced now that he’s nearly 10, I suspect that it just manifests in different ways—probably in the same ways “too much” T.V. affects me.

The next trick is to define how much is “too much.”

In the late 80’s I was stressing myself to death. I started visiting a Buddhist nun who recommended that I turn off the TV—especially the news—and all newspapers for one whole month!

That month helped save my life. Although I stay informed today, it is through quick email headlines and summaries like those provided by http://www.newsisfree.com, http://www.MSNBC.com and now RSS channels through radio.userland.com and the Radio News Aggregator.

The AP Newswire does not seem to have the intent of ripping out your heart and leaving you feeling unsafe at home, work, in the car, or even under your desk. Can’t say the same thing about Dan Rather-Awful or CNN or… the local news. Can you believe that some people spend the last 30 minutes of each day watching all the murder and mayhem that can be fit into 30 minutes?

And we wonder why we suffer from heart disease or flee to comfort foods (which are conveniently advertised during the same shows)?

Last night
a girl shot her step-father.
She was scared.
She loved him
but not in that way.

Last night
a woman sued her friends.
She was hurt.
She lost love,
and wanted revenge.

Last night
two planes collided.
People died.
Loved ones grieved
all too publicly.

This morning I wake exhausted.
The emotional strain
too much
too intense
too relentless.

Even without commercials,
my emotions ricochet
striking random
stored up
Fears.

I love T.V.
I’m just realizing that
it is a love
a lot like
Heroin.