TV numbs the mind

Being quite an observant individual I noticed that the youngest resident I have in the house
was just staring at the TV and in doing so seemed to fall into what I call the TV trance..... She
is 3 months old! She stopped interacting with anything or anyone else in the room and it was
difficult to draw her attention away from the screen....sound familiar?
This is not the first time I have seen TV trance in action, just as an exercise, if you can bear
the pain, watch some of your friends watching TV. I do not know of any other human
behavioral pattern that matches this fixated state other then hypnotism or staring into a open
fire, the latter of which people don't tend to do for more then ten minutes.
I can tell when someone has the addiction to this TV trance state when they also seem to need
to watch the adverts and attempting communication with someone like this is very difficult,
they get distracted and drawn back into the pretty flashing lights!!
Young children exposed to TV have impaired language and brain
development..http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090601182830.htm
I sincerely believe that TV is responsible for putting humankind on pause and that the
imaginations once used for inventiveness are now washed away in the advert for cleaner
clothes~!

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osted by joanne guarnieri on September 13, 2009 at 3:03pm

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If youve been reading the news, and news journals, you know that recently theres been a lot of
research coming out about the brain. One current article says, The most interesting and
complicated frontier in science is the human brain. This three pound universe has seemingly
unlimited capabilities, yet in spite of advancements in neuroscience, the brain remains the most
mysterious force in existence.
Research has discovered that
Men and women think differently because our brains are formed significantly differently
Near-death experiences have been replicated in the lab simply with the use of well-placed
electrodes on the head
The old saying is completely untrue: 90% of our brain does not lie dormant we use 100% of our
brain.
But ironically, with all this excitement over the brain, a trend has been happening in our society that
one author calls the cultural pattern of mindlessness: the inability, or at least the unwillingness, to
look at what is happening around us in an analytical and critical way. The chief culprit seems to be
television. Chances are that, at some point in your life, someone probably a parent has told
you to "stop watching television, it rots your brain." Guess what?! There is strong evidence it really
does. Only 30 seconds of watching television causes the human brain to produce alpha waves,
which are associated with an inert, almost comatose state.
Research shows that watching television "numbs" the left brain and shifts activity to the right,
sometimes permanently. Thats not so good, since its the left brain that handles the organization,
analysis and judgment of incoming information.
When you are watching television, your higher brain regions shut down, and activity shifts to the
lower brain. The function of the lower brain is reactive it only responds to stimuli, like the "fight or
flight" response.
And your lower brain cant tell the difference between real and pretend images, like all those
murders, scenes of adultery, criminal activity, suspenseful situations, weird spooky images, sassy

naughtiness and so on. Telling the difference between real and pretend is the job of the higher brain
region -- which has, remember, been shut down by you watching t.v. So your lower brain, the only
part of you that is actually on while youre watching your show, reacts to television events and
images as though they were really happening, causing the release, into your brain and your body, of
a whole cocktail of stress hormones and adrenalin.
Watching t.v. also causes your brain to release endorphins the feel good chemicals that can get
you addicted.Several studies have proven that your body actually suffers withdrawal
symptoms if you cut down on your regular t.v. time. One study paid 182 people to agree to
stop watching television for a year. Not one of them made it longer than six months and, they all
showed the symptoms of opiate withdrawal: increased anxiety, frustration and depression.
The consequences of this can be pretty bad; long-term television watchers could find their judgment
severely impaired; and children who watch hours of t.v. every day might actually have their brains'
development altered.
How deeply do you believe that your mind can be transformed just by reading, thinking
about and applying scripture? The fact is even television has the power to change you. Some
researchers contend that t.v. is making us dumber. The more you watch it, the more time you spend
with your brain effectively "turned off," in effect consciously reducing the amount of time you spend
alive, conscious and a part of the world. Wow! No wonder God says to us today -- dont be
conformed to the world anymore, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind!

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While folks are watching that stuff they are not having to think about:
The Mortgage
the kids
the job
the state of the econonmy
in fact it is all a non thinking state....which IMO most of them want to escape into
asap.....
Ask anyone who does that stuff to think about where their food comes from or
what the best way is to deal with stigma or why they buy Nike who pay prisoners
in the Philipines next to nothing to make their product then sell it at massively
marked up prices here. Ask them why we are in Afghanistan.....well, IMO ask
them pretty much anything that requires analysis, comparison and awareness and
you won't get an answer......it is easier to go to work, do ones thing and come
home and veg out......because anything else requires that one take action and act
responsibly.
Am I a cynic......
The value of compassion cannot be over-emphasized. Anyone can criticize. It
takes a true believer to be compassionate. No greater burden can be borne by an
individual than to know no one cares or understands.
"Don't walk ahead of me, I may not follow. Don't walk behind me, I may not lead.
Walk beside me and be my friend". A Camus.

