TV

The TV offers something to most of us and is a normal part of our modern world. Those who choose to have no TV are the odd ones out, as the majority are big into what the TV brings from the outside into their home.

The TV was invented by John Logie Baird in 1924. It was originally known as “the televisor” or mechanical television and had its first screening in London in 1926. (1)

In December 1996, United Nations General Assembly announced 21st November as World Television Day.

The UN website tells us that this day is not so much a celebration of the tool, but rather the philosophy which it represents. Television represents a symbol for communication and globalisation in the contemporary world.

The TV was recognised by the United Nations as a ‘major tool in informing, channelling and affecting public opinion’. (2)

We are a world that loves watching a screen and with technology we get all the sounds to make anything come to life and feel real. Some do the box at home and others watch TV on their smartphones, tablets and computers.

As kids it may be a form of entertainment.
For the elderly it can be a way to pass the time.
For teenagers it could be a way to distract themselves.
For adults it could be used to wind down or relax.
For many it is because we are simply just plain bored.

So what exactly is our TV communicating?
How is TV influencing us all in our present day?
What are we using the television for?
What is the TV informing us?
How is the TV affecting public opinion?
What is the channelling doing to our body?

How much TV do we watch?
Do we stick the telly on just out of habit?
Are we a movie buff?
Are we addicted to certain programmes?
Can we imagine life without the TV?

Do we watch telly before bed?
Do we use television to help us fall asleep?
Do we get carried away with emotion watching sports?
Do we use TV for computer games?

Do we put the box on just for company?
Do we sometimes talk to the TV screen?
Do we get involved in what we are watching?

Do we eat in front of the telly?
Do we drink alcohol when we have the TV on?

Is TV our best friend?
Is watching TV better than admitting we are Bored with Life?

Do we have TV’s in every room?
Does our TV take pride of place in our room?
Do we miss the TV when we can’t watch it?

Do we use the TV so we don’t have to spend time with the kids?
Do we need our TV when we don’t want to deal with our issues?
Do we love the TV because we can shout and yell at it?

Watching TV like all other media is a way of keeping up to date with what is going on around the world. It can offer us education about things we may not be aware of. We also have our favourite movies, programmes and whatever interests we personally have.

So have we stopped and asked the WHY questions?

WHY do we need Television?
WHY is a TV high on our list even before other household contents?

WHY do we love to eat in front of the TV?
WHY do we not register what we have eaten whilst watching TV?
WHY do the adverts get us eating more foods than our body needs?

WHY do we get excited or emotional watching a screen?
WHY do we get involved in the characters on Television?

WHY do we put the TV on just for company?
WHY do we need the TV on to help us go to sleep?
WHY do we like TV as a background noise?
WHY do we like staring at a screen just to pass some time?

WHY has the TV become a necessity in modern life?
WHY are there hundreds of TV channels?

WHY do we make TV a priority above other important things in life
WHY do we moan about the TV, but carry on watching it every day?
WHY do we record in advance our favourite programmes whilst on holiday?
WHY do we record and watch stuff over and over again on TV?

Have we ever stopped and asked if what we see on TV is affecting us in anyway?
Are we aware of how our body is feeling before, during and after watching TV?
Does our breathing change during a movie?
Does our mood change whilst watching TV?

Is our state of mind altered by what we are watching?
Do we absorb what is going on in our favourite movie or TV show?
Do we use the TV to avoid feeling what is really going on in our lives?
Do we use the TV to numb our day down?

Do we use the TV to vent our frustration and anger?
Do we use the TV to feel connected in some way?

Is TV our comfort in life?

Whatever our answers, this presentation is saying that it could be possible that we may not be totally aware of what TV watching is doing to our body and how much we are absorbing what is on the screen.

Dear World,

Do we have a Responsibility in anyway when we choose to watch TV?
Do those who make the TV programmes have a Responsibility?
Do our Television Broadcasting Companies have a Responsibility?

Good Night and Good Luck is a film set in the 1950’s when Senator Joseph McCarthy was carrying out his communist ‘witch hunts’.

CBS TV journalist Edward Murrow was determined to report real facts and enlighten the public with the support of the staff and producers at CBS. They had to defy corporate and sponsorship pressures and go ahead with examining and exposing the lies and scaremongering tactics perpetrated by McCarthy.

As a direct result of this exposure on TV, senator McCarthy is brought before the US Senate.

The legacy of Edward Murrow and the news team at CBS during this time have remained to this day a marker of the standard for high quality journalism.

In the film Goodnight and Good Luck, the following transcript is at the beginning –

“This might just do nobody any good. At the end of this discourse a few people may accuse this reporter of fouling his own comfortable nest and your organisation may be accused of having given hospitality to heretical and even dangerous ideas.

But the elaborate structure of networks, advertising agencies and sponsors will not be shaken or altered. It is my desire, if not my duty to try to talk to you journeymen with some candour about what is happening to radio and television and if what I say is responsible, I alone am responsible for the saying of it.

Our history will be what we make of it and if there are any historians about 50 or 100 years from now and there should be preserved the kinescopes of one week of all 3 networks, they will there find recorded in black and white and in colour, evidence of decadence, escapism and insulation from the realities of the world in which we live.

We are currently wealthy, fat, comfortable and complacent. We have a built in allergy to unpleasant or disturbing information. Our mass media reflect this but unless we get up off our fat surpluses and recognise that television in the main is being used to distract, delude, amuse and insulate us, then television and those who finance it, those who look at it and those who work at it may see a totally different picture too late”.
Edward R. Morrow – 25th October 1958

So what was this honest TV journalist spelling out to us back then?
WHY did he feel it was his duty to report Truth to the world?
Have we bothered to pay any attention to his words?
Can we agree when he says “our history will be what we make of it”?
Does this mean we each have a hand in what history will end up being?

What has changed since 1958 in the television industry?

Why have we continued to use Television in full Technicolor for even more ‘evidence of decadence, escapism and insulation from the realities of the world in which we live’?

Can we agree that this man nailed it back then when he said ‘we are currently wealthy, fat, comfortable and complacent’?

Would it be true to say we today ‘have a built in allergy to unpleasant and disturbing information’?

Have we bothered to recognise or be aware that ‘television in the main is being used to distract, delude, amuse and insulate us’?

If after half a century, as the most intelligent species on earth, we happen to be at the same place, then what does this tell us about our real evolution?

This is one man speaking the truth publicly using the media platform of CBS back then to broadcast to us, standing to lose everything and yet nothing stopped him from presenting this simple truth.

In his public reply speech to McCarthy, Morrow says the following at the end –

Having searched my conscience and my files, I cannot contend that I have been right or wise. But I have attempted to pursue the truth with some diligence and report it, even though as in this case, I had been warned in advance that I could be subjected to the attentions of Senator McCarthy. (3)

Do we have any upfront, ‘say it as it is’ TV journalists like Edward Morrow today?

Or do we have them but they are afraid to lose their career so they hold back?

Are those who subscribe to the TV industry the problem or those who run it?
In other words, is it us demanding distractions to delude us, the real problem?

WHY do we not have straightforward honest TV journalism that delivers Truth?
WHY do we need our decadence, escapism and insulation from reality?
WHY do we demand this from our Television companies who simply want the mass numbers?

At the end of the film Morrow delivers a power pack wake up call for his audience.

“I began by saying that our history will be what we make it. If we go on as we are then history will take its revenge and retribution will not limp in catching up with us. Just once in a while, let us exalt the importance of ideas and information. Let us dream to the extent of saying that on a given Sunday night, a time normally occupied by Ed Sullivan is given over to a clinical survey on the state of American education and a week or two later – a time normally used by Steve Allen is devoted to a thorough going study of American policy in the Middle East.

Would the corporate image of their respective sponsors be damaged?

Would the shareholders rise up in their wrath and complain?

Would anything happen, other than a few million people would have received a little illumination on subjects that may well determine the future of this country and therefore the future of the corporations.

For those who say people wouldn’t look, they wouldn’t be interested, they are too complacent indifferent and insulated, I can only reply – there is in one reporter’s opinion, considerable evidence against that contention. But even if they are right, what have they got to lose? Because if they are right and this instrument is good for nothing but to entertain, amuse and insulate then the tube is flickering now and we will soon see that the whole struggle is lost”.

This instrument can teach. It can illuminate and yes it can even inspire but it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it towards those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box.

Could it be possible that what Edward Murrow is saying is true and that television can educate and inspire us?

Is he saying that it comes down to what we request and demand?

In other words, the TV networks supply what we ask for and so the future of these corporations is in our hands.

What would TV be today if we had Edward Murrow leading the way as a reporter of Truth?

What would our world be like if there was a moral compass that is unwavering inside each journalist?

What if there were journalists who are not afraid of losing their job because they reported pure Truth?

What if we had journalists only reporting the real facts and no sensationalism existed?

What if we brought an end to the decadence, escapism and insulation from reality that TV gives us today?

Are we aware of the influence that Television maybe having on our lives?Do we care about the impact that TV maybe having on the lives of others?

How serious is it when a man is strangled and the body is placed in a bath with acid? He said he was playing out what he saw on a cult TV program. He lost all sense of reality and his moral compass was not on the radar. Is this OK? (4)

WHY do we just read and accept what we see or hear on the news and do nothing, say nothing and just carry on with our lives as if it has nothing to do with us?

Is this going to stop us subscribing to Cult TV?
Have we all heard about Cult TV?
What is it?
Who is behind this stuff?
Does this exist because we want it?
Is the regular stuff not cutting it, so we want extreme stuff now?
WHY is Cult TV described as attracting a fanatical following?
WHY do Cult TV shows get a small group of people obsessed?
WHY do we need fascination to entertain us?
WHY do we love extreme excitement?

WHY do we need fiction, fantasy and horror to fuel our passion?

Could it be possible that we crave TV because something is missing in our lives?

Could it be possible that the amount of TV hours spent each week and the quality of what we are choosing to watch, may have an effect on our general health and well-being?

Possible?

References

(1) McGoogan, C. (2016, January 27). Who Invented the Television? How People Reacted to John Logie Baird’s Creation 90 Years Ago. Retrieved November 14, 2016 from:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/google-doodle/12121474/Who-invented-the-television-John-Logie-Baird-created-the-TV-in-1926.html

(2) (n.d). World Television Day 21 November. United Nations. Retrieved November 14, 2016 from
http://www.un.org/en/events/televisionday/background.shtml

(3) (2016). Edward R. Murrow. Response to Senator Joe McCarthy on CBS’ See it Now. Originally Broadcast 13 April 1954. American Rhetoric Online Speech Bank. Retrieved April 24, 2017 from
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/edwardrmurrowtomccarthy.htm 

(4) (2016, November 14). Stefano Brizzi Guilty of PC Gordon Semple’s Murder. BBC News. Retrieved November 16, 2016 from
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-37978755

 

 

 

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Comments 69

  1. Television is one of the many things in our lives that we just accept as part of our world. We do not stop and ask “Is TV really good for us?”

