What if all of the TVs went blank?

[blindpig]

Every last one, at least in this country. TV is the great tranquilizer of our society and the greatest device of population management since religion. Better than machine guns. It's not just the vapidity, propaganda and framing of norms which we currently experience today that is problematic. I suspect that there is something about that box of color and motion that has a pernicious effect on the primate mind. Even chimps and gorillas in captivity will spend hours staring at the god damned idiot box and they don't know what the hell is going on. I suspect that the old adage "seeing is believing" is truer than we know.

So what would happen? Madness? Revolution? A Renaissance of radio theater(I'd like that)?

[bumblebee1]

1. People would be forced to find something to do.

There are things to do, ie: listen to the radio, read a book, magazine or newspaper, take up a craft or hobby, learn to play a musical instrument, learn a foreign language. You get the idea. Maybe they might even do something like talk to each other.

[blindpig]

9. Yeah, we might become more human. n/t

[radwriter0555]

27. And ultimately, people would start THINKING instead of letting actors

on the teevee do it for them.

It would be anarchy.

[SoCalDem]

2. There would be a lot of babies born in 9 months or so

:)

[CornField]

3. We'd have to pop in a video.

;)

[txaslftist]

4. Where have you been? We use discs now.

[blindpig]

5. nope, that stuff too

No pretty moving pictures in boxes.:P

[CornField]

15. I'd never get to pee in peace

Dora or Blue's Clues are my only peaceful urination allies.

[kysrsoze]

6. It won't matter. IPTV will soon replace cable TV. TV ain't so bad anyway

The internets will be the next cable tv. Of course, the good thing is that browsers' interests are so splintered and the system is so open that networks as we know them today will likely be completely decentralized, with new programming options brought on cheaply by independents. They will no longer have to have the big bucks to be part of the cable feed.

People need to stop pretending that TV is some great evil. It's an info/entertainment conduit. People want to blame everything on the some outside force, rather than their own shortcomings. There is plenty of crap out there, but there is also:

Olbermann, Nip/Tuck, Real Time with Bill Maher, Daily Show (along with most of Comedy Central), The Shield, Desperate Housewives, Conan O'Brien, LinkTV, etc. When TV becomes two-way and it can see in my house like in 1984, THEN I will be scared.

[blindpig]

14. it's not just the content

I question the effect of the medium itself.

That said, I do watch Real Time, the ONLY tv that I watch.

[kysrsoze]

18. I understand what you're saying. However, that can go both ways too

When used correctly, TV has a great impact on learning potential. Distance learning and videoconferences are very effective. I think any medium has the potential to be abused.

[blindpig]

20. If limited to those applications it might be tolerable. n/t

[Sequoia]

7. Ah, you must be Side Show Bob!

Homer is going get real upset you know.

[Presstitutes]

8. Great question

Linked it at my site: http://www.presstitutes.com/

[crispini]

31. Hey, I love your site!

Welcome to DU! :hi:

[DLnyc]

10. Read somewhere once, and I believe it's true:

The visual cortex, the part of the brain that processes visual information, is so large and complex that critical thought is effectively shut down while visual information is being processed. Hence the saying 'seeing is believing'.

Pretty scary when you think about it.

[blindpig]

17. thanks for the affirmation

that I'm not a complete paranoid screwhead.:toast:

[DLnyc]

23. You're welcome.

And thank you, likewise.

[meegbear]

11. Radio baby, radio

[gauguin57]

12. I just toured a historic house of two early 20th-century piano teachers

The docent of the house-museum reminded us how people were expected to be able to do things to help entertain the family back then because there was no television. Playing the piano and leading family singalongs was a popular activity -- hence, this husband-and-wife piano teaching team had a brisk clientele (and, consequently, a big house and lots of wonderful art and antiques).

I'm strongly thinking about MAKING my TV go (almost) blank. As in, getting out the old rabbit ears (for "The West Wing" and PBS programming) and canceling my worthless cable package.

[leveymg]

13. Garrison Keeler would rule the world, and I would love it.

:popcorn:

[Jose Diablo]

16. TV is hypnotic

I've read someplace that watching TV can place a person in an altered mental state very similar to being hypnotized. People are more susceptible to suggestion in this mental state.

When I watch TV it is like almost everything else disappears and the movie or whatever is on, I am like in the movie, not just watching the movie. Know what I mean?

Most of the time I will read books or surf the net rather than watch TV. I can live without TV.

Sometime I like to watch NOVA or maybe a specific movie thats on.

But the commercials, I don't like how many commercials they show. It's like watching 10 minutes of movie then 10 minutes of commercial. Plus I really dislike watching a movie thats to be continued. ABC does this a lot, gets you started on a story, then you find out at the end it's 'to be continued'. Why can't they show a story from beginning to end?

Reminds me of some of the girls I went out with in high school, always disappointed at the end of the evening because they were 'nice' girls. I learned to prefer naughty girls from those experiences.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

19. Lots of folks in my neighborhood don't watch TV

their kids have longer attention spans than the average youngster, and they tend to be more fit because they are outside doing things more. Some of the kids have taken up useful hobbies, like woodworking or mechanics, with their parent's blessings, as they know these will be useful skills to have.

Me? I watch videos with Sam Waterston in them and sometimes some TLC, but not having TV at all wouldn't bother me. Now, computers are a different story.....

[Viva_La_Revolution]

30. I read an article once that linked attention span problems...

in kids to the amount of time spent watching TV. Theory is that the constant interuptions for commercials damages their ability to concentrate for more than a few minutes.

They're on to something there.

[blindpig]

21. shameless kick n/t

[spanone]

22. Maybe people would start thinking, ya think?

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

32. What will we do without the RW propaganda?

Melonhawg

[murielm99]

24. When our children were 4,6, and 8, our TV broke down.

We did not replace it for a couple of years. We helped our children find many wonderful things to do. Even before that, we had restricted their viewing. Small children do not need all that TV.

When we replaced the TV, they were out of the habit of viewing. I could walk into a room to check up on them, and find them playing board games and reading instead of watching TV. Sometimes, they were actually having conversations with each other!

They reminded me not long ago that when they were under 10, they were not allowed to turn on the TV without permission. I had forgotten that rule. My husband started that one, and it was a wise decision.

We did listen to the radio and to music. They all learned to read before they went to kindergarten. We did not teach them, but we used the library quite a bit, and read to them. Some of our neighbors thought our family was strange. Our strange family grew up to be competent, self-assured and successful. Sometimes I wish we had waited longer to replace the TV.

[cassiepriam]

25. I WOULD BE REALLY HAPPY!!!!!!!!!

Drop kick all of them to the curb.

[BuelahWitch]

26. What's wrong with population management?

You talk as if that's a bad thing...

[blindpig]

29. perhaps I should have been clearer

I was speaking of manipulating the behavior of the populace. I am a maximum supporter of ZPG. Overpopulation is the primary cause of most of our environmental woes.

[Pepper32]

28. Hollywood would collapse

Plastic surgeons would file for unemployment. :shrug: