NEWS: Kill Your Television (It's Official This Time)

Certainly takes a long time for TV-watching kids...

True. Shame his alternate hypotheses were so poorly presented, though. He should perhaps ask first whether there are more kids now with problems paying attention, and then discuss TV in that light.

(No offence, yer onner.)

What exactly do you mean with "actual" humans? Contemporary humans?

That's certain. But I do not reject the argument as false, I reject the argument as frequently misused.

While statistical analysis doesn't prove things, in the purest philosophical sense, it does establish degrees of probability. Given the extraordinarily high standards of scientific and academic publications, the probability that the conclusions of this study are true are likewise extraordinarily high. High enough that it's imprudent to dismiss the study as merely a long winded logical fallacy.

You strongly suggested that very course of action when you compared the study to clearly incorrect (but funny) correlation-causation pairs such as "ketchup and democracy" or "tulips and protestantism" and criticized the study for possibly ignoring "social status, intelligence, region, religion, education" when the study clearly did account for such differences.

While I completely agree with this, I can't help but feel you've moderated your opinion on the matter from "this study proves nothing and should be treated with caution" to "this study is not a proof, it is evidence which should not be ignored."

I was reading the other day about the findings of a study to determine if DVD learning programs like Baby Einstein actually worked. As it turns out the children hooked up to baby Einstein didn't do as well as the children who did not watch it.

It stands to reason that if you engage a child's mind with a barrage of images they are going to require that same level of involvement from the world around them. It's sensory overload in the same way they are finding the multi tasking of young adults to be affecting their educational growth.

Is this conclusive? No. However with the level of education dropping like the prices at Walmart and armed with what seems to be solid enough theory I will not be introducing TV to my still yet to be conceived children. I will instead force them to do horrid things like read and play outside.

Then again I may be biased because I usually watch movies as I find Tv to be mind numbingly ridiculous. I like a few shows like the Daily Show and Colbert, also been watching the debates but even those you can get on youtube.

Fun fact: I work in broadcast television! I'm the devil!

Thank you, Dictionary Girl, for a stimulating article that created this intriguing thread. Sorry, but I gotta mention that the first McDonalds was built in 1955.

Actually, I read about that study concerning Baby Einstein products as well, but in the article I read, there was a hypothesis put forth: the reason that the children who watched did not do as well as those who did, was that parents would plunk their kids down in front of the TV and go do something else while the kids watched. The videos/DVDs state right on the back cover that they are meant to be interactive, as in, Mom or Dad sit with the child while they watch it, and discuss it while they are watching. You can watch virtually any show with kids, no matter how ridiculous or mind-numbing, and get a good result if you interact with them. My kids are the perfect example - my eldest was a Barney fiend (*shudder*) and she's now in the gifted and French Immersion programs, getting straight A's; my middle daughter was addicted to Teletubbies (*shudder*) and she's also in French Immersion, getting A's and B's. But then, I also read to them constantly. Both are now avid readers; although they still like to watch some TV, or play a video game or two, they'd much rather be outside 90% of the time.

Oh my god. All you 'T.V. Is Evil' people are like those annoying Christians that feel the need to work god and jesus into EVERY fucking conversation. If you don't like T.V.... DON'T FUCKING WATCH IT!

fucking crybabies, I swear.

I clearly read a poor article! They only pointed out that the baby Einstein children learned three words less on average then the non Einstein children. I admittedly did not dig deeper but I do not have children yet so I have an excuse!

It can be argued that your children are genetically more intelligent than other children thus giving them an edge despite being exposed to... Teletubbies!!! The baby sun was so creepy.

I think all an all it's tough to say, "Do this and your children will be geniuses!" because there are so many factors that go into intelligence. I do believe parental involvement is paramount to a child's development regardless of other factors.

I think I understand how the programs work: You watch them with your kids, and the spare points of IQ leaving your head because the shows are MINDNUMBINGLY BAD are siphoned into your kid!

Persons with opinions not mediated via journalists.

I thought tv making you stupid was common knowledge.

I killed mine long ago.

TV only brings out the stupid in stupid people.

Television is a quite legitimate source of information and entertainment.

Heroin is a quite legitimate source of pain relief.

It is neither TV nor heroin's fault that people don't know how to use them to their best advantage.

silly.

i guess if addicts had the proper "knowlege" about how to use heroin everything would be peachy.

the last person i heard who tried to use that kind of ignorant logic was a stoned freshman undergrad

Bahaha... so the kids are total parasites... small wonder so many of the elderly end up with Alzheimers. Someone should do a study and see if genius kids end up with Alzheimers afflicted parents.

Last time I heard someone use your kind of logic it was a tightassed, concrete, slightly addled grandmother.

The substances are neutral and indifferent. It is humans use of them that comprises the problems.

And yes. If people had proper knowledge about themselves and the world around them they would not become "addicts;" a word that simply describes obsession and attachment, grandma.

your logic reflects someone with a basic lack of experiential knowledge of what they're talking about.

have fun up in that ivory tower.

nuff said.

Oh?

I guess my 25 years working with people with mental illness and chemical addictions in inner city environments was all just fun and games, up here in my ivory tower.

And then there is my own personal experience with a wide variety of illicit substances, including a long and loving relationship with the substance in question (and, of course a little TV too.) Here's the shocker: Never once did the heroin put itself in my arm and it didn't addict me. I addicted myself to it.

Here's the point: You disagree with me? Fucking get in line, but please don't think you know anything about me based on this little tete a tete. You know dick. About me least of all.

Nuff said? Heh...

Akin to the image of a sore loser who takes his ball and goes home.

What bothers me so much about television is it's frequent use by parents as a babysitter. I don't have to read a study to see that if you stick a child in front of the tube for three hours a day, he/she will have attention problems regardless of what programming they are allowed to watch... Seems to me that this should be common sense...

Okay, just curious, your profile says you are single, do you have children? Or is this just one of those "I don't have any kids but I know how to raise them" kinds of statements?

hm. i understand. i really do. give it up anyway. see, many things we love are not helping us. drugs. sugar. there are many examples. but tv is one of the worst becase its insidious. its made to be. it works on you precisely because you are not aware of its doing so. this is the whole theory of modern advertising. believe me, they know what theyre doing.

the thing is once its gone you will be nervous for a week andthen you will notice so much more in your life. more time,. more energy, more YOU.

take a hold of life. when youve worked all day, dont go home. go bicycling , or acting or rock climbing or .,,.,. anything but what you feel like doing: drinking beer and watching tv. you have to. youre going to die you know. remember this.

Meh. Like everything, moderation is the key.

Television is not a drug, nor is it an addiction. It is a legitimate source of information and entertainment.

Watch what you want, turn it off when you don't want to watch anything. Read, play music, learn a trade. Having a rich life does not mean having a television free life, it just means having something other than a television life.