    If we would stop just for a second and ask ” Why am I turning it on?” it would allow us to possibly make a change in our habits.

    Also if we can make a more conscious choice of what we are watching, we could change what is being presented.

    I personally recommend watching the movie “Good night and good luck”. It is inspirational and shows the power of television and media to make a change in this world if it is used responsibly.

    1. Great questions here Ken – thank you.
      This habit of switching on the TV can be changed and I am living proof of that. It came after writing a blog about Books by Serge Benhayon. I felt a strong pull to make comments on those who were commenting and it felt like a responsibility. No one asked me to do it but instead of sticking the telly on in the evening and flicking channels, I made the conscious choice instead to put valuable comments on the internet that one day someone may read or even study as I am certain this man will be studied in the future because of who he is and what he brings.
      That was 10 months ago and that blog alone has a 1000 comments and then this website which I comment on regularly has 800 as I have made it my business to be consistent with the commenting. This is instead of TV watching.
      My life feels more rewarding, content and joyful and NO I do not miss TV at all.
      In fact, we cancelled our big fat subscription which gives you heaps of TV channels.

    2. What a great idea, Ken: to pause before turning the TV on and as ourselves that question. I often pause before I eat, to introduce a little circuit-breaker breath, to stop me eating on autopilot. Why not do the same with TV? I was always one of those ‘eat while watching the box’ people, but over the years I’ve watched less and less of it. I called time completely when my husband and I had been doing the box set thing for a while and I realised I was reliving or talking about or at the very least thinking about the shows during the day. I was like ‘WHAT ARE YOU DOING? YOU ARE THINKING ABOUT THE TV AND YOU’RE NOT EVEN WATCHING IT!’. It struck me as weird and a complete waste of time to be spending even a single minute or a tiny joule of energy thinking about something vacuous that’s not even real. How many of us are doing that though, every day? That is not to say I never watch TV or that I never eat in front of it. I take great pleasure, for example, in watching a film with my kids with a bit of popcorn, but it’s much harder to check out when you’re conscious about not getting sucked in and it’s easier when you’re constantly stopping it to explain or discuss things to small people! Great to read this blog and have another look at this.

  2. The film, Good Night and Good Luck was eye opening.
    It showed me a kind of journalism I have not seen in my lifetime; a reporting of the truth with integrity.

    It is clear that in 1958 Edward R. Morrow saw the beginning of the end of this kind of honest informing of the public and with true care and deep concern for what he knew and saw happening in the news reporting industry and in U.S. citizens (the easy slide into apathetic acceptence of distorted reporting, deep illusion and loss of power) he recorded his understanding of what was happening for future generations (us) to learn from.

    Good Night and Good Luck should be a mandatory watch for every student and adult who watches TV or gathers “news” from any source and this should only be the start of the discussion…

    1. A great summary Jo Elmer of this film which as you say should be watched by all of us who subscribe to news and TV media.
      Where is the integrity these days in upfront honest journalism and reporting so the public get the real picture of what is going on. We need more Edward Morrow reporters who are willing to not negotiate or worry about their job because Truth holds more value to them.

    2. Reading this blog and your comment, Jo, I’m struck by the same truth: I can’t honestly say I have ever experienced the type of integrity and commitment to truth in journalism shown by Morrow. What a seismic shift such truth would bring today! Come on journalists out there, go for it. At the very least I’m seeing a handful of humanity on this website calling out for it and surely there are more out there who want real and uncut? And what a prize for all of us and for generations to come: TRUTH.

  3. These are great questions inviting us to look at the impact TV has on our lives. Yes “this instrument can teach. It can illuminate and yes it can even inspire but it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it towards those ends”. Our choice to tune into programmes plays a decisive role in the success of a programme by pushing up the viewing figures. So it is worthwhile assessing what we are in effect supporting, and to ask what quality is the broadcast creating in the world. Is it inspiring us to live with love and care of one another, recognising and appreciating our divine qualities, commitment and responsibility to express and contribute with all that we are? Just like the CBS TV journalist Edward Murrow who exposed senator McCarthy, we have a choice. And we have a voice.

    1. Correct Golnaz – we have a choice and we have a voice as Edward Morrow points out clearly in the film Good Night and Good Luck.
      You make a great point about what it is we are supporting when we view a programme as that affects the viewing figures and determines where future TV will go.
      So right now it would be true to say that reality TV that is getting extreme has high numbers and wannabe celebrities trying to get famous, sport and cooking programmes.
      So this is what the public demands and this is where the TV industry supplies. This confirms the quality of TV that we are asking for.

  4. TV programmes have such an influence on us and throughout society. I have read of cases recently where romantic vampire movies have been watched by 2 teenagers after they killed a mother and daughter and of programs involving drugs where drugs barons have copied what they have seen in popular cult TV programs. When we watch TV or anything for that matter we may just think that we are innocently watching something and that we then leave it behind when we switch off the TV screen. But what IF, as this blog presents, we are taking into our bodies’ what we absorb on the TV screen and that it is then affecting our lives? Would we then take more care and question what we are watching and why, rather then blindly turning on the TV, if this were true? Is this the level of RESPONSIBILITY that it required BEFORE we can truly inform humanity about what is going on and use the TV for that purpose?

    1. Your two cases mentioned are serious Shevon and this is why we cannot just assume because it is out there on a screen it has no effect on us. Our minds are capable of all sorts of things and we cannot simply negate the fact that teenagers can simply switch off after murdering and switch on the TV and watch vampire movies.
      What about those who think it is ok to write material for TV knowing that there is a possibility people will replicate it regardless of the dangers. Surely there has to be some responsibility in what we put out there. OR is the TV industry making more money with these types of programmes and as money is the name of the game, this is not going to stop.

    2. Yes Shevon, I also feel that, no matter who we are, we are influenced by what we choose to spend time on or in or spend time “taking in”.

      The saying “you are what you eat” comes into play with TV too since we are literally taking the sound, visuals and content of the ;programing’ into our bodies and mind.

      …so the big question is ‘is it worth asking ourselves if what we watch is how and who we want to be?’

      1. Good point Jo when you say TV is us taking in the sound visuals and content into our bodies and minds.
        I know in the past I have had questions about something I have watched which is fiction and yet it played over and over again in my mind. This is how I know that this stuff does get inside you. I have also seen people get really emotional with soccer games and its like they lose sense of what is going on around them as they are so hooked in.

    3. “But what IF, as this blog presents, we are taking into our bodies’ what we absorb on the TV screen and that it is then affecting our lives? ”

      Shevon, well said. I know this to be true.

      My kids have come home from afterschool club twice now feeling disturbed after watching TV there, and that’s just watching the latest show designed for kids. They described having images, ideas, words and songs stuck in their heads. Not even particularly scary things, but things they felt had been planted and they didn’t want in there, consuming their thoughts and stopping them going to sleep.

      They felt this enough that my eldest recently turned down a birthday party invitation because it was to watch a new kids movie in 3D and he didn’t want a repeat after watching, of what he’s experienced before.

      I wonder how many of us have a similar experience, but haven’t unpicked it yet. Our thoughts constantly turning to what we’ve heard or seen.

      It feels like this could be a phenomenon worthy of scientific study.

  5. I spent time in a waiting room yesterday with a television which was playing a game show… and I had to re-visit this blog…

    OH Wow, I can not believe how shallow, small, petty and actually morally unwell the program was.
    Is it not a generally understood universal law that what we focus on, put energy and time into grows? It is hard to fathom anyone wanting to grow the kind of behavior and mentality we have in this and so many of our TV shows… so it really is time to ask questions about TV, as this very wise author does.

    I ask again, “Why are so many of us watching this stuff? and what are we choosing as individuals for humanity by supporting this?”.

    There is so much true quality to be finding in humanity and so much real work to be done and so much true beauty in ourselves and each other that we could instead be focusing on, bringing out and nurturing. I’ll leave you with that for now.

    1. How many of us stop to even think about what you say here is a natural law of the universe Jo Elmer. Whatever it is that we choose to focus on and put our time and energy into actually magnifies.
      It all comes down to choice and my choice this year has been to change my focus so winding down no longer requires me to veg out in front of a large screen flicking channels as nothing grabs me for long. I reflected on this for some time and realised that it was a form of ‘comfort’ doing nothing, seeking relief from my day and passing some time. What a waste and thank God for the change.
      Writing comments like this has purpose and watching TV simply does not hold the same quality.

  6. “What if we had journalists only reporting the real facts and no sensationalism existed? Now THAT would be something. I stopped my subscription to one of the Sunday broadsheets last year as I became so disillusioned by the quality of the writing. Even the business pages have pictures of celebrities on them at every opportunity (however stretched the nexus) – a picture of Kylie Minogue in full stage get up, for example, next to a piece on the financial results of one of the record labels. It seems the news has become a form of entertainment – to stimulate the emotions rather than our sense of truth and purpose. Great to stop for a moment and consider WHY this is and where we are at in our consumption of it.

  7. What if we had journalists only reporting the real facts and no sensationalism existed? Now THAT would be something. I stopped my subscription to one of the Sunday broadsheets last year as I became so disillusioned by the quality of the writing. Even the business pages have pictures of celebrities on them at every opportunity (however stretched the nexus) – a picture of a super-star pop idol in her full stage get up, for example, next to a piece on the financial results of one of the record labels. It seems the news has become a form of entertainment – to stimulate the emotions rather than our sense of truth and purpose. Great to stop for a moment and consider WHY this is and where we are at in our consumption of it.

  8. I agree, are we aware of the full effects TV has on us, are we aware the effects it has on our children? and there is a cable channel designed specifically for babies. Children naturally play and interact with each other and adults, it is their natural way of learning and developing.

    In a report from the Michigan University of Medicine http://www.med.umich.edu/yourchild/topics/tv.htm it says –

    “Does TV affect children’s brain development?
    With television programs—and now a cable channel—designed and marketed specifically for babies, whether kids under two years of age should be watching becomes an important question”.

    This report lists how much TV different ages of children watch, the content and the effects.

    Urban Child Institute http://www.urbanchildinstitute.org/articles/policy-briefs/infants-toddlers-and-television reports –

    “Early television watching can endanger healthy development”.

    In addition to reporting young children’s increased exposure to television, these studies have also discovered that TV in the first three years of life can have a negative impact on healthy development:

    Infant exposure to television has been linked to delayed language development and kindergarten readiness skills.
    Early exposure to TV has also been connected to attention disorders and sleep problems.
    TV use at age three has been linked to behaviour problems and to long-term effects on social development, classroom engagement, and academic achievement.

    ‘TV supplies only empty calories for a growing child’s brain’

    ‘Babies brains are not ready for TV’

    So why do we put the TV on for our children?

