the usual suspects

Yep, those are some pretty horrific statistics.

I would be really interested in seeing the comparable stats for other countries. It's easy to single out the US for ridicule in this area, because it's been a hot topic among US educators and medical professionals for decades now (I remember folks hollering about it when I was a small child), and there are innumerable studies to draw statistics from. But the numbers would be far more meaningful, if placed in a global context. I would honestly be surprised if Europe's numbers were *significantly* better than ours.

Of course, that doesn't lessen the importance of the negative effects we're seeing in the States. People like my sister (the religious one), who have no television sets at all in their home, are vanishingly rare. And I myself have two televisions in my apartment, at least one of which is usually on when I'm home -- even if I'm doing something else -- just for company. (Although, interestingly enough, I've been home with my squinty eye all day, and the tv hasn't been turned on yet. Hmm.)

I followed some links from the story you pointed out, SL, and wound up ordering some funny-in-a-sad-way stickers from TV-Turnoff.org.

In a way, it's ironic -- when I was a child, and a confirmed bookworm, my mother (who rationed our television viewing pretty strictly) used to shoo me outdoors all the time, telling me not to be such a hermit, with my nose always in a book. Many anti-television parents these days would be overjoyed if their kids buried themselves in books...

Oh, yeah, I agree with you. And funny thing is, I hardly miss my TV since it died. If I desperately want to watch something, there's still the family TV, but without having my *own* TV, I've been doing a fair bit more reading or getting outside more. Anyway, with all the crap on TV, it's not like I'm missing anything that I can't Ahem or get from friends. ::grins::

(And ow, hope you feel better. If you want any company, feel free to ping me on AustNet. I'm not in the channel, but I'm around.)

Also, those stickers? So funny, but yeah, in a sad way.

When I used to visit my folks a couple times a year, out in AZ, I pretty much gave up television for the week or two that I was there - they didn't have (or want) cable, and we were usually busily puttering about doing things in the yard or the kitchen or whatever. It was strangely simple to do. I didn't really miss the tube, 99% of the time.

A major factor in my television viewing is companionship. Given my druthers, I'd go for spending time with Fred, friends, or family, over watching a tv show. But living alone means that there are long stretches when there's nobody else around. I don't mind this at all from a loneliness perspective (I'm a homebody hermit by nature), but I do like to have a little sound about the place from time to time. And music, while I enjoy it, doesn't really fill that need.

I think the reason I haven't had the tv on today may be that I just installed, on Monday, a new program on my computer: MindChimes. I fiddled with the customization options until I got an approximation of the copper windchimes on my mother's back patio in Tucson, and have left it running in the background ever since. It is definitely comforting, both in the sound effects themselves, and in the mental associations they have for me.

TV- What to say about it - it sucks? It's a monsterous waste of time? I have nearly 200 channels and there is nothing on any of them? I've come to realize that the only reason I keep my DirecTV is because on odd occasions there is something on Showtime worth watching. Tonight for instance - a terrific little film with Judy Davis and Richard Dreyfus about a couple driving across the country to go to their sons wedding. The idea is that when they get back, they will divorce - instead they find the reasons that they loved each other along the way.

Next month - Lion in Winter with Patrick Stewart and Glenn Close...

OTOH, I could save a lot of money by downloading these things and having the satellite turned off. I wish I could say that I love to hate it, but the truth is, I don't use it much - except for DVDs...