Dumping The Tv?

[havok579257]

there is good stuff to watch on tv. things that can help you grow spiritually. i mean we as catholics have our own 24/7 catholic channel. just think how many times the pope is on ewtn. not having a tv causes you to miss this. not to mention the news. i mean just think about not having tv on 9/11. unless your consistantly sitting at the computer, you would have had no idea what went on at the time. also the chili miners. you would miss all breaking news.

as many others have said, sports is another example on tv that can help a family grow together. you would miss the olympics since they are not on the radio.

to me, getting rid of tv is just secluding yourself from part of the real world. i see exactly what she means about living in a bubble.

[Era Might]

[quote name='havok579257' timestamp='1292711228' post='2193377']as many others have said, sports is another example on tv that can help a family grow together. you would miss the olympics since they are not on the radio.
[/quote]
This statement is the heart of the problem, as I see it. On the one hand, you say that sports "can help" a family grow together. Ok. But then you say:

[quote]
to me, getting rid of tv is just secluding yourself from part of the real world. i see exactly what she means about living in a bubble.[/quote]
You've made a giant leap here. Now no longer is television something that "can do" something. Now it's something that you must have in order to live fully in "the real world." A virtual world thus becomes "the real world."

[quote name='havok579257' timestamp='1292711228' post='2193377']i mean just think about not having tv on 9/11. unless your consistantly sitting at the computer, you would have had no idea what went on at the time.
[/quote]
There is honestly nothing I find more absurd in the modern world than sitting in our living rooms and watching people die.

I can tell you what went on at the time in 2 words: people died. How does watching people die on a virtual reality box connect us to "the real world"? People are dying in the streets outside our houses every day. Watching them on TV isn't going to make them any more real to society. It's going to further remove us from them, because watching TV is a passive act. Rather than people acting in the world, a televised world is a world where the world "happens" "to you."

Edited December 18, 2010 by Era Might

[havok579257]

[quote name='Era Might' timestamp='1292711953' post='2193380']
This statement is the heart of the problem, as I see it. On the one hand, you say that sports "can help" a family grow together. Ok. But then you say:


You've made a giant leap here. Now no longer is television something that "can do" something. Now it's something that you must have in order to live fully in "the real world." A virtual world thus becomes "the real world."


There is honestly nothing I find more absurd in the modern world than sitting in our living rooms and watching people die.

I can tell you what went on at the time in 2 words: people died. How does watching people die on a virtual reality box connect us to "the real world"? People are dying in the streets outside our houses every day. Watching them on TV isn't going to make them any more real to society. It's going to further remove us from them, because watching TV is a passive act. Rather than people acting in the world, a televised world is a world where the world "happens" "to you."
[/quote]


television for recreation is something you can do to bring the family together. what i was talking about when i said tv in the real world dealt with the news of the day. if your ignoring the news and ignoring whats going on in politics, government, tragidies and such then you are living in a bubble.

if you really think 9/11 coverage was just about people dying then you are seriously jaded. it was about so much more. another perfect example was the chili miners. watching them as they were rescued and watching them praise God was a sight to see. yeah you could read about it a day later on the internet but so much was left out in the small articles written. watching those men get rescued and the first thing they do is fall to their knees, pray and thank God was a true sight to see. something that just does not have the same effect when reading the written word.

[TeresaBenedicta]

[quote name='havok579257' timestamp='1292716153' post='2193381']
television for recreation is something you can do to bring the family together. what i was talking about when i said tv in the real world dealt with the news of the day. if your ignoring the news and ignoring whats going on in politics, government, tragidies and such then you are living in a bubble.

if you really think 9/11 coverage was just about people dying then you are seriously jaded. it was about so much more. another perfect example was the chili miners. watching them as they were rescued and watching them praise God was a sight to see. yeah you could read about it a day later on the internet but so much was left out in the small articles written. watching those men get rescued and the first thing they do is fall to their knees, pray and thank God was a true sight to see. something that just does not have the same effect when reading the written word.
[/quote]

You don't need the television to keep up with the news. We never watch the news at home (it's all local stories that hardly count as "news" in the first place). The internet keeps you more than informed.