  9. Thank you Simple Living Global for this outstanding and power-full blog on a very under-discussed topic.

    Having watched the film “Good Night and Good Luck” myself, Edward Morrow’s speech at the beginning of the film was very prophetic. Just as compelling, was his speech at the end, in asking the TV companies to make programmes that talked about the many issues that is affecting or could affect the country.

    In his speech at the beginning of the film, he says that “TV in the main, is being used to distract, delude, amuse and insulate us.”

    This is so very true.

    TV programme makers seem to think that all we want are reality based shows or cooking shows.

    How many TV programmes are there that educate us on the important issues that the world is facing?

    How many of us live our lives vicariously through the daily or weekly offerings of the many soap opera’s and dramas that are on offer throughout the many hundreds of TV channels?

    Having been an avid TV watcher myself up until about 10 years ago, I can attest to the fact of arranging my social life around the many soap opera’s of the day. Add to that the 300 plus video’s that I had, checking out,entertaining and immersing myself in a fantasy world through the ‘magic of the square box’ was a big part of my life.

    Edward Morrow shared a very important message with us.

    He had the foresight to see what was coming and expressed it to the whole world and like anyone that dares to want to tell the truth, he faced enormous pressure to not do so.

    In the world of true journalism, Edward Morrow was, and still is, a lone voice on the harmful affects of our entertainment addicted society.

    1. I am with you Tim that even decades after his time as news caster, Edward Morrow stands out as ‘lone voice’ on the harms of a society addicted to entertainment…

      …but now there is this blog to add a ripple to what Edward M. said to us all so long ago.

      I highly recommend the film Tim refers to, “Good Night and Good Luck” to anyone who:
      cares about people
      who would like to know what true journalism looks like
      who wants to see how powerful and important speaking the truth is… for us all

      How many wise people have spoken common sense, spoken the truth against all manor of pressures and how many of these wise lone voices been ignored by us (the masses) until the suffering of ignoring the truth has come to be too great and too obvious to ignore…?

  10. Could it be possible that the amount of TV hours spent each week and the quality of what we are choosing to watch, may have an effect on our general health and well-being?

    Speaking as a former TV addict who would watch all kinds of nonsense on the daytime channels, it has become clear to me now how draining watching TV can be.
    For instance I could wake up in the morning and feel bright ready for the day, only to find about mid morning I would feel to sit down with a cup of tea and put the TV on.

    What I found would happen is that I would lose my get up and go and would be stuck to the couch, and hours would pass me by.
    I would eventually get up reluctantly and convince myself to clean up or start the dinner, but what I noticed was that I felt lethargic, sluggish, uninterested in anything other than the program I had been watching and I would be preoccupied in my mind with the story line.

    To me watching the TV was a drug, which had the ability to take me away for a few or more hours into a fantasy world of make believe, but now that I have chosen to free myself of the TV, it has become clearer how asleep I was and how owned I was to this form of checking out.

    So as a response to the above mentioned question, to me it makes perfect sense that the TV can and does affect our general health and well-being and that there is so much more going on than innocently watching the TV or a movie.

  11. I used to put the TV on in the evening like some kind of reward for working hard that day.
    It got to the point where I was flicking channels thinking how aweful reality TV and soaps are. Any film was way too old and just repeats and if nothing done it there was always some cookery show.

    Then over a year ago, I just got up from my comfy sofa, switched that box off and made a choice to post some comments on other websites where I have posted blogs.
    I recall having a deeper quality of sleep and felt a sense of appreciation in my body. It was like I did not waste time looking at a screen with no meaning or purpose.

    I realise that evening TV watching was the only time I could pin myself down as any other time it was utterly boring. So I had to look at WHY it was just before bed. It was a kind of time filler and it left me empty and it really did feel pointless.

  12. Yesterday I was sat in my doctors waiting room and a mum with 2 young children came in. The children sat and played with each other giggling together, their Joy filled the room, I noticed people were smiling.

    There was a small TV screen in one corner of the room with health advise on. They didn’t take any notice and carried on playing until a cartoon character came on, then the children stopped playing and giggling together and turned to watch the screen. They seemed locked into the screen their heads moved simultaneously with what was being shown, no longer interacting at all. The room felt completely different, the Joy and sense of play disappeared.

    This was such a great example of the effect of TV on us, children and adults.. how we switch off, become completely distracted and separate, lose touch with our Joy and connection with each other.

    With the change I felt in the room I question what impact is the vast number of humanity watching TV having on each other, and us as a whole, when we turn on the TV and switch off?

  13. I used to watch TV to escape from what I found stressful and from what I was feeling. I watched it to have people contact, company, to ease my loneliness but the reality of it was that it kept me lonely and stopped me dealing with life, it kept me in the state of living in the same cycle.

    The more I took loving care of myself, building a relationship with myself, the less lonely I felt.. and the more I realised and could feel the harmful effect it was having on my wellbeing and my life in general like not being able to get to sleep at night, not going to bed when I needed to, feeling groggy in the morning, affecting my relationships with others.

    I no longer watch TV.. and I don’t miss it.

  14. Television is a technology that we have allowed to get out of control. Now we can watch tv all the time. We basically carry a tv with us all the time. We can take a walk and watch it. Actually we can take a walk with our computer or virtual reality equipment and not leave the room.

    The question is, is this progress?

    Is our quality of life really getting better with all our technology ?

    Do we have less illness and disease in the world?

    We need to take more responsibility for the world we have created. Everything in our world is the result of our individual choices. The only way things will change is if we make changes in our individual lives.

  15. Edward Morrow said that “TV in the main, is being used to distract, delude, amuse and insulate us.”

    Since Edward’s time the quality and truthfulness of TV has sunk far lower and we have now added addictions to social media which are spinning out of control…

    …so what is it about us we are so desperate to medicate, that we continue to degrade our health & lessen the quality of our lives in attempts to avoid the un-avoidable?

    Could it be what the author of this blog suggests that “something is missing in our lives”?

    Could all this mess be telling us that we need to deal with the fact that we miss our-selves and we need to do something different before anything will get better?

  16. I just read this from a parenting counsellor:

    ‘If medical science identified an environmental toxin that increased the rates of obesity, substance abuse, sexual risk behaviors, eating disorders, sleep disturbances, anxiety and violence, outraged parents would demand that the government intervene to remove this toxin so their children would no longer be exposed. Television is an environmental pollutant that has a greater adverse effect on children than it has on adults. Parents don’t need to wait for government intervention; they can simply turn off the TV switch.”

    – Marilyn Heins

  17. My 6 year old consistently wakes up joyful and he loves that.

    This morning was no exception.

    He watched an episode of a children’s TV show and he told me afterwards that while he was watching it he felt sad because realised he could no longer feel his ‘joy feeling’.

    He said he doesn’t want to watch that programme anymore. He isn’t sure yet whether it will be all TV that does that or just that programme so he’s going to experiment.

    I wonder what would happen if more of us tried a similar experiment.

  18. After waking up on a recent flight, I could see the TV screen of the guy next to me. He was watching a film with an extended fight scene. It was brutal and sustained and speeded up to make it look fantastical.

    I could feel my chest hardening watching this fighting. It was strangely fixating – drawing you in. Making you flinch.

    I could also feel the tension of this guy, his body was rigid, staring at the screen, like he was anticipating giving or receiving a punch.

    It was clear it was having a physiological affect and I could feel it myself.

    The flight was packed. So many people staring into screens, and the same thing happening on so many similar flights all over the world.

  19. I saw some youngish kids in a cafe this week. They were watching wrestling on a laptop whilst stuffing food into their mouths. Their parent was on her own laptop doing something else.

    The wrestling was pretty full on. 2 men looking pretty crazy, humping each other around in tight Lycra.

    It’s amazing to think of how we got here. How it progressed, perhaps from straight up fighting, into this weird form of entertainment.

    And the kids were fixated. Couldn’t take their eyes off it, even while eating.

    What messages are they receiving about life and human behaviour?

    About how to treat one another.

    About having ‘down time’ and how to fill it?

  20. Metro – 13th November 2017

    Comparethemarket.com conducted a poll which showed that an average of £48,800 is spent in the UK on TV entertainment packages and phone contracts.

    Does this tell us what our priorities are with TV watching being about entertainment?

    What if we took note of the wisdom in this blog from Edward Morrow.

    ‘This instrument can teach. It can illuminate and yes it can even inspire but it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it towards those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box.’

    I know that I have been inspired by this and whilst I do not subscribe to any TV packages, if there is something of value on TV that does educate and can be used to raise awareness I most certainly will spend my time on it. But if it doesn’t, I won’t.

  21. We watch TV rarely, but when we do watch it with our children, we stop the programme regularly to discuss what is going on.

    If we don’t do this, even with a documentary-style programme, you can see them getting hooked in.

    Their mouths will open and hang slack. Their breathing will change from nose breathing to mouth breathing, often heavy. Their heads stick out forward from their neck and they blink less.

    It really is pronounced to see.

    In our world of screen obsession, it feels like a hugely important thing to teach – to hold steady in front of a screen and not check out. To keep checking in with where you are at –
    to notice changes in your body and movements and reset when you are getting sucked in.

    It is also a much more enjoyable and purposeful way to engage and makes for rich family conversation during and after.

  22. Lunch this week at a local restaurant, there was a TV on in the corner. The impact of this was enormous, even though the sound was off.

    Those sat up at the counter, closest to the TV, stared at it with hunched spines, heads forward, chins sticking out.

    The couples and family groups at the tables struggled to concentrate on one another, eyes continually flicking to the screen.

    Every child in the restaurant, bar none, turned their body to face it.

    It is like a zombie-ness descends. Eyes lock onto the screen and all other focus is gone. Somehow the human checks out, the mouth opens, the eyes glaze over.

    It didn’t seem to matter what was on the TV: sport, news, drama. The effect was the same.

    It was a good exercise for us as a family: could we stay connected despite the TV in the corner?

    The answer was yes, but it took much more focus and effort.

  23. I heard a sad story about TV this week.

    A grandma had taken her grandkids out for their tea. One of the children had started falling asleep at dinner. They had to wake him up to get home and he was begging all the way home to lay down so he could sleep.

    Once at home, the kids were handed over to their mum to be put to bed and the grandma went off to the loo.
    On her return, she found the kids sitting with their mum watching her TV programme with wide eyes.

    The grandma said this made her furious, as she knew the harm that TV was doing – all those kids had needed was their beds and it was a selfish act to not be bothered enough to give it to them, not to mention the mental and visual stimulation so close to sleeping.

  24. Sitting next to a woman on the train watching TV on her device – an intense torture scene, with beating and blood.

    Just getting a glimpse of it made my chest tighten.

    What are we consuming when we watch this stuff? What are we actually swallowing?

    I could feel the impact on me and I wasn’t even the one plugged in.

    It makes me consider, also, what our kids are exposed to if this is what so many of us are consuming – normalising this content more and more.

