I heart xkcd
Art Project
Saturday, August 9, 2014
What is T.V. doing to us?
I have just finished reading chapter two of Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman and It made me realized how television, at least to some degree, has influenced our lives. Prior to the invention of the television, people spent a good portion of their leisure time reading books. Books for a long time had a major influence on the way people think and believe through the opinions and messages they contained. However, they did not have as big of an impact as the invention of the television did. The television gained popularity due to the variety of entertainment it had and soon began to consume many hours of the average person's week. It is quite astonishing how we are influenced by what we watch on t.v. It may seem crazy but there are people that live their lives based off of reality television as well as maniac that decide to go on a rampage and kill people because they saw it on t.v.Clearly television does influence us but how much does it play a role in our daily lives? Is every action of our lives based on television?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
It is astonishing how quick television started to consume our lives. Sadly, most of my summer was spent watching TV. I've always had trouble doing my homework, but I found it to be more challenging this summer. Television is my problem. Whenever I try doing homework, I get the urge to put down my book and watch a little TV. I tell myself that I'll just take a break but I'm just lying to myself. Before I know it, it's already the end of the day and I realize I never got back to the book. Television really does have a stronger impact on life than books ever did. I used to love reading books, but I don't remember letting books consume most of my day. Days feel shorter now because I'm always watching TV. However, these summer books are actually helping me regain my days and focus. They're opening my eyes to problems I never noticed or never paid much attention to. I'm glad we were assigned these books and that I find it easier to keep my TV off. I wouldn't want to become a maniac like Matthew suggested :)
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I think that our generation bases a lot of our actions on what we see on television. Pop culture is what basically shapes "who" we are and how we act, or at least that's how I see things. It's like everything that we find "cool" is from a show or something, and it we're pretty much letting it influence us more than it should. I feel as though, people are reading less and watching more because it's easier to just sit there and look at the screen as opposed to actually reading, flipping pages, and analyzing the meaning of a book. I mean, I love reading but laziness always gets the better of me so I no longer read as often as I should (especially since I got Netflix). Just like Jocelyn, I've wasted pretty much most of my summer watching t.v. I think I re-watched all of The Vampire Diaries episodes on Netflix - which is stupid, I know. Anyway, these books have made me realize just how much our technology is affecting us, and I'm sure most of us want to make some lifestyle changes before school starts.
ReplyDeleteI've spent most of my time on Netflix too! I sometimes find myself watching random things that I've never heard of when I could seriously be reading and doing homework. T.V. has really got me hooked. I honestly need to make some lifestyle changes.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI am the same way and I know there are many more people who are like this. When I am on Twitter, I repeatedly see the tweet "Netflix is life." I sometimes even feel the same way. This is a little embarrassing, but I have seen all the seasons of Pretty Little Liars three times each. I am so obsessed with the show. It shapes my everyday life. I listen to the music from the show, I buy the magazines, and I shop from the clothing line. Television undoubtedly plays a huge role in our lives.
ReplyDeleteIt is saddening how essential television is to some people. I wouldn't say it's essential to my personal everyday life, but it plays a part. I always make sure that I set my recording for Teen Wolf and Big Brother, but for some people, it has become a priority. A statistic shows that the average American watches more than 5 hours of live television, then spends another 32 minutes a day on time-shifted television, an hour using the Internet on a computer, an hour and seven minutes on a smartphone and two hours, 46 minutes listening to the radio and from personal experience, I think some of these numbers could be higher. The sad part is that sometimes, we don't even realize how much it is affecting us.
ReplyDelete