[MissScripture]

[quote name='havok579257' timestamp='1292711228' post='2193377']
there is good stuff to watch on tv. things that can help you grow spiritually. i mean we as catholics have our own 24/7 catholic channel. just think how many times the pope is on ewtn. not having a tv causes you to miss this. not to mention the news. i mean just think about not having tv on 9/11. unless your consistantly sitting at the computer, you would have had no idea what went on at the time. also the chili miners. you would miss all breaking news.

as many others have said, sports is another example on tv that can help a family grow together. you would miss the olympics since they are not on the radio.

to me, getting rid of tv is just secluding yourself from part of the real world. i see exactly what she means about living in a bubble.
[/quote]
You would also have to be constantly sitting at the tv to find out about something like 9/11. Honestly, the news is one reason I would toss the tv. Newscasters do nothing but annoy the snot out of me, and most of the news tends to lead me towards despair. I find the internet a much more effective way of getting my news. In fact, with the Chilean miners, the only time I even heard about them on TV was not until the day they were being rescued. I heard about them soley from the internet up to that point. Really, if you have the internet, you're just as "connected" as if you use a TV, and possibly more so, since you're not at the mercy of just what the newscasters want to show you.

[havok579257]

[quote name='MissScripture' timestamp='1292716748' post='2193384']
You would also have to be constantly sitting at the tv to find out about something like 9/11. Honestly, the news is one reason I would toss the tv. Newscasters do nothing but annoy the snot out of me, and most of the news tends to lead me towards despair. I find the internet a much more effective way of getting my news. In fact, with the Chilean miners, the only time I even heard about them on TV was not until the day they were being rescued. I heard about them soley from the internet up to that point. Really, if you have the internet, you're just as "connected" as if you use a TV, and possibly more so, since you're not at the mercy of just what the newscasters want to show you.
[/quote]


i wouldn't say your at the mercy of the newscasters since with the invention of cable tv, there is easily over 100 different news programs a day. i heard about the chili miners from the tv. the news shows i watched touched on the chili miners just about every day they were trapped.

[IcePrincessKRS]

[quote name='homeschoolmom' timestamp='1292633948' post='2193242']
I couldn't quite find our answer among your choices on the first question: We have cable, but only so we can get the most basic "regular" chanels. (We are too far out to use an antenna)... So, while we have cable, we don't have a lot of channels. Our tv is on a lot, though. But mostly for watching dvds.
[/quote]

Yeah, none of the options fit our exact situation. We don't have cable. We do not own an antenna, I am not even sure if we could pull in local channels if we did. I DO have the "usual" gaming consoles and we stream netflix through those. I also use them as glorified DVD players; we don't use them for gaming most of the time, and when we do (when the kids are up and about) it's nearly always child friendly multi-player games that they can do together. I frequently allow the kids to watch a couple frivolous movies each week, and I use netflix to stream documentaries and nature shows to supplement their school work on a regular basis (sometimes they are just more interested if they watch it). So, all in all, I have it on for an hour or two (depending on movie length) a few times a week. There are also two 30 minute home movies I allow the kids to watch any time they want (there is a back story on that which I won't bother going into right now, but I have my reasons).

If the cable companies offered a "you pick 10 channels for $xx.xx (reasonably priced)" I would totally sign up. The top channels I want and none of the excess trash would be agreeable to me... as it is now... not worth the expense.

[Lilllabettt]

I would think tv would be preferred to internet. TV is something families can do together; usually the internet is something people do alone ...

[TeresaBenedicta]

[quote name='Lilllabettt' timestamp='1292720067' post='2193393']
I would think tv would be preferred to internet. TV is something families can do together; usually the internet is something people do alone ...
[/quote]

For news?

Eh, I guess. Although I generally wouldn't want my children watching the news. If I had children, of course. I guess I don't consider news to be a family activity.

[Era Might]

[quote name='havok579257' timestamp='1292716153' post='2193381']what i was talking about when i said tv in the real world dealt with the news of the day. if your ignoring the news and ignoring whats going on in politics, government, tragidies and such then you are living in a bubble.[/quote]
I decide what's relevant to my life. Just because the news on TV says something, doesn't mean I need to know about it. I tend to share Henry David Thoreau's distaste of the news:

[quote]And I am sure that I never read any memorable news in a newspaper. If we read of one man robbed, or murdered, or killed by accident, or one house burned, or one vessel wrecked, or one steamboat blown up, or one cow run over on the Western Railroad, or one mad dog killed, or one lot of grasshoppers in the winter, -- we never need read of another. One is enough. If you are acquainted with the principle, what do you care for a myriad instances and applications? To a philosopher all news, as it is called, is gossip, and they who edit and read it are old women over their tea. Yet not a few are greedy after gossip.