  25. I heard a radio programme last week about a woman who’s friend helped her when she was having a panic attack. The friend ‘helped’ by switching on the TV.

    She said she did it to create a distraction.

    What struck me was the desire to make the panic attack go away, rather than to let it come out of the body and to understand where it was coming from and what caused it.

    It clear it was for the friend that the TV would have that distracting effect – it would take the person away from what they were experiencing in their body.

    For me this shows how we know exactly the impact of TV and we use it accordingly.

  26. The Week – Issue 1182 – 30th June 2018

    ‘The television has taken over the kitchen table as the most likely place for British families to gather together. According to a new report, 48% eat an evening meal together every day, while 54% gather every day to watch TV.’

    This says a lot about where our priorities lie. The visual stimulation of a screen has become more important than spending time together over a nurturing meal. But WHY?

    I always find it beneficial to eat with others, to discuss the day and what is happening in the world. I learn things and gain new insights and perspectives that I would not have had without interacting with others.

    Today – 7th July 2018 England were playing in the quarter final in the World Cup. As I walked through the streets this afternoon they were less populated but what I could hear were the roars from people watching the game. I went to an old people’s care home today as I attend every week. What I noticed was that there were no visitors which was unusual and I knew instantly it was because of the game.

    TV is taking over our lives and the question that arises is why do we prefer this instrument to connecting with fellow human beings?

    Is it too confronting?

    Does it mean we have to open up, be transparent, appear vulnerable?

    Do we fear intimacy with others?

    All of these things and more are worth contemplating if we are to ever understand why the screen is in such demand.

    1. I also noticed yesterday during the world cup game how quiet the roads were and how the streets felt more still like less buzzing, which is the usual sound.

      In answer to your questions Shevon, what I can talk about with TV is from my own lived experience. It was a habit and something that was normal and comfortable.

      I could have conversations with others about what I watched and circulate the same old stuff over and over again with different people.

      A few years ago I started to realise how boring I found every thing on the big screen and I used it like a drug and by that I mean I knew in my body it was absolutely not helping me in anyway but still went ahead and switched the TV on like a reward. It gave me something and now I know it was a comfort even though I was actually uncomfortable.

      No amount of multiple channels and true movies was cutting it for me.
      Reality TV and soap operas was not my thing as I could feel no purpose.
      So flicking away one day I thought, what if I stopped moaning about what’s on TV and just stopped and instead write a comment online in response to a blog that I knew made sense on a website of my choice. What I call a real website that has meaning and value.

      That was it and I have never looked back.
      The knock on effect is my husband started watching less TV and he was a serious addict to TV and movies.

      If we take this further – this website and all these blogs would not have been possible if I had not made the shift to stop watching TV.
      I know this blog would not hold any real value if I was still taking the drug that I call TV.

      I know beyond any doubt that this website has a lot of stuff that could help and support others in our world and bring awareness.
      That tells me that me stopping all TV was a true choice and what I have found as a result is that my body is not tired or depleted when I work hard researching and writing.

      When we have real true purpose there seems to be vitality levels that are beyond anything I could ever dream of.

      For the record there are over 6000 comments I have posted and the quality of each of those comments are no less than this one right now.
      This is the value I have brought to the world by stopping my TV addiction.

  27. TV hell in our world.

    The last week of school term last week and in pretty much every class the kids watched TV.

    Our boys came home each afternoon increasingly wired and disturbed. We lost count of the list of TV shows and films. They talked about what they had seen – some of it hilarious, some of it stuck in their heads that they wanted out.

    Particularly before sleep the reel started to run in their heads and they either wanted to jump about in crazed laughter or talk about how they wanted not to see certain scenes when they closed their eyes.

    I remember from my own childhood a palpable relaxation of attainment in school towards the end of term. The tension left the teachers now the bulk of the learning was done. We could play a bit more and have lessons outside. Talk about unusual and off topic things. Maybe watch a single, educational film.

    So why do we have every teacher switching on the TV and multiple times a day in the week before the summer holidays?

    Are they tired and done from the term?

    Do they see TV as a treat the kids ‘deserve’? Or offering some peace that they deserve?

    Why is TV the default, when maybe the kids would choose to spend their ‘down’ time a different way?

    Do they see the impact on the kids and how this TV overload sends them off to start their summer?

    With no more phonics and maths to learn, is the routine simply gone?

    What about all the wonderful subjects that don’t get covered earlier in the term due to an ambitious syllabus? Real life stuff like world events, science and philosophy and the subjects in this blog.

    This week has certainly been exposing as to the impact of TV on young kids and the importance of purpose and routine in school, each day. You only had to be with my kids in the evenings to see the truth of what really happens when you fill them up with TV.

  28. Talking to someone yesterday about the recent rescue of a group of Thai boys from a cave.

    He was thrilled by the news coverage.

    He said from Australia, as it was on the same time zone, the coverage was pretty much live and constantly streamed.

    He said the news coverage was the best entertainment. Better than a soap opera and much more extensive.

    The conversation reminded me of this blog.

    Has news become no more than entertainment?

    Have we turned current affairs and the happenings of our time and the difficult experiences of real people into something simply to consume?

  29. I spend time daily doing global research and then posting what I feel needs to be reported, on my Twitter account.

    What I have noticed more and more are reality TV people who have become celebrities and how big this business is.

    For some it is a career and they have a huge number of followers.
    Advertising giants use them to endorse their products and bingo instant success.

    But is it really a success?

    What are we using TV for and how far has it gone off track, from what this blog is presenting?

    I for one, no longer have a desire whatsoever to watch TV and I know why.

    When I listen to those who live differently and have a richness in life beyond the money stuff, I pay attention. They look alive and have a quality that is super steady and strong.

    Above all, they care about humanity and know how they live can inspire or harm another.

    So taking that into account, I realised that I can switch off, numb out and hook into TV watching, OR I can be writing a blog for this website or a valuable comment that one day may support another.

    I say this because that is what TV did for me. I switched off from the ills of the day and felt the relief of numbing out and not feeling anything that was there to feel – sort of buried it away and then hooked in to any programme, got bored quick and flicked channel.

    Or I did the true movies channel or cookery programs and would get lost for hours and hours as this stuff is 24/7 and never ending.

    TV was like a drug if you ask me and I did not need to wean myself off. I made the choice and just the very movement of going on the computer and writing knocked it out almost instantly. I did have the odd thoughts, but my body was not having it. I could not sit still in front of a big screen without asking the question “What is the purpose?”

    These days, I find it quite hard doing things if I cannot feel a purpose.

  30. Metro News – 23 August 2018
    page 2

    The most popular comedy on TV worldwide is going to end after the 12th season.

    It is about geeky room mates and their partners. The stars earn about $900,000 per show.

    I have actually seen this program back in my TV watching days, as my husband would flick channels and always end up on this hit show.

    The truth is I never found it funny but I did understand that it was a real different type of candy that would get us hooked.

    By this I mean even though I thought it was totally stupid, I would happily sit through it and distract myself from my day and forget about what I needed to do and get on with in life. It was a momentary relief – a rest from anything that was going on for me that I wanted to avoid dealing with.

    The content was so way out and whacky and the live audience laughing is heard during the whole show in a fake setting in a TV studio.

    So what is it about us that has got so into a show about 4 geeks and their rooms, where they spent most of the time, to become so popular throughout the world?

    These guys were earning just under a million bucks for one show, so if we add up the shows per season and then by 12 – what is the final figure?

    Reading this amazing blog about TV and how it started up, can we see how we have got to this point regarding what we choose to watch?

    I will always go back to what Edward Morrow, the outspoken TV journalist said in 1958 about the Television –
    “…this instrument is good for nothing but to entertain, amuse, and insulate then the tube is flickering now and we will soon see that the whole struggle is lost”.

    This instrument can teach. It can illuminate and yes it can even inspire but it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it towards those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box.

    What if 60 years later there is some Truth about what this man had to say?

    We could dismiss it as just his opinion at the time but was he offering us some wisdom back then?

    Are we really using TV watching to inspire us and if so, what exactly is our definition of the word Inspire?

  31. An article in The Metro, 23rd August 2018, has the title: “Feel the love…praise for TV from minister.”

    A popular reality TV program has been praised by a Government minister for bringing viewers together.

    He told the Edinburgh TV Festival that television ‘creates truly national moments helping to create common experiences’.

    One of the shows that the minister is referring to, is a reality TV show that has a group of single women and men put onto an island and basically left to their own devices with the intention of them attempting to find love.

    These are all good-looking twenty something’s clad in only bikini’s or shorts who are paired up and who share double beds, they get to go on dates outside of their villa and also compete together in challenges to win prizes. The premise is to convince the public to keep you on the island in order to win £50,000 while trying to find your perfect match.

    The show has attracted controversy as there have been scenes showing sex acts, which undoubtedly, is one of the main reasons why it has become so popular with TV viewers – two years ago it was attracting an average of 595,000 viewers and now it attracts an average of 1.4 million.

    It was reported that, last year, people were left struggling to find something to do outside of the hours of 9-10pm when the show wasn’t on air. So the producers have now created a spin-off show to talk about the events of the previous night.

    The presenter of this show says: “Its completely escapism. Its guilt free, fun and enjoyment and a little bit of gossip, and aren’t we all interested in other people’s relationships? We’re all nosy. Even though it’s a modern dating show, its actually an old fashioned way of getting to know someone. We have no mobile phones, there’s no internet, no Tinder, they’re actually going back to the old art of conversation to fall in love.”

    This is hardly an old fashioned way of getting to know someone. I don’t remember many people getting put onto an island, having to share a double bed, swap partners and get paid £50,000.

    The program even won a BAFTA award recently

    Is it possible that the delusion here is so thick we can’t even see it?

    How exactly does a show like this bring people together?

    Is it possible that the only thing it unites us in is talking, comparing, judging and gossiping about others?

    This program is just a more risqué version of the other reality TV show where contestants were all put in one house and made to do silly tasks.

    Why wasn’t that show praised for ‘bringing viewers together’?

    Is it possible that the only reason this program is getting more attention is because of the ‘beautiful people’ and the implied sex scenes?

    What message are we giving to the TV producers that is telling them we want more of these reality programmes?

    We, of course, cannot blame the TV producers for this as they are just fulfilling a demand from us.

    Why do we want to be so immersed in other people’s lives?

    Is it possible there is something lacking in our lives that, it is not so much a case of we want this sort of escapism, but rather that we need this sort of escapism?

    What sort of message are we sending out to our younger generation?

    Is it possible that we are sending out a message to our younger generation that building a relationship on love is just about sleeping around rather than forming a loving, respectful, commitment to each other?

    The Government minister has praised this sort of show for bringing viewers together – Is it possible that this sort of show does exactly the opposite?

    1. Thanks for this Tim as I had no idea of the details about this popular TV show that everyone is banging on about. It’s like the main talking point with so many people.

