Why do people call television 'dumb', 'evil', 'something to be killed' et cetera?

[Deja Q]

As with all forms of technology, it is not what it is but what people do with it.

[Xipe Totec]

1. TV doesn't dumb people, people dumb people?

:evilgrin:

[NRaleighLiberal]

2. I think of most TV programming as responsible for lowering national IQ significantly.

TV is a box that you have to turn on....we turn ours on to watch DVDs primarily. The vast majority of what is on is complete shit. Oh yes - and ads pushing low quality products on gullible watchers.

[Codeine]

21. Television did not create stupidity.

Television merely reflects the already-existing stupidity of it's target audience.

[NRaleighLiberal]

23. No, it didn't create it....but sitting and watching it means people are not reading

or listening to music or engaging in meaningful dialogue.

As you can tell, I pretty much loathe television!

[Greyhound]

26. It actually does create stupidity.

It requires passive acceptance of what is delivered and the content delivered is decided by sponsor's advertisements. Television programming has the single goal, not of entertaining or informing, but of retaining viewers between commercials. The commercials are the content.

Think of it in from that perspective and I'm sure you will see that it does indeed create stupid.

[Karenina]

27. And it does so INTENTIONALLY. See: The Century of the Self

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=385&topic_id=265948

[Marrah_G]

30. It all depends on what people watch

I think TV has made my children MORE aware and less ignorant about the world.

We watch alot of Discovery, History, Science, Sci-fi, and news in my home.

My teenage boy's favorite shows are mythbusters, dirty jobs, how it's made, etc.

Add that to his love of Scifi and you have a future Aerospace engineer.

[Greyhound]

44. Some of the filler may be somewhat beneficial (we'll just ignore the factual

inaccuracies and blatant propaganda), but the point is the commercials and the passivity. You may pick up facts, but television does not stimulate thinking and is totally one way.

Sort of like talking to republiks and BlueNewThirdwayDLC democrats.

[Marrah_G]

46. That really is just an opinion

I think it can absolutely stimulate the mind.

We often go looking for more information about what we see on TV.

That is how my son came to his decision on a career path.

What you get out of TV really depends on what you are watching and why.

Just like books, theatre, music....... you pick and choose depending on what you want at that time.

Entertainment has it's own value.

Everything in moderation is my mother's favorite saying. I've found it almost always proves true.

[ThomWV]

37. If I accept your argument then going to the Theater also creates stupidity

Try again.

[Greyhound]

45. Your point? n/t

[conscious evolution]

64. Live theater is totally different

Its not so much the content thats the problem,imo,even though most of the content is garbage.Its the actual tv itself that is the problem.Consider it a mass hypnosis device because that is exactly what it does to humans.
There is a reason it is called programming.The television itself puts you into a hypnotic state then you are programmed by the content.The programming falls into four categories-Consume,Create,Compete and Conform.You can find at least one of these in every single thing that is shown on TV.Without exception.If you were to post a bunch of five second clips of anything found on tv I could show at least one example in EVERY SINGLE CLIP.Without exception.

[Political Heretic]

43. I watch TV and I would be classified as "fairly smart" :)

:shrug:

[Greyhound]

47. I would be willing to bet that you are not "fairly smart" because you watch TV.

Rather, in spite of it.

[Political Heretic]

53. Maybe - but so what?

I'm still smart, so... :shrug:

Sorry but I'm not giving up my Discovery Channel and Science Channel time just because other people want to make sweeping generalizations about ALL TV and ALL people who watch TV.

TV is whatever you make of it. It can be a good tool of both casual recreation or educational recreation; or it can be an obsession that takes away from healthy balance in other areas of life.

The responsibility is on the individual. The individual is the issue, not the technology.

[Greyhound]

54. The original point you replied to is that it does create stupidity.

I don't recall anyone demanding you give up your fix. The facts are plain, Americans watch far too much TV and what they watch is detrimental to their health and well being.

[Johnny Noshoes]

24. Programs

TV programs are just the spaces between the commercials. If the programming is barely good enough to attract enough viewers who'll see the ads..well their job is done and they'e made their money.

[corpseratemedia]

3. I call my tv all kinds of names

but it doesn't seem to respondz:dunce:

[pokerfan]

32. My TV has a brightness knob

but it doesn't seem to help.

