Why I Quit TV
When I was a young boy, I remembered having a huge wooden television. This monster had a big old dial that you have to turn in order to change the channel. Technology changed fast. It was just a few years later and Cable television became the luxury standard replacing antennas. PBS was a channel we watched if we wanted to learn something and Fox was just entertainment. In the recent years, I’ve noticed a trend that I didn’t like. Reality TV blew up and the shit started going downhill. Every channel became crap. MTV stopped playing music. News channels stopped reporting objectively and worked on feeding us propaganda. I got fed up with the garbage. It was mindless. I’ve quit watching television for about 5 months now. I get most of my information online anyways. The cable subscription wasn’t worth it. It was time to quit.
While I was fine quitting, my girlfriend had a harder time adjusting. Her addiction to MTV’s fake “reality” shows took a toll on her. She was now watching them online. While she argues that I spend hours on the computer, I defend it saying that it is better than tv since I can choose what to read and watch. I like having the control and I like learning about different topics since quitting television.
With my new found knowledge, I have quit eating at fast food restaurants. I have also quit playing video games and I have switch to Linux. After watching “Supersize Me”, I have been eating healthier and I started a new hobby. Working on electric bikes.
Quitting tv has lead me deeper into politics. I love learning how the world works even if it gets me mad. I have since learned to question the world and how things are. I do not like to follow the crowd and I see patterns in different facets of life.
Did you know that television can hypnotize you? They emit these “alpha waves” that move up and down the screen at different intervals. You can’t see them with the naked eye. You can only see them with the help of a video camera recording it. Very interesting.
They say these alpha waves move faster during key events like commercials and such. Maybe they are trying to hypnotize us more to make us consumer zombies. It’s definitely interesting to think about. I guess that’s why we get sudden cravings for certain foods that we just saw on tv. It could be subliminal or both.
Last, I noticed that time goes by fast while watching TV. Not just hourly and daily, but months can fly by. I use to spend 8 plus hours in front of the tv. This while multi-tasking of course. Eating, doing homework (in high school). Anything. There had to be a TV around. Now, I look back on the time and compare it to now. It feel like it’s been at least a year since I stopped watching TV, but I know in reality, it’s only been 5 months. That the nice thing about quitting television, you have much more free time on your hands. Sure, you get bored faster but in order to compensate, your mind explores more. You read more about interesting subjects. Interesting subjects provoke thought. Making good use of leisure has been a skill in and of itself. Before, I would have the attitude of, “I have no time for that.” Now I can do anything I put my mind to. I am being productive. I took up boxing and got into shape. I am just more aware. I can say without a doubt in my mind that quitting television has been the best thing I have ever done. I took the red pill.