      What I realise after reading your informative comment is that when those in powerfull government positions endorse something – it does not mean we need to subscribe to it.

      I like the question you give us about WHY do we want to be so immersed in other people’s lives? My take is because something is missing.

      I am talking from lived experience as once upon a time I would watch reality TV and get hooked in and feel my reactions and even my moods and emotions change. It was highly addictive and reflecting on it now, I would say highly boring.

      I swapped TV nonsense as that’s what it is for me now, to real talking with people anywhere and everywhere I go. I get to observe real life and what is going on down the street, in my neighbourhood, on the bus, train, workplace and supermarket.

      My life is far from boring, but to some it may seem like that as I choose not to engage in TV. However, if there was a documentary or something that I felt was purposefull, then I would watch it, but otherwise forget it. I have no time to put my body through a process that I know is not natural.

      Back to the comment – what is it about us that needs this form of escapism, because that it what it is? The other thing that sticks out for me is that we want extreme as the normal stuff no longer cuts it. So it’s sex in a holiday sun sea setting.

      Who creates this stuff and what is coming next?

      What are TV producers going to offer us now, taking into account they want viewers and we are demanding porn on TV, as let’s get real, that is exactly what this is – mild probably for some but in time, no doubt there will be more if we the public want it.

      Those who do watch it and love it – have they considered the message they are sending out to their children or the younger generations as Tim says?

      We each have a Responsibility to do our bit and that means BE real role models, so our future generations know beyond doubt that there is another way to live and it gives us joy – a constant quality that seeks nothing, because it already knows what earth life is all about.

      Read this website and all the blogs and then every single comment and there will be no doubt that there is another way to live and it sure ain’t reality TV watching.

  32. Today I have seen an advert for a monthly subscription of TV, broadband and home phone.for just under £90 per month.

    The subscription includes over 260 channels.

    I remember when I lived in a house where we had lots of TV channels, it was so pointless. We would spend most of the time flicking through channels to find something to watch and looking at each other saying, there is nothing to watch.

    When I look at it now, there was a great unsettlement within me, that I lived with on a daily basis and so the screen and the constant flicking, were all a way to distract me from the uncomfortable feelings inside.

    Today I feel much more settled in who I am and consequently I do not watch TV.

    I choose instead to spend my time writing comments on this website, for example.

    I have the most JOY now everyday, living a life that has true purpose, as I know that every move that I make affects others and contributes to either all of the ill that we have in the world, or reflects that there is another way to live.

    For me there is nothing more fulfilling that knowing who I am and staying connected to this as I walk through life.

    There is no TV screen that can even come close to this.

  33. The Guardian – 23rd September 2018

    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/sep/23/average-briton-spends-26-days-a-year-watching-on-demand-tv-survey

    Average Britons Spend 26 days (624 hours) a year watching on demand TV.

    Survey of 2,076 UK adults found –

    UK adults spend about 12 hours a week watching on demand TV.
    8 times longer than we spend exercising.

    Average adult spends 17 hours a week on their smartphone or tablet and 12 hours on social media platforms.

    In comparison people were found to spend 1 hour and 30 minutes per week exercising.

    When we look at it like this, with the numbers, this is astonishing and shows us where our priorities lie.

    We have placed more emphasis on the screen than the care of our bodies.

    This tells me that something is not right.

    This study looked at adults, so if we are spending this much time online, what are our children and teenagers doing?

    How much time are they spending?

    Professor Sir Muir Gray, NHS Chief Knowledge Officer said –

    “Sadly, many people today live sedentary lives in a world dominated by the car, the desk job, the television and the computer.”

    The above is so true and our bodies and well-being are suffering as a result.

    Like anything, we have the opportunity to choose differently.

    With lifestyle choices, repeatedly being held responsible for many illnesses and diseases, is it time we started to ask, why are we so hooked on TV and WHY we are demanding more?

  34. The TV phenomenon I have noticed this week is people watching TV on their phones.

    I have not noticed this before and then all week on the various trains I have travelled on, people everywhere are plugged in to the latest shows.

    Literally crowds of people watching TV on different forms of transport. People watching on the move and while walking between platforms and down stairs.

    If you are sucked in to a show, the tv-in-your-pocket-mobile-phone offers the perfect opportunity never to have to switch off.

  35. Metro News 2 October 2018

    TV addicts in the UK spend the equivalent of a full day every year browsing streaming services for something to watch according to a new survey.

    Most struggle to find a series or film to watch that is just right for their mood 4 times a week and this is despite the user subscribing to three separate services.

    Viewers spend more than 13 hours a week watching TV shows and movies via a streaming service and typically spend another hour each month deciding which service to use.

    60% find the browsing process boring.

    70% in relationships say difficult making decision when with a partner.

    HELLO

    What is this telling us here about our habits?

    Reading this blog we are left in no doubt that the majority of us are hooked into the TV and it seems to consume us for whatever reason.

    What is the point of watching TV shows and then circulating the nonsense we watched the next day to our work colleagues?

    In other words what is the purpose in that and does it actually support us in any way.

    Is this the reason why we find browsing boring – because there is zero purpose?

    I used to be a serial TV flicker of channels but it got really boring and the thought of three separate services today is absolutely crazy if you ask me.

    All these choices and for what – it sure is not making us healthier humans.

    We got rid of our jumbo screen TV that took up so much space and it was hardly ever being used. I have never looked back and thought I would miss TV but I really don’t, as there is so much more important and better things I can be doing instead of screen watching.

    Our world is designed to not support our natural state.

    The clue here is we have all these distractions like on tap TV 24/7 and heaps and heaps of channels to chose from and yet illness and disease are at epic levels all over the world.

    This clearly says to us that SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT.

  36. Waitrose & Partners Weekend – 1 November 2018

    Scenes from a wildlife TV program showing how animals are affected by human waste has influenced the way people shop, one supermarket chain has found.

    Waitrose & Partners Food and Drink Report 2018 –
    88% people said they had changed their shopping habits as a result of the programme.

    Sales of the retailers loose pears have grown 30 times faster than those in plastic packaging while nearly 66% of people now use reusable water bottles more often.

    The supermarket received 30,000 questions about plastic via Twitter in the 6 months following the series.

    “Customers used to want to know we were taking care of things, but now they are getting actively involved”
    Natalie Mitchell, Partner and Head of Product Innovation

    Reading this I find it heartening to see at we are taking more responsibility for the way that we shop and are asking questions about plastic so that we can take more care of our planet.

    This shows the power of television and how it can educate if used correctly, to raise awareness. I know that I have stopped buying a certain seafood after watching footage which showed the people trafficking involved in getting the product to us.

    There is so much that we can do as individuals to take more care of our environment and not add to the harm and this piece of reporting is a great start.

  37. Talking yesterday with a childcare professional about the impact of TV on kids.

    She said she has noticed time and again about the kids in her care, that TV affects their ability to concentrate.

    She said kids who watch a lot of TV or TV programmes that are fast paced or with lots of action, are less able to have a conversation for any period of time or sit and do a puzzle or homework etc.

    She has experimented with this: weaning them off TV, and the changes have been significant: increased concentration, increased interest in the world.

    That this would be the case makes sense to me.

    As a child, with your brain still forming, if the TV is doing all your thinking and entertaining, why engage with life? And what wiring is being laid down during those formative years?

    I have seen the impact of TV on my own kids and the way we consume TV as a family reflects that experience.

    We don’t watch much, but what we watch is about the world, it is pretty slow paced and there is a lot of family discussion around it.

  38. Television Business International recently had an article about Reality TV in the UK and how it is facing unprecedented scrutiny following the death of a man who appeared on a show.

    The UK government is launching an inquiry into reality TV’s duty of care.

    A Department of Media, Culture and Sport Committee will look into whether enough support is offered both during and after filming and whether there is a need for more regulatory oversight.

    Should we be asking WHY does this kind of TV featuring members of the public attract millions and millions in the viewing figures?

    WHY is there such an increase in demand for this type of programming?

    If we consider the supply and demand – who is responsible?

    Without the masses demanding such type of TV entertainment, the producers would not be able to come up with reality TV shows?

    We, the general public who watch this type of stuff are the ones who want it and the suppliers give us what we want and those who are taking part in the shows are seeking something – be it fame or money or both.

    Reading this blog, it is wise once again to read what Edward Morrow has to say about the world of TV and how we are using it.

    Who would have expected such extreme shows like reality TV, which many would even call X-rated becoming the norm and being the height of conversations everywhere the next day.

    Are any of us aware how TV hooks us in like a drug and we seem to want more and more to get the fix we need, call it distraction or whatever it is we need to self medicate.

    Like drugs, we need more of the same to get the same feeling so could it be possible we can get addicted to TV watching as the screen pulls us in and feeds us a quality, a vibration so to speak, that we need to keep going in life.

    How many more deaths by suicide will we see in the future as a result of reality TV before we wake up and realise that SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT in our behaviour?

  39. The Times – 21 May 2019
    Page 15

    Viewers still prefer TV set

    According to this news story the Official Ratings Agency are saying the TV set accounts for 99% of viewing in the UK despite the growing popularity of hand held digital devices.

    The research is showing most prefer the TV and not an iPad.

    What is this telling us about screen time in this country?
    Have we got any research about what we are watching?

    We all know that there are many addicted to box sets and will watch on repeat.
    We all know how big sports have become to watch on the big screen at the pub.
    We also know that the UK are big into reality shows which have gone to the extreme.
    We also know the UK are big into long running soap operas, full of drama everyday.
    We all are aware that the comfy food ads tempt us to eat while we watch television.
    We all know someone who rewards themselves every single day with TV catch up.
    We all know how easy it is to become stuck in our TV watching behaviour every day.

    So what is behind these choices and WHY?

    How does someone get to the point where they stare at a screen for hours and hours?

    Is this amount of TV watching actually good for us in anyway?

    What does excess TV do to our physiological state?

    What happens to our brain when we are going back for more of the same stuff?

    Do we get carried away and so involved that it somehow affects our blood pressure?

    Does this sedentary lifestyle choice stop us from motion which is activity like walking?

    Do we end up watching more and more TV and simply find it hard to take a break?

    Is there something about those screens that emanate a light that hooks us in?

    The UK has an Obesity epidemic and Diabetes is at the point that it could bankrupt the national health system of this country.

    Could it be possible that the masses in this nation have found a way – TV watching to not take responsibility for areas of our lives that we wish to avoid for whatever reason and we have found a solution to check out and numb out. In other words the TV world gives us a licence to forget about what is really going on for us and supports the dis-connection from our body so as not to feel what the body might be communicating? Possible?