**
More people are lesser educated and informed than those that are. Most of those people watch that idiotic
programming. Those people are more influencable by programming and advertising, and that is where the
advertisers are flocking to.
I feel the same way as you and don't watch that sort of reality programming generally, and sports generally.

I watch reality programming whose goal is mostly zero about personalities, and more about an interesting
subject. I do watch renovation and realty (as in people looking for houses, to see what homes in other places
look like) shows though.
I watch educational programming, not so much "nature" but of earth and space sciences, physics, modern
history, technology history, and such.
I watch music and concert programming, mostly of 1960s and 1970s rock acts.
News isn't depressing, but boring. I only watch those channels for more info and coverage of something
happening.
I watch all sorts of things on Youtube, a good bit of it original content made by individuals for youtube
viewing, which is so much of a niche that would never show up on traditional TV channels/services.
Youtube has all sorts of vintage music shows, and a lot of old BBC and similar stuff.
**

Take Back Your Life!

Does TV numb our brains and lives?
January 18, 2011 by Giulietta Nardone

Hey thinking ones,

I used to watch tons of TV in my twenties. Somehow I got involved in the usually miserable lives of
the folks in the sitcoms and dramacoms and mini-series to the point where I wasnt involved in
my own life. Id refuse to go out on certain nights to ensure I didnt miss an episode. I swear my
brain started to get numb. If you recall the movie Repo Man, Ottos parents sit like automatons in
front of the TV set whenever the camera pans into the home. Not convinced its a stereotype
anymore.
Years later I scratch my head wondering why I cared so much about these characters. Does an
empty, lonely life lead us to watch too much of the tube or does watching the tube lead to an
empty, lonely life or can you lead a full life and watch gobs of TV? Were all different, of course, but
for me the passivity of TV nearly cost me my sanity.
It took some doing but I finally extricated myself from the addictions of TV and instead replaced it
with things that made my life feel full pursuits like painting, singing, dancing, biking, volunteering,
attending discussion groups, saving land & historic buildings, reading groups, etc. Looking back, I
believe TV had a negative impact on my quality of life. Others may feel differently.
Do I still watch TV? A few times a week, mainly movies and period pieces and the occasional The
Good Wife episode. Not sure I could fully withdraw. Ive been socialized to watch it. Ironically, my
mother tried to keep the sibs and me from watching TV as children. I fought her on it. Man, I wish
shed succeeded.
For 14 years I watched Knotts Landing almost never missing an episode. Fourteen years! And I
can barely remember any of it other than the episode where Jill Bennett was found dead in the
trunk of Gary Ewings car. Leaving off time for summer reruns, I spent 588 hours watching actors

pretend to live on a cul-du-sac and now I cant remember 587 hours of it. (and that was just one
show.)
Are certain kinds of shows on certain channels less mind-numbing? Like the Discovery Channel or
Masterpiece Theater? I want to say, yes, but am I fooling myself? Is it more rewarding if youre
learning something about another part of the world or watching an adaptation of a great literary
work like Hardys Tess of the dUrbervilles?
Im wondering if escalating TV watching on the ever increasing numbers of of channels has
contributed to recent reports of decreased happiness since the 50s when TV came onto the scene?
Have you ever sat almost catatonic in front of the TV, flipping through 300 channels unable to find
anything you want to watch, so you go around again and again hoping for a different outcome?
People talk about all the things theyd like to do in life and then exclaim if only they had the time. Is
it true we dont have the time or is it usurped by TV and now additionally
computer/ipod/texting/cell phones, etc?
And what about sports? With all the sports now extended into the seasons of other sports,
presumably to make more money from advertising on TV, does that create more audiences glued to
the set to see who will make it to the Superbowl, The Stanley Cup, NBA Finals or the World Series?
Folks who follow four sports could presumably spend their entire year (read life) watching TV
coverage of it.
I wonder, do we hide from our lives in our homes using TV as an excuse to keep us from going out
and participating in life or trying to make the world a better place?
How do you feel about TV? Does it numb you in any way? Or do you enjoy watching it. All
viewpoints welcome!