[leftstreet]

4. It's essentially just advertising, interspersed with annoying propaganda

[madokie]

5. I use it for news gathering

and yes it is getting mighty dusty from not being used anymore.

[rucky]

6. There's some good stuff

and plenty o' not so good stuff.

[RC]

7. Do what I do. Leave it turned off.

I got the coupons for two converters. $10 each. Hook one up and checked it out. Got all the channels. Clear, sharp pictures. It's been over 2 months and the TV hasn't been on since. At least I'm ready if something watchable comes on.

[NoPasaran]

8. It's my only real friend

In a cold, uncaring Universe.

[Deja Q]

12. I know how you feel

But it does keep us warm. :)

[Texasgal]

9. Don't you know?

People have to have *something* to bitch about!

[Still Sensible]

10. The problem is that TV has programmed for the lowest

common denominator because that is what produces the highest ratings, which is what determines how much money broadcasters make. Even when you take the ratings out of the mix and base it on what people are willing to pay for, the results are disappointing for those of us that wish people were willing to give a little thought to what they spend their time watching. Alas, it's still worldwide wrestling and boxing and porn that makes the bucks. When you get right down to it, people by and large want to treat their TV viewing as mindless entertainment and not an intellectual exercise.

[ferrous wheel]

11. Interestingly, some of the same people defend the luddite decision to delay digital TV

as if it were an important need of the citizenry. :shrug:

[Boojatta]

13. They aren't talking about the technology.

They're talking about the content.

[conscious evolution]

15. The technology is bad also.

Staring at flashing lights put the brain into a hypnotic state.

[conscious evolution]

16. The technology is bad also.

Staring at flashing lights put the brain into a hypnotic state.

[elocs]

14. I know some very conservative Pentecostals who smugly and self-righteously preach

that tv is evil, corrupting, something to b e killed and ungodly. It's nice to see that there are Dems who can hold hands with them and sing "Kumbya". It's kind of like food--there is a lot of crap out there, you just choose what is good for you or what you like. Or you could claim all food is crap and brag about not eating (now the Pentecostals condemn tv, but they luvvvvve to eat).

[Mari333]

17. some people like it, some dont. I dont have a TV and I dont miss it

nonetheless, I respect other peoples need to have one if they choose. hugs.

[Peace_Sells]

18. Exactly

People decide whats on tv and people decide to watch tv. The crap on the channels is just that CRAP! But I love to watch a good dvd. So I dont think the tv should be refered to as evil. Just something that humans use and misuse.

[blues90]

19. Because TV is the window to the illusion

I don't ever turn the damn thing on. I was never much of a TV viewer because all of it was based on someone elses idea of what we should think and who we are.

As if there is any reality which some paid actor selling something and they tell you they can be trusted and are your friend when if fact we don't even know these people at all ,never met them and never will. Just buy their product and have your credit card ready.

[Berry Cool]

20. It's not inherently good or evil. It's a tool. Can be used for good, bad or indifferent purposes.

Or not used at all. The choice is up to you.

People who treat it like some inanimate object that can somehow come to life and do them evil against their will have a screw loose, IMO.

[Codeine]

22. Exactly.

Tell me The Wire, Deadwood, Battlestar Galactica, or Dexter are "stupid." Quality stuff is available all over the dial if you're willing to look.

[tom_paine]

25. Here's a nice article from the Moderate-Independent that sums it up nicely...

http://www.moderateindependent.com/v3i6tv.htm

[conscious evolution]

28. Great article/rant.A must read.

When you hear the idea of TV as the most devastating, addictive drug in America, you may scoff or leave... run away, I mean. That’s expected. All junkies turn on the first person to tell them they’ve crossed the line. But to see if you’re an addict, take this simple test. Go one week, cold turkey, without so much as looking at or listening to a TV. You can’t turn one on; if one is on where you are you must leave the area

TV is a hypnotic drug. It is not the programming itself but the blue light and alpha waves that are stimulated. This is an important distinction to realize. It is not about the quality of the programming or lack of it, it's not about "surfing" the wrong sites on the web. To say that would be like telling a coke addict his problem is he just isn't doing the good stuff.

TV addiction directly causes horrible physical and emotional problems. The use of this drug causes obesity, anti-sociality, lethargy, and a skewed view of reality that borders on insanity.