    And finally – the amazing words of Edward Morrow quoted in this blog

    “We are currently wealthy, fat, comfortable and complacent.
    We have a built in allergy to unpleasant or disturbing information.
    Our mass media reflect this but unless we get up off our fat surpluses and recognise that television in the main is being used to distract, delude, amuse and insulate us, then television and those who finance it, those who look at it and those who work at it may see a totally different picture too late.”
    Edward R. Morrow – 25th October 1958

    Was this man ahead of his time and telling us something 60 years ago?
    Was he warning us back then about what we were doing with TV in the UK?

    Is there some truth if we are to be honest that “Television in the main is being used to distract, delude, amuse and insulate us” AND where are we today 6 decades on?

  40. A reality TV star makes headlines wearing a leather underboob, which is where the lower part of the breast is showing.

    Long running TV show about the highs and lows of the party scene and the fact it has been running for over 8 years confirms the viewers demand and the suppliers then deliver.

    What we all need to know is what exactly are we viewing when we subscribe to a series and what pressures are the so called ‘stars’ under, who now have celebrity status?

    What is really going on for a young woman in her early 20s to have 2 plastic surgeries for the nose, breast implants, bum lift, veneers, liposuction on thighs and stomach, cheek fillers and more…?

    What is it that they are seeing when they look in the mirror everyday and what are we the audience wanting to see from these young TV stars?

    Who are the audience and who is influenced by these types of cosmetic changes that alters the natural state in so many ways?

    What is the future of a reality TV star if this is the outcome at such a young age?
    What are the long term effects when anyone subscribes to cosmetic surgery?

    What is behind it all?
    Where will this end?
    Have we considered this?

    What is the intention of this all and what is the point?
    Are we going to be asking this question one day – Was it worth it?

    This stupendous blog presents many questions about Television and the purpose that we could use it for – is it time to consider this?

  41. It was interesting to be a part of a conversation where one woman says things just get left as she watches TV for the whole of her day off and the other woman talked about how TV is addictive – like a drug.

    They got me talking about my take on it.

    Firstly I said that I know it to be hooking and to me that is like any drug – you take it and you want more of the same.

    Then I said I stopped watching TV few years ago and have not once missed it. They wanted to know why and I shared that I have an amazing life and I can feel that our world is in a real mess and I do have answers. Not from knowledge or academia but from lived experience. I certainly know what works for human life and what does not.

    This means I can use my expression and the skills I have to share what I live – nothing more and nothing less. So this is why I choose to write daily, be it a comment or a blog or whatever is needed because I feel there is some real purpose in doing so.

    Back to TV – I told them I could feel no purpose watching movies and TV chat shows and programmes as I have been there, done it and felt the consequences.

    The truth is I knew I was doing all that TV to check out and not feel what was going on inside me and avoiding what I knew needed to be done. There is always things that need our attention and TV watching was stopping me – it was a drug of choice I used to get relief and comfort from in a world that was way too crazy to keep up with.

    Those days are long gone and watching any light flickering on a screen for me has to have purpose or you just won’t get me interested.

    I was asked and so I never hold back – the women got the full whammy and what they choose thereafter is no concern of mine.

  42. The Guardian – 27th July 2019

    Film Stunts Under Scrutiny After Deaths and Serious Injuries.

    A British stunt performer suffered a serious head injury after he reportedly fell 30ft from a balcony on the set of a movie. He was airlifted to hospital and has been put in an induced coma. Production was shut down on the movie and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are investigating.

    Stunt professionals are in high demand due to the popularity of the big action blockbuster movies because audiences, weary of unconvincing CGI (computer generated imagery), want to see un-simulated effects. They want to see humans doing spectacular stunts for real. However, as the volume and complexity of stunts has increased, so have the risks.

    The chief contracts officer for the US union of screen actors and stunt performers says: “There’s always pressure to do bigger, better stunts. It is an ongoing escalation in terms of what is trying to be achieved and I think that does have an effect on the level of danger. I also think the population of qualified stunt coordinators and stunt professionals has been stretched a little thin, just because of the level of demand.”

    The chairman of the Stuntman’s Association of Motion Pictures says: “While safety has improved vastly, the volume of stunts has increased dramatically. In the last 10 years the number of stuntmen in Atlanta has gone from two or three dozen to nearly 1,000 because of the massive growth in volume of production in that region. What that has created is a situation of a greater number of stunt performers with less experience.”

    The demand for convincing stunts is also having an impact on actors where two very high profile actors have been injured doing their own stunts, which increases production time and costs because of the delay to filming.

    The US has an estimated 3,000 stunt professionals but there is no central stunt body, with the largest association having only 120 members in contrast to Britain where there is one central body, the British Stunt Register (BSR). The BSR has 400 members which represents 90% of British stunt performers and coordinators.

    To qualify for the BSR, applicants must have spent a minimum number of days on set and be formally qualified in at least six physical disciplines including martial arts, horse riding, trampolining and stunt driving. The chairman of the BSR said: “From scratch, it would usually take about two and a half to three years to become qualified. And if you do succeed in getting on the stunt register, there is no guarantee you’re going to get a single day’s work for the rest of your career. What you are getting is like a driving licence.”

    He goes on to say that the result of these exacting standards is why stunt safety is actually extremely high in the UK, with the last such incident being in 2009 when a stunt double in a famous movie franchise injured his spine and was left paralysed after a flying stunt went wrong. There has not been a British stunt fatality for nearly 20 years. The HSE said that since 2012 it had investigated just six serious stunt-related accidents.

    However, risk still goes with the territory as the Chairman of the BSR said: “It is not natural for a person to throw themselves out of a 30-storey building or roll down a flight of steps on fire. By definition, the word ‘stunt’ does not mean you can do something 100% safely, because then it is no longer a stunt.”

    I am sure we have all observed that any new action film that comes out these days is, dependant on how we want to see them, full of spectacular stunts and set pieces or ridiculous stunts and set pieces.

    It seems like an action film is only to going to be ‘successful’ at the box office if the stunts are bigger and better, regardless of how unreal they may appear.

    But what is driving this need to make these stunts or over the top set pieces better than the last film?

    We are.

    Like everything else that is for sale in this world, the consumer is driving the need.

    We want to be thrilled and excited. We want the distraction. We want to escape our lives for a couple of hours. We don’t really care how much others may be affected, as long as we are stimulated by what we see.

    We all know movies aren’t real life so why is CGI not good enough anymore?

    Why do we need to see an actual person, risking their life, to increase our viewing pleasure?

    Is it possible that our desire for reality on the big screen is putting people’s lives in danger?

  43. A national newspaper this weekend was giving us a 96 page bumper issue of the best 100 TV specials not to miss this autumn.

    In the past this would be like Christmas for me, where you feast on what’s coming and what you want to indulge in – a bit like having your favourite sweets.

    In addition to this there are recipes full of colour and shots worth uploading onto your social media. It is linked to a 1920s period drama and we can cook and eat what they had back then, including what was on the menu in the first class dining saloon on the night of the Titanic disaster.

    My first question was what is the purpose of this, if any?

    What is it about us, the public that want all these types of recipes?

    Next –

    It was easy in the past for me to get hooked into TV and this type of information would be just the ticket – a lifestyle choice that made me stay in my comfort.

    What has changed is I cannot feel the purpose in sitting in front of a screen, in one position engaging in these shows that I am sure are designed to keep me wanting more and more.

    Back in March 2016, I was listening to a master of life and by this I mean a man who knows what’s what and does not mince his words.
    He most certainly has mastered human life and what works because his body and his life are living proof.

    On the TV note, he presented that the world is in a mess and we could do something even if it was going on in another country. The bit that struck me that day was a film about really young children in Cambodia who are victims of the sex trade.

    It was a short film made by a young man who was new to this industry but being real life it really had an impact for me personally.

    That evening I went into telly mode, recliner up and flicking channels. I realised how repetitive, mundane and boring this screen watching was becoming. Even the reality shows were not cutting it and the true movies were same same and not having the same emotional hook on me anymore.

    I MOVED. I got up and went into my office and started typing.

    I knew I had a lot to say and all I had to do was express it and not get concerned with who might read it or if anyone was interested.

    This led to me writing blogs and this website is living proof of what no TV watching has done for me. ADD to that I studied another 6 diplomas.

    Not once have I spent a second in regret or do I feel I am missing anything.
    ALL the news I want I get from daily research and I seem to hear about things happening globally which is of great interest.

    96 pages of information to get us juiced up about TV watching in the next season is there simply because of us demanding it.
    We can never blame the suppliers because we are the ones demanding it.

    As for blogs, this remains one of my favourites, simply because of what Edward Morrow said back then about TV. There is more on the blog but this sticks out and is pure gold if you ask me –

    “We are currently wealthy, fat, comfortable and complacent.
    We have a built in allergy to unpleasant or disturbing information.
    Our mass media reflect this but unless we get up off our fat surpluses and recognise that television in the main is being used to distract, delude, amuse and insulate us, then television and those who finance it, those who look at it and those who work at it may see a totally different picture too late.”
    Edward R. Morrow – 25th October 1958

  44. Daily Mail – 11th January 2020
    Children of Four who are glued to Love Island

    Love Island is attracting growing numbers of children as viewers – with hundreds of thousands tuning in each night, figures have shown.

    It has emerged that on average nearly a quarter of a million children aged 15 and under watched the most recent series.

    This included almost 40,000 children aged between four and eight. Despite the post-watershed show’s raunchy reputation, TV ratings figures show how more than 226,000 under 15’s watched the show last summer – up from the 180,000 that watched in 2018.

    This included more than 4,000 four year-olds, more than 13,000 five year-olds and more than 9,000 six year-olds. Around 165,000 of those aged between 11 and 15 watched.

    The last series of the reality show featured three of the top ten most complained about TV moments of 2019 in a list published by media regulator Ofcom.

    The Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board (BARB) figures, provided by overnights.tv, are based on the number of youngsters who watched Love Island on ITV2, ITV2+1 and those who recorded the programme and watched it later.

    To gather this data, BARB monitored the viewing habits of a sample of homes, representative of the population, using meters fitted to their TVs. Viewers register who is watching using a handset and the meter detects what the programe is.

    Hello!!! – Is there something a tad wrong here?

    Have we, as parents, lost all common sense?

    Taking aside the fact that what passes as much of the entertainment on TV these days are programmes that are simply designed to increase viewing figures by being as provocative and sensationalist as possible – without breaking the rules but going very close to the edge – why are we, as parents, allowing our children to view these programmes?

    This programme starts at 9pm, which means that the content is meant for adults.

    WHY are children as young as four still awake?

    Is it possible that this attitude from the parents may have severe consequences here from a lack of sleep leading to sleep disorders, concentration issues, food disorders, emotional issues, mental health issues, etc.?

    Allowing children as young as four to stay up this late to watch TV must be considered the height of irresponsibility.

    As adults, watching TV until late at night, has a detrimental effect on us.

    Is it possible that that this effect is magnified greatly on young minds watching this type of TV at these late hours?

  45. Sitting in a hotel bistro open plan style and overlooking the large reception area.

    We are in California so everything is big and that includes the TV screens.