--Henry David Thoreau, "Walden"[/quote]

[havok579257]

[quote name='Era Might' timestamp='1292722289' post='2193400']
I decide what's relevant to my life. Just because the news on TV says something, doesn't mean I need to know about it. I tend to share Henry David Thoreau's distaste of the news:
[/quote]


i guess i don't have such a cynical view of world events as you. to me, what goes on in washington and in my local government is important to me. how our candidiates are performing and what they are doing is important to me. what laws they are passing or trying to pass are important to me.

also to me, i don't think if i have seen one death or act of heroism, i have seen enough. refusing to acknowledge what happens in the real world, to me, is not a smart way to go through life. that's just my opinion though.

[Lilllabettt]

I watched a ton of news as a kid. I could name all the members of Bill Clinton's cabinet. We would sit around and watch the news and then discuss the political implications. I was no smarter than the average kid. I remember the first Gulf War because I saw the oil fields burning and we had a discussion about why war happens. I remember the day the Soviet Union fell because we were watching them lower the USSR flag and my Dad was telling me why it was important. That was an incredible learning opportunity for me. As a 6 year old I could understand and say wow, I'm witnessing history.

Watching the news can fit in very well with the spiritual life. I know of a number of religious communities, even a few very traditional ones, that at least make it an option to watch the news every evening. (These same traditional communities ban the internet) I know of a couple that make it a mandatory community exercise. It helps them to reach around the world in prayer.

So .. the tv can be educational and spiritually enriching. But it depends. If you sit alone and stare at E! Hollywood News, then that is pure rubbish and your brain is rotting. But there can be definite benefits to tv viewing that can be missed.

[Teen_Catholic]

My parents think that tv is evil. I disagree, and though my opinion doesn't matter, I think that television is okay as long as you watch shows that don't go against Church teaching and not spend more than an hour or two a day watching it. We watch movies on Netflix, but my parents strictly limit that and they think that it is a waste of time.

[WillT]

Well, you learn something new every day. I always thought chilies were grown but it turns out they are mined!

I keed, I keed.

Back on topic, I don't have too much of a problem with TV. I have it on a fair amount as background noise though my wife and I do have a few shows we watch on a regular basis. Mostly I use it for college football and educational shows, PBS and the like, though I wish we had a BBC-esque channel that would cover important cultural or intellectual subjects with a bit more depth. Youtube "Brian Magee philosophy" to see what I mean.

Edited December 19, 2010 by WillT

[Luigi]

I stopped watching TV a long time ago - I was sitting there watching a comedy, the point of which was would Woman A agree to sleep with Man B, and I realized I was investing a lot of emotion and time staring at colored dots on a piece of glass, focused on people who didn't even exist.

As far as the news goes... I missed 9/11 because I was working. When someone brought in a television, they just kept showing the same thing over & over again. The anchors would ask questions of the reporters in the street, who didn't know anything, so they'd ask people in the street, who didin't know anything, so they'd go back to the anchor, who didn't know anything. But they were calling it news. They did the same thing when Ronald Reagan was shot - in fact, two of the three networks announced that his press secretary James Brady had died (only ABC waited for confirmation); in fact, Brady lived for years after he was shot. ... I've seen enough real events that went to the news to know the extent to which the get skewed when they're aired - at this point, when I do watch a news story, I ask myself what [i]really [/i]went on (this is especially true of investigative stories).... I think it's unethical, and perhaps predatory, to stick a microphone in the face of a mother whose child has just burned to death in their apartment (or a woman whose husband has just been killed in a car accident, or a father whose daughter just committed suicide at college, etc.) to get her reaction for the 10 o'clock news - the TV vultures are making handsome salaries off the real suffering of real people, and they compete with each other to see who can make it the most heart-wrenching rather than doing something to help those in need.... I didn't see the Chilean miners come up, but I prayed for them every day when they were down there. I don't need the visual image to know that my prayers were answered. And if they had never been brought up, I wouldn't have needed to see that either.

What happens in Pennsylvania, Oregon, Chile, Democratic Republic of Congo, Benin, or right here in my own home town will happen whether I'm aware of it or not - and the news certainly can't/doesn't show all of it anyway. That's not cynical, that's just the way it is. People have always shared the news, but it took a long time for most of it to get around. Now with electronic media, we can get it much faster. But we still can't change/improve the situation being reported. So we wind up being news vultures just like the reporters, staring at ghoulish images from Haiti's earthquake - I can react to that by sending a check to a charity, but if I send the check today or tomorrow, it's not going to make a huge difference to the person pinned under a collapsed building right now.