Watch children who couldn't sit still for a minute when they come in contact with this drug; watch adults at a gym who had been working out at a normal pace when they come in contact with one of the screens at the gym; look at your family members as they watch programming. Don't watch the program, just look at them. They become zombies, sitting mouths half-opened, staring inactively at a box.

....All you have to do is make the mistake of looking toward one, of responding to a noise you hear on one with a glance, and you will then have to literally fight to turn your head back away to not become a TV-glued zombie. This is something seen at gyms regularly: an active person gets caught by some sound as they pass a TV, and 5, 10 minutes later they are still stuck there staring. This drug is more powerful than a 200-pound muscleman.

[Marrah_G]

29. Because they don't enjoy for whatever reason and therefore are sure others must hate it also....

If they don't hate it then they must be under it's evil spell.

It's a special brand of human crazy that creates "fundies" of all types.

TV can also be a learning tool and an informational tool.

[blindpig]

31. Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television

Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television argues that the technology of television is not a neutral, benign instrument or tool. The author argues that in varied technologies and institutions such as militaries, automobiles, nuclear power plants, mass production, and advertising, the basic form of the institution and the technology determines its interaction with the world, the way it will be used, the kind of people who use it, and to what ends.

The author argues that far from being "neutral," television predetermines who shall use it, how they will use it, what effects it will have on individual lives, and, if it continues to be widely used, what sorts of political forms will inevitably emerge.

The author's first argument is that while television may seem useful, interesting, and worthwhile, at the same time it further boxes people into a physical and mental condition appropriate for the emergence of autocratic control.

The second argument concerns the emergence of the controllers. That television would be used and expanded by the present powers-that-be was inevitable, and should have been predictable at the outset. The technology permits of no other controllers.

The third argument concerns the effects of television upon individual human bodies and minds, effects which fit the purposes of the people who control the medium.

The fourth argument demonstrates that television has no democratic potential. The technology itself places absolute limits on what may pass through it. The medium, in effect, chooses its own content from a very narrow field of possibilities. The effect is to drastically confine all human understanding within a rigid channel. What binds the four arguments together is that they deal with aspects of television that are not reformable.<1>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Arguments_for_the_Elimination_of_Television

[Karenina]

34. An interview with Jerry Mander

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_ptn-cNBJA

[ThomWV]

36. Those are 4 of the more foolish arguments I have ever seen

No one could take that rubbish seriously. Just read them - think about what they say. It is simply ludicrous to even call them arguments to be quite honest about it.

[blindpig]

40. Why don't you flesh out your complaint a little.

Easy enough to say 'rubbish'.

Though I think Mr Mander gets a little 'out there' in one portion of the text the premises of the four arguments are sound.

[TreasonousBastard]

33. Because people who call it that have no life, so...

they have to try to take away mine.

(I always wonder what that sort of person considers "entertainment")

[blindpig]

42. If TV is your 'life' then that says it all. n/t

[TreasonousBastard]

66. Reading a bit too much into my comment, are we?

[conscious evolution]

62. Sitting and staring at flashing lights

is a life?
Those that don't have no life?

Do you really think that way?

[TreasonousBastard]

67. I think there are a lot of people who find TV...

doesn't fit into their lives. It's the ones who get all uppity about it who bother me. Why should i give a shit whether or not you watch TV, anyway, except for some minor curiosity about just what you find informative or entertaining--TV is so varied now that I can't imagione anyone with any interests at all never finding anything to watch.

Truth is, it doesn't really fit much into my life, but when it does I object to the suppositions of sanctimonious superiority from some twit who just has to knock the medium.

(It's just so damn easy to sit up there in the treetops and toss little bomblets around without once having to justify or defend your own choices because you're too damn cowardly to tell us what they are, if indeed you even know what they are. )

Oh, and the same goes for that other twit who tried to insult me.

[conscious evolution]

69. What else did you expect

when you post such assinine bullshit.

[anonymous171]

35. TV is special. It does not allow for dialogue (IMO) like other mediums.

You don't digest television like you would a good book or a piece of music. Television is what it is. It's mind numbing.

[ThomWV]

38. So you can talk to a book and get it to answer you?

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

39. Because They're Stupid?

:shrug:

[LanternWaste]

41. I imagine it's a combination of two reasons

"Why do people call television 'dumb', 'evil', 'something to be killed' et cetera?"