    The purpose of this comment is to say that I can see 7 huge TV screens all on different channels, on top of that people at the bar have 3 mini screens and in the distance across the hotel lobby there are more screens.

    WHY on earth do we need all these television screens is my first question?

    I have people talking around me and close by in groups – it is Monday evening in a hotel that accommodates many business people.

    It made me realise how I have become super focussed with the task in hand and will not allow outside distractions, groups of people chatting everywhere, barman shaking ice for cocktails, loud noises coming from multiple screens all echoing different sounds to affect what I am doing and in this case right now, writing this comment.

    What I have realised is how normal we have made it to have all these visual distractions, that most certainly take us away from our connection to our natural state.

    Let me expand on this – as a checked out Charlie in the past, I used the TV screen to zone out and hook into a world that would leave me alone because it never pressed any buttons in me.

    In other words, I did not need to get into a relationship with another human because I had this false sense of connection with the world through a TV screen.

    The choices with all these multiple channels meant there was always something that would get me subscribing to it. I felt quite bored in life and nothing had real meaning or purpose and like many, I was chasing the next thing and the next thing was fed in my mind, with all these pictures that in truth bombarded me. No wonder nothing really changed much other than the fact that I needed even more food and more TV to function in life. What assisted me was being married to a couch potato and for those who have not heard this phrase it means someone who sits and watches a lot – yep a lot in this case of TV.

    Back to the hotel and I realise that we as humans want this screen, as in some way it brings us a comfort – a familiarity.

    As the world sees TV watching as totally ok and not harmful in anyway, we will continue with this legal drug of choice. In fact, it is almost odd and alien for anyone to not own a TV or have their world revolve around a TV.

    What is worth noting is the author of this website has made the choice to swap TV for writing and it is clear that the world benefits, as what this platform presents and delivers is well worth a read.

  46. Talking to a guy in the launderette who hates the TV being on all day.

    He says he is quick to switch it off as soon as the boss disappears but if he walks in then boom, the remote is the first thing grabbed and it goes back on.

    I was having a conversation with some elderly ladies and they both said the noise it emanates is way too much and it’s the same old stuff.

    When I had my surgery over a decade ago, daytime TV was my companion and flicking channels. I recall getting hooked into certain programmes but after a while it all became boring, but nevertheless it kept me company.

    What is it about us that needs the noise and a screen to look at?
    We could say it is our medicine of choice as we ingest it daily?
    We may all pretend that what comes out of the slimline screen is safe but what if it is not and it does harm the human frame, but we are just not aware of it?

    What I can say from lived experience is that totally coming off TV was easy once I felt the purpose elsewhere.

    I realised that I had a skill and that was to write and so I started with comments like this on certain websites that I felt were the real deal. Soon after this website was launched and at the time I had the first blog title and about 2 or 3 others that I could possibly write about.

    Well, the rest is history as they say. 4 years on and never ever looked back.

    The titles just keep coming and whilst I have slowed down on the weekly blogs it does not mean that I have slowed down on writing. It has just taken another form and that means different stuff including books and another website.

    It would be honest to say that it was a day I can recall where I swapped TV nonsense as that is what it felt like at the time, for writing. Look at where that one choice has got me and how it does have value, meaning and purpose.

    The content on this website serves those who may be interested or are ready to ask –
    IS THERE ANOTHER WAY?

  47. Daily Mail Supplement – 13 June 2020

    The masses (which means most of us) have been watching way too much TV over the past few months as we have been restricted to stay in because we have a global pandemic.

    The media are going to want us to keep buying those newspapers and the weekend supplements are getting bigger and more colourfull.

    In a national newspaper this weekend it had a “Sizzling Summer Movie Special” because it is blockbuster season and the best news is cinemas are still closed so new films are heading straight for TV viewing.

    Pages and pages full of movie information and pictures of our famous film stars and the round up of 30 sizzling MUST see films. We are told there is something for everyone – comedy, crime, romcom, fantasy epics, family favourites and sci fi spectaculars.

    Next – there is more…

    Pizza to go with your favourite movie.

    The sing along greek pizza – transport yourself to Greece and have a good sing-along.
    The vegetarian family pizza – enjoy with animal friendly film.
    The cowboy breakfast pizza – be inspired by Clint Eastwood – “hell is coming to breakfast”.
    The all action luxury pizza – James Bond fans can indulge in vodka cured salmon pizza.
    The curry and naan comedy pizza – perfect eat in front of an exotic marigold hotel film.
    The spiced lamb suspense pizza – sink your teeth into Hannibal with blood red onion.

    The list goes on and the question is – who comes up with this stuff?
    How on earth have we got something to eat that aligns to a movie?

    Where is our appetite for TV watching and food going and is this really helping us?

    If we read this spectacular blog about TV and how it originated and the intent of what was behind the making of television viewing – we could honestly say we have deviated way off the mark.

    In other words, TV is not being used by the masses to educate and evolve us.

    A grand reminder from a high quality journalist – Edward R. Morrow back in 1958

    Our history will be what we make of it and if there are any historians about 50 or 100 years from now and there should be preserved the kinescopes of one week of all 3 networks, they will there find recorded in black and white and in colour, evidence of decadence, escapism and insulation from the realities of the world in which we live.
    We are currently wealthy, fat, comfortable and complacent. We have a built in allergy to unpleasant or disturbing information.
    Our mass media reflect this but unless we get up off our fat surpluses and recognise that television in the main is being used to distract, delude, amuse and insulate us, then television and those who finance it, those who look at it and those who work at it may see a totally different picture too late.

    This was said in 1958 – so what exactly has changed 6 decades later?

  48. A newspaper article today about remaking of an old TV show, as television chiefs hope huge audiences will again lose themselves in the fortunes of country vets in the 1930s in the dales of northern England.

    The local post office hopes that the show will bring more customers to the shop to buy postcards and fudge. For those not familiar with the word – fudge is a sweet made from sugar, butter, milk or cream.

    If we read this blog again and again, the reader would be wise to stop and pause to consider what Edward Morrow is saying to us over 60 years ago.

    TV chiefs are in business and they need to make profits. We, the general public who subscribe are the customers. What we demand they supply.

    They want us to ‘lose ourselves’ but they cannot make us, so it must be because we actually want the escapism and distraction that TV shows give us. We can never blame the TV industry as the supply and demand factor has to be first and foremost recognised for what it is. With no demand these type of shows would just die, but we know there is no chance of that.

    Back to the journalist Edward Morrow – let us quote him yet again…

    “Our history will be what we make of it and if there are any historians about 50 or 100 years from now and there should be preserved the kinescopes of one week of all 3 networks, they will there find recorded in black and white and in colour, evidence of decadence, escapism and insulation from the realities of the world in which we live.
    We are currently wealthy, fat, comfortable and complacent. We have a built in allergy to unpleasant or disturbing information. Our mass media reflect this but unless we get up off our fat surpluses and recognise that television in the main is being used to distract, delude, amuse and insulate us, then television and those who finance it, those who look at it and those who work at it may see a totally different picture too late.”

    How can we simply sit back and ignore what this man was telling us 6 decades ago?

    How right was he reading the future, so to speak when he talks about historians finding evidence of decadence, escapism and insulation from the realities of the world in which we live?

    If we just explore this – are we using television to escape and insulate us from the realities of the world in which we live?

    Is our decadence just confirming our need for excess indulging in front of a screen because we can and there is nothing that will stop us doing so?

    We could say it is true that we do have an in-built allergy to unpleasant or disturbing information.

    We only have to study this website to know the masses keep away because it is full of real facts and stats and real life practical living that requires responsibility on our part – something most of us find unpleasant or disturbing.

    It is far easier to stay in our comfortable zone that to make movements towards real change and TV provides one such great daily comfort for so many.

    Back to Morrow saying television in the main is being used to distract, delude and amuse us.

    How true is this?
    How many of us are ready to be honest and admit what we use TV for in our life everyday?
    What purpose it serves?

    Our world is full of disturbing information – read the thousands of comments posted on this website and as a reader there will be no doubt that things are getting worse and human life is way off track from our natural state of being and living.

    Each of us has an individual responsibility to wake up and respond.

    Doing nothing, accepting everything as it is and saying nothing will ensure that our world will see more natural disasters, illness and dis-ease of the human frame because we are way off sync in the way we are living life.

    Nothing is working and yet there is another way.

    For those who are interested or even ready – go through and read the 200 + articles on this website to start and then ALL the comments, which are over 6,000.

    For the record – the author of this website gave up TV watching to start writing and this monumental platform – a library for humanity is so far the result of that once simple choice.

  49. The Guardian – 20 August 2021

    https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2021/aug/20/britons-tv-shows-lockdown-fashion-inspiration

    Due to the lockdown restrictions more of us have turned to the Television for our main source of entertainment.

    40% of waking hours spent watching TV

    Companies have been on the front foot and capitalising on that by announcing official merchandise for fans, be it a shoe collection from a period drama series, clothing from a TV sitcom and a fashion range from a spy thriller.

    The demand comes from us the viewers that want the pink hair, the teddy bear jacket or the chain the TV star is wearing. WHY?

    Apparently TV became the main source of outfit inspiration as high street shops with mannequins are absent of window displays.

    We want it now and so there is the market and the suppliers are delivering to the doorstop in less than 24 hours. This means our virtual screen has a reality as we get to wear the same in our so called real world.

    What is the purpose of this and is it really needed?

    What the 40% TV watching during our waking hours is telling us is that we have a nation addicted to the screen. ADD to that social media, online shopping, gaming and porn watching and we probably are spending far more hours in front of a screen that we care to admit or disclose to the world.

    We seem to not want the responsibility of daily life and work because we have had some kind of break, which for most has affected everyday routine. Getting back to how life was before lockdown is not easy as we have new ingrained behaviour, habits, movements and expressions that have changed us. To get off our butts and go to bed early, cook a meal from scratch, go for a walk with no agenda or do some cleaning is not on our radar of priorities.

    TV shows, producers and all those that are responsible for giving us more of what we demand in the form of distraction and entertainment are not going to stop because they only exist if we make the demand first. Yes, you read clearly, we make the demand and then they deliver what we want.

  50. Today happens to be Video Games Day in the United States and the emphasis is on not to feel bad if we do not see the light of day today because we are playing all day. The history and how we have a fast growing distraction (yes let’s get real, as that is what it is) can be found on our in depth article on this website about Video Games.
    https://simplelivingglobal.com/video-games-day/

    This blog is about TV – yes another distraction that checks us out of real life and takes us away from the raw reality that we call human life. In other words, a comfortable modern day escape to a virtual reality.

    The purpose of this comment is because we have a statistic worth discussing here. We are told it comes from a top Market Research Agency.

    https://nationaltoday.com/national-video-games-day/

    41% play video games on our mobile phone while watching TV.

