When I get off from work, I practice dance, work out, and do research on whatever is currently interesting to me. Oh, and I always make sure to find time for television. The latest shows I watch on Netflix before I go to sleep are Star Trek: Next Generation and The X-Files.
I feel the need to “plug in” as soon as I finish skyping my fiancee. We only see each other on the weekends, so anxiety tends to creep up as I fall asleep alone. The voices of TV people make it all better.
If I could sum up what I think it takes to be a better person, it would be to pay more attention - to thoughts, surroundings, mistakes, feelings, etc. Most people, including myself, know deep down that watching television probably isn’t all that great for developing this skill. Research by Robert Kubey confirms this suspicion:
reading produces somewhat more beta activity (“fast waves” associated with increased mental activity and attention) than television viewing, which causes somewhat more alpha activity (“slow waves” associated with relaxation and less mental arousal)... In other words, in terms of concentration, television viewing is a low-involvement activity. The paradoxical consequence is that low-cognitive effort by the viewer may make it harder, not easier, to continue concentrating. (Television and the Quality of Life 135)
If one TV session weakens my ability to focus, then how does habitual viewing affect my daily behavior? Part of me is always aware that instead of watching I could read a book or go straight to bed, but the times I have delineated from my usual routine are few and far between. Kubey describes something called attentional inertia, or the tendency to watch more TV than planned due to the increased alpha activity mentioned above. Netflix’s recently introduced autoplay feature imitates TV’s relentless stream to take advantage of this hypnotic effect. And it works - it is always easier to let the next episode play.
It is also easier to do what you did the day before; to keep the same shit going and let life’s autoplay do its thing. What would it take to push pause?
A symbol is required: one that is vivid and uncomplicated and manages to drive home the long-term impact of watching hours and hours of TV. There is a simple exercise that can be used to construct such a figure. First, estimate how many hours you have spent watching television for the past several months. For me, I am going to count the times I have watched by myself on weekdays since I moved to Texas, which is about 1 hour a day for 40 weeks. That amounts to about 200 hours (and that is a conservative estimate). Next, calculate how long it takes you to read. I probably read on average 1 chapter of a book in an hour (once again, staying conservative). If we say that the average book has about 10 chapters, then that would mean I could have read 20 books by now if I had read instead of watched TV.
It is painful to face a loss of that degree. By calculating this number, I have plotted an unforgiving bearing on the real opportunities I have forfeited in favor of watching TV. As depressing as this new perspective is, it clearly shows what direction I have to take to change.
So, goodbye Mulder, Scully, and your strange sexual tension. Bye Picard, oh captain my captain. Stay gold Riker. Wharf, keep hustling. Bye Counselor Troi, I will miss your obvious observations. Geordi, we cool. Data, you’re my hero. Wesley...oh god Wesley...
Don’t worry, I’ll see you all this weekend.
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