I imagine it's a combination of two reasons-- we hear opinions we don't like from it, and we usually believe ourselves to be more clever than we really are.

[WI_DEM]

48. because some people have a superiority complex and feel if others don't feel the way they do

they are equally stupid.

[conscious evolution]

65. Cant speak for others

but I don't think most viewers are stupid.
I think they are caught up in an addiction and do not even realize it.The ultimate hippy trap.

[bertman]

49. How about computers? Where do they fit into this argument? What does that flickering

screen do to the brains of those of us who spend hours glued to the internets? Other than make us much smarter and well-informed, of course.

[conscious evolution]

63. The flickering computer screen

has pretty much the same effect on the brain as Tv does.However,the fact that computers are three dimensional in that we can interact with them lessens/counteracts the trance state that TV puts one in.
If you must watch TV or use a computer it is much better to use projector units.At least with those you are not staring directly into the flickering lights.

[bertman]

73. I'm sure you're right, conscious evolution, but my wife would probably take issue with

your statement about lessens/counteracts the trance state. LOL

[earth mom]

50. Because TV has contributed to the dumbing down of America.

TV should be more like PBS-which even isn't as good as it used to be.

Not only that but how many people actually read books these days?

Most people would rather watch mindless sitcoms which really do rot the brain.

[Karenina]

51. Exhibit A on display, once again.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5014699

[serrano2008]

52. everyone's looking for someone/something to blame

TV is an easy target

[tom_paine]

55. You miss the point entirely. The problem is NOT TV. TV is a tool, like a radio

or a wrench or a gun.

It is not the thing itslef, but what is done with it.

Looking for someone to blame?

:rofl:

Damned STRAIGHT. But the blame doesn't go to TV.

It goes to every single one of us.

It goes to you and me.

We have the world that we helped create. We helped create it with our apathy and our civic disengagement, and the fact that I have ask hundreds of people of the last seven years if they read or knew the Consititution or basic American History (even the lame weak redacted shit we learned in HS) and so very few know anything of either, let alone have ever read the words of the Founding Fathers.

TV is a cause, but it is not to blame. You want to know who to blame? Look in a fucking mirror.

Sorry to be so harsh, but after 30 years of tightening Inverted Totalitarianism, Obama's election notwithsatnding, I have run all out of polite and patience.

besides, I'm responsible, too. I looked in a mirror and it was the right thing to do.

Try it, look in that ol' mirror and take your portion of responsibility. It's good for the soul. Each and every one is responsible. Nobody made us stupify and zombify ourselves. They laid the path, but we didn't have to take.

But it was EASY and FUN, not BORING where you have to do a lot of THINKING and stuff.

We chose. And the entire human race, in the long run, will be suffering from our collective decision to abrogate our duties as citizens and even free people, most likely.

Still possible I am wrong about that. But when you look in the mirror, you too, may eventually find the likelihood of that is getting slimmer every day.

[serrano2008]

56. What the f*ck's wrong with you?

You're arguing with me by saying the exact same thing I was saying in my post.

People blame all of the problems with themselves on the TV cause it's easier than looking in a mirror.

Calm down asshat and get off your high horse. Sorry if my post went over your head. Your stupid rant sounds like something I'd see on Celebrity Sober House by a washed up junkie arguing with someone without even comprehending what they're saying.

[tom_paine]

57. Not my fault you can't make yourself clear. Try writing more than one sentence, next time.

Some people use EXTRA WORDS to explain things.

It's called elaboration, fuckwit.

I know, I should have read your mind. No there's NO WAY HUMANLY POSSIBLE that anyone could have misinterpreted your one liner.

Listen, you pusillanimous asshole, your post didn't go "over my head". IT WAS UNCLEAR!

Maybe, idiot, if you want to be clear, you might use some extra words to MAKE YOURSELF CLEAR.

Like you, in your second post, I am using extra words to make sure you understand me.

Understand me now, dickless, and let me be CLEAR: If you had simply civilly pointed out to me that I had misinterpreted your post, I would have happily and civilly apologized, because that part and ONLY that part of your response is true.