    Yes, you have read correctly. We are doing 2 things at once. We could call this multi tasking and on that note – read our blog on this website about the ins and outs of what occurs and the consequences when we multi task.
    https://simplelivingglobal.com/multi-tasking/

    But what if we look at this for what it actually is? In other words, what is going on for someone that they have the need to watch the big screen – the television but have the hand held small screen, the mobile phone to be gaming? Is it really possible to switch our attention or are we just engrossed on the screen that is closer to our body?

    It is worth considering that how we have created an £18 billion dollar industry is BECAUSE there is a demand from the consumer and it is showing no signs of reducing.

    If we get real and apply even a small dose of honesty, we would admit that it is a form of distraction. Of course those that champion video games or are not at the receiving end of what some parents see in their own homes, with kids fixated to the screen or teenagers withdrawing from life and basic responsibility, might have a different take.

    Those that profit from this industry would also be up in arms as questioning in this way would threaten their security as profit is the name of the game, let us not forget that.

    TV helps us to relax we say but what if it really helps to numb us and become less aware, because we are zoned out in front of flickering lights and get sucked into whatever is there? Some of us not only distract ourselves but it becomes like a companion as we hear sounds of people coming from that box. On that note, it is well worth a mention of the quote in this article from Edward Morrow.

    “This instrument can teach. It can illuminate and yes it can even inspire but it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it towards those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box.”

  51. UPI Health News – 19 January 2022

    https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2022/01/19/television-watching-blood-clot-risk-study/2671642620577/

    Watching television for 4 hours or more a day increases the risk for blood clots, according to a new study published by the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.

    35% higher risk is to be taken seriously as we all know how we like to flick the TV channels or settle in for binge watching which leads to excess hours watching.

    The study co-author, Dr. Setor Kunutsor said “our study findings also suggested that being physically active does not eliminate the increased risk of blood clots associated with prolonged TV watching. The findings indicate that regardless of physical activity, weight, gender and age, watching many hours of television is a risky activity with regard to developing blood clots.

    Dear World

    Are we aware of care homes – those places where we put the elderly where television viewing is available in their rooms and on a huge screen in the lounge, living area of the residential home?

    Many have very little movement and it is not encouraged due to funding, lack of staff and with the pandemic and restrictions over the past 2 years, there is almost no other activity so they sit in front of a screen for the sound that comes out so it brings them some kind of company from their loneliness, but does it really?

    What if researchers carried out Independent studies across the world to see the results of care home residents watching TV day in and day out?

    Are we going to find even greater risks of blood clots or are we going to find other illnesses precipitating as a result of little engagement or interaction with others and spending most days alone and isolated?

    This blog on TV is worth a re-read and what Edward Morrow said back in 1954 makes sense, even if most of us would dismiss it and not want to know.

    “This instrument is good for nothing but to entertain, amuse and insulate…
    This instrument can teach. It can illuminate and yes it can even inspire but it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it towards those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box”.

    Are we using those wires and lights in a box today that have evolved to electronic chips inside a flat screen with blue ray lights to simply distract, check out and numb ourselves?

    Have we all accepted that television is part of human life and forgot that it comes at a price and risk of blood clots may just be the start?

  52. Daily Mail – 3 June 2022

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-10881771/Every-hour-spent-watching-TV-sofa-raises-risk-stroke-14-study-warns.html

    Every hour spent doing sedentary activities each day in our 60s and 70s raises the risk of a stroke by 14%, according to a new study from San Diego State University.

    The study was based on activity monitoring 7,500 Americans in their 60s.
    People who were sedentary for 13 hours were 44% more likely to have a stroke, but people who exercise for about 25 minutes a day reduce the risk by 43%.

    Past research has shown that being sedentary can lead to fatty material building up in the arteries which in turn increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
    Physical activity helps reduce risk by lowering cholesterol and blood pressure and reducing these fatty deposits.

    When researchers analysed the medical records seven years later, during which times 286 deaths were recorded, they found people who were the most sedentary (barely moved for 13 or more hours per day) were at the highest risk of stroke.
    They were 44% more likely to suffer a stroke within seven years compared to people who were sedentary for 11 hours or less per day.

    The scientist calculated for every extra hour per day spent sedentary raised the risk of a stroke by 14%.
    The findings also showed stroke risk could be reduced with exercise.
    Getting in 3.5 hours of light exercise per week was shown to reduce the risk of a stroke by 26% compared to moving less than two hours per day.

    Those who did 14 or more minutes of moderate or vigorous exercise, like a brisk walk or even gardening saw their risk fall by 47% compared to people who did less than three minutes per day.

    Lead author of the study, Dr Stephen Hooker said the optimal amount of moderate exercise for people in the 60s was approximately 25 minutes per day, based on the data.

    Dear World

    Does this tell us that as we get older, we need to continue to move our body and that means stay active?

    We know there are research studies confirming that even doing housework daily can support us through our later years.

    And finally, are we ready to ask a very important question – why are the elderly in our care homes today having very little movement and left with a big TV most of the day and being sedentary?

    Do we need to do a scientific research study or can we, as the general public observe and report what we know is not feeling true?

  53. Boston University School of Medicine – 10 August 2022

    https://www.bumc.bu.edu/busm/2022/08/10/bus-cte-center-to-collaborate-with-ohio-university-to-study-the-brains-of-stunt-performers/

    Currently, 9,000 stunt performers are employed in motion picture, television and other entertainment productions. While there is virtually no literature, it is believed that 80% of these performers have experienced one or more serious head impacts.

    Researchers at Boston University CTE Center will work with the Laboratory for Science and Health in Artistic Performance at Ohio University to study the brains of stunt performers. SPRINT – Stunt Performance Research Investigating Neurological Trauma.

    CTE – Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy is a degenerative brain disease associated with a history of repetitive head impacts, including those sustained in contact and collision sports such as American football and ice hockey, as well as through military service and domestic violence.

    At this time, CTE can only be diagnosed after death by neuropathological examination of brain tissue. Stunt performer donor brains will be analysed at the Understanding Neurologic Injury and Traumatic Encephalopathy (UNITE) Brain Bank at the Boston University CTE Center.

    Boston University CTE Center researchers suspect that stunt performers are at high risk for CTE because they are exposed to repeated trauma throughout their stunt performing careers.

    Despite the popularity of stunt sequences and action films, scientific research dedicated to understanding the effects of stunt-related concussions and sub-concussive impacts is non-existent.

    On that last note – Dear World

    Are we all simply too interested and distracted by our movies that require more and more stimulation and that means more and more high risk stunts, but we really do not want to know of the consequences of how this may actually impact the body of a stunt performer?

    Instead, we put our emphasis on the movie star – the hero, the action man or woman and follow them on social media and conveniently forget it was not them at all doing those bravado, impossible human movements but a stunt performer who of course knows the risks of their work but may not have yet understood the long term impacts, like CTE.

    Can we admit that for every CTE case, we – yes we the general public and all those that are complicit, enable and are in some way involved are the ones that need to wake up?

    While we continue down the ignorant, ‘need more evidence’ road, we are seriously damaging the lives of others in the name of entertainment. Are we ready to consider this now or do we need much more damage and harm to wake up?

  54. Bournemouth University – 16 December 2022

    https://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/news/2022-12-16/illegal-tv-streaming-sites-cost-european-economies-over-three-billion-euros

    17 million people in 28 countries accessed pirate streaming sites in 2021.

    33% were aged 16–24.

    UK and Ireland were amongst the countries with the highest percentage of their population watching TV illegally.

    Netherlands has the highest percentage.

    A new study by Bournemouth University estimates that TV companies in Europe have lost €3.21 billion in 2021 because of people using illegal streaming sites to watch TV.

    The researchers also estimate that the illegal providers made €1.06 billion from Europe in the same year.

    194.6 million euros was generated by the UK for the illegal industry.

    Any lost revenues by legitimate TV providers have the potential to affect their customers in the form of higher subscription prices, or through lower investment in new content and services. Countries’ economies can also be affected by lost tax income.

    This report raises awareness of the issue and directly sheds light on the level of financial loss that is incurred at all levels, as a result of criminal networks facilitating access to unauthorised content, signalling that more needs to be done to tackle illegal IPTV in Europe and UK.

  55. The Guardian – 21 February 2024

    https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/feb/21/binge-tv-watchers-nocturia-multiple-night-time-loo-breaks-study

    Watching at least 5 hours of TV a day is associated with higher risk of nocturia – the need to get up and urinate twice or more in the night.

    Researchers say increasing public awareness of the potential health risk may encourage people to be more mindful of their TV time.

    For some, binge watching the latest TV drama is the perfect way to unwind but spending lengthy periods in front of the television is linked to nocturia.

    32% of participants age 20 and older reported experiencing nocturia.

    45% higher risk in those who spent 5 or more hours watching TV or videos a day.

    This study represents the first exploration of the correlation between TV and or video viewing time and nocturia.

    Lengthy sessions of TV viewing have been associated with an increased risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes, which is a risk factor for nocturia.

    TV watching typically aligns with beverage consumption, leading to an elevated fluid intake and a decrease in sleep quality is closely linked to experiencing nocturia.

    Dear World,

    The study relied on self-reported data, including TV watching habits. For this reason, many would dismiss the study as we are not keen on real life self reporting. We prefer numbers, laboratory, double blind testing and all that goes with the science research that makes us what we seem to want.

    But can we really afford to ignore this study because of the “limitations” or would a dose of common sense assist us here?

    What is very possible is that most binge TV viewers are more likely to play it down and say they watch x amount of hours when it is actually much higher and that means we have probably not got the correct evidence but at least it has been brought to the public awareness.

    This website has many articles published within the SLEEP category and they are backed up by news stories like this that link research, to continue keeping readers up to date with what is going on.

    We all know that most of us have some kind of sleep issue. Quality sleep does not seem to be on the radar or the PRIORITY list but endless TV watching is.
    This in itself tells us what the people demand and it will be of no surprise that we seem comfortable in the knowing we can do what we want even if our body is saying this is not of any benefit.

    It is well worth paying attention to what is being presented in this blog by Edward Morrow back in 1958. It applies to all of us right now and yet we just conveniently ignore that the big screen distracts and harms us, as it suits our lifestyle thank you very much.

    Regardless, a strong reminder here repeated from this tablet of Truth that we call a blog:

    “Our history will be what we make of it and if there are any historians about 50 or 100 years from now and there should be preserved the kinescopes of one week of all 3 networks, they will there find recorded in black and white and in colour, evidence of decadence, escapism and insulation from the realities of the world in which we live.

    We are currently wealthy, fat, comfortable and complacent. We have a built in allergy to unpleasant or disturbing information. Our mass media reflect this but unless we get up off our fat surpluses and recognise that television in the main is being used to distract, delude, amuse and insulate us, then television and those who finance it, those who look at it and those who work at it may see a totally different picture too late”.
    Edward R. Morrow – 25th October 1958

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