Cancel your TellaVision Programming

[xi_o_teaz]

Recently I've been thinking about an essay I wrote a while back, and then I saw that it is National TV Turnoff Week in today's paper. M and I have been both anti-TV for years now, and to support more people in this endeavor, I am reprinting my essay--one of my personal favorites--here again, for those of you who support more open-ended Programming

Comments

[xi_o_teaz]

completely

[ybodo]

Excuses that they "don't need to quit" or "can quit anytime (they) want" only further prove the depth of Addiction, as any Addiction Specialist will tell you.

I don't think that's a very good indicator of addiction. These would be true also for things to which someone isn't addicted and just had no reason to quit.

The litmus test for Addiction is to see whether the Addict-in-question can Quit for one year.

Most people would be hard pressed to quit anything for one year, addicted or not.

I think withdrawal symptoms may be a good indication though.

[xi_o_teaz]

Excuses that they "don't need to quit" or "can quit anytime (they) want" only further prove the depth of Addiction, as any Addiction Specialist will tell you.

I don't think that's a very good indicator of addiction. These would be true also for things to which someone isn't addicted and just had no reason to quit.

Most people would be hard pressed to quit anything for one year, addicted or not.

I would completely agree, and this is one of my problems with the fields of psychology and psychiatry--the negative and often permanent Label of "addict". But I used these examples because I was writing it from a rather academic Psychology SoC. The psychological definition of "addiction" is from this field, as are most of the points.

I think withdrawal symptoms may be a good indication though.

...and that's one of my points. Many people will go to great lengths to find out about the story lines of their pet shows. I've personally witnessed countless people who will drop their whole lives to catch their pet show.

Now, I'm not morally

[daoistraver]

very good!

Also, oddly enough at this point in history, the "programmers" have grown up being "programmed" themselves, so it's become a strange loop.

Two recommendations:
one is a book written by the son of an old-school advertising big-wig, called "The Context of No Context" - amazing book.

The second is a wonderful song by the music tapes called "The television tells us". You can download it here:
http://www.thestonecutters.net/wodowo/tmt/

it's track 12.

ERRATA

[daoistraver]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0871136740/002-0588799-2679221?v=glance&n=283155

The book is actually "within the context of no context"