Go back and read that one-liner of your first post. If I was TRYING to make people be unsure of which I meant, to simply just not blame the TV or do we blame ourselves, as well, then I would write a crappy, weakly-written one-liner using exactly the sme ambiguities you did.

If I was TRYING to be unclear in what I was saying, I would have said exactly what you said.

YOU wrote your OP unclearly, and with too much brevity to fully make your quip. I made a mistake, primarily because you couldn't spare an extra sentence to make yourself clear, which you did, but one post too late. But it was my mistake in the end, and had you pointed that out civilly I would have happily apologized.

But now you force me to understand that I may have misinterpreted your off-the-cuff quip, but that was because you gave it the elaboration and clarity of a five-year-old.

Maybe I do sometimes get up on a high horse, but at least I can admit it. How 'bout you, fuckwit?

You write sloppy unclear shit, and then you take me TO task because YOU write like a five-year-old and I didn't immediately figure out what you meant by your incomplete and unclear quip?

Blame rape victims for wearing sexy clothes, much?

:rofl:

OK, now I got my rant out. I will apologize to you for perhaps being a bit harsh and on my high horse when I replied. I thought saying "you missed the point" might have been a bit to harsh for what I meant. I am genuinely sorry for that.

I am NOT sorry for further explaining and defending myself, as well as returning your cursing and insults, in the text above. But maybe, we can call it even now and start over.

I apologized, and am willing to now bury the hatchet. If you are not, just post back some more uncivil shit, and I'll know to put you on ignore.

All you had to do was be civil, and I would have responded with a civil apology...

Maybe we can try again.

[conscious evolution]

68. Don't be so hard on yourself

and others.
Great rant and all but I have to disagree with the idea that we ourselves are totally to blame for the ills brought on by television.It was the TVs that lulled us into a zombie state that brought on the apathy and disenfranchisment from reality.

[mdmc]

58. the

boob tube

[Bucky]

60. You must have premium cable

Night after night I watch. Still... no boobs.

[Bucky]

59. I feel the same way about puppy-hammers. If you outlaw puppy hammers...

...only outlaws will hammer puppies.

[NeedleCast]

61. Self Righteousness, Mostly

Telling other people what they should do and not do during their spare time is a DU favorite.

[BlooInBloo]

70. It's the standard way of avoiding taking any blame for one's own idiocy.

[NuttyFluffers]

71. it is not an interactive technology. a massive captive audience w/o immediate dialog among peers

in and of itself the components of anything can neutral. TV is film, audio, content, context, and broadcast. individually those things are tools. but combined together into a larger tool, you create a new device that has its own constructed context. this is where sociology and humanities thrive; we study human constructions, particularly complex ones -- noting why they were made and what sort of influence the construct eventually 'exerts' back. sort of like understanding why corporations, a legal construct, is ripe for abuse due to its immortal nature and primacy of profit over all. all constructs can be changed, but that's up to people to recognize the construct as it is, what it is composed of, what might be missing, and to get the will to actively change it.

the nature of television is absolutely ripe for abuse. it isolates the audience (thus culling audience interaction from each other, or the performers). the problem is the lack of interaction due to the manner of broadcast; it allows no dialog, only monologue. it gets the viewers into the same passively accepting sedate state used when watching any performance, such as a theater. however unlike other venues there's no herd environment of immediate feedback to challenge the world view presented. thus in essence it is the perfect tool for propaganda.

and unless you find propaganda to be inherently neutral (a blatant contradiction in terms), therefore TV is by its natural current structure not neutral. and how you define propaganda, often viewed by a majority of world views as stifling, coercive, and controlling often leading to fanaticism and destruction -- and therefore evil, helps define the nature of tv. so, an epic construct of mass propaganda DOES NOT HAVE TO BE USED IN AN EVIL FORM, but that does not take away that its very nature is geared towards evil. the same can be said for high interest rates (or interest rates in general), often remembered throughout the world by an older name -- usury. not everyone who uses interest rates within the confines of a single action needs to use it in an evil manner. however the sheer cumulative effect of using something expertly designed for evil intents by its nature tends to accrue evil in its wake.

ipso facto, TV (as currently constructed) is Evil.

thank you, i'm here all week! try the veal!

O8)

[omega minimo]

72. Because it trains for staring at a screen, instant gratification and responding to two line OPs

:popcorn: