Theos-Talk Archives (November 1995 Message tl00225)

Hello Ann and the others.

On 26 199510 Ann E. Bermingham wrote:

> The public television channel here in Chicago shows reruns of Britain's Are
> You Being Served? Keeping Up Appearances and Masterpiece Theater along
> with British mysteries. How is television in the UK? My husband and I used
> to love Dr. Who.

Television is a really sad phenomenon.

There are so many devious facets upon this matter that I won't even want
to mention them all.

1. But the most harmful effect in TV-watching is that it steals a person's
most valuable property - time.

Time is the only real material posession we have. Nowadays people are
very busy at managing their living; they work hard and take care of their
families. So they already are very occupied. When they would have some
time to develop their thinking psyche and spiritual consciousness - what
they do? Watch TV.

2. TV destroys Imagination.

Our minds have a capability to produce images from within - imagination.
When this apparatus is put against a machine which shoots rapidly
changing pictures at the speed of 25 pcs/second they are not moving
pictures only rapidly changing it can't compete with it. After years
of conditioning to this notorious habit our brains accustom to get
"images" from outside and after that the imagination is lost.

3. It is imbossible to think when watching TV.

I have noticed that there are two different things; observation and
thinking. So when we watch e.g. a tree we must turn our attention away
from watching when we want to reflect upon what we observed. In normal
life this occurs very fast and unnoticed but it is so. I think. When
you watch television the images change very quicly so you have to wacth
them continously. And there is no time for thinking. Have you noticed
how hard it is to follow some document program which would require thinking?
At least in Finland many people say that they go to wacth TV - to relax
so that they don't have to think. I think this is literally true.

On the other hand. Feeling emotions happen at the same time with
sensation - when we taste something tasty or bad see something beatiful
smell something - we instantly feel antipahty delight joy etc. When
watching television it is impossible to think but all emotions go
through! I think this is a very dangerous combination.

4. TV is a major part of mass-media mass-media is the major tool to
stupefy and control peoples.

- This would be an other issue.

5. People are 'unconsciouss' 'at sleep' to wake up is very difficult
and requires a lot of conscious effort. If a person is conditioned to
tv-watching from early age it will be quite a miracle if he/she ever wake up.

6. Some people are addicted to TV.

Virtual Reality is soon a Reality. I think that those people who are now
accustomed to TV have no hope after first contact to VR.

7. Radiation.

8. Nursing kids by tv.

9. Violence.

10. Bad collective consiousness.

11. Literal brain-damage.

Israelian scientist Moshe Aronson made a research in which he noted
that watching television may and probably will generate
Altzheimer-disease and to destroy some brains. The mechanism is
shortly; in television broadcasts the light entertainment and grave
matters and disasters change quite rapidly. A person watching them don't
react outwardily like shouting laughing or crying. This causes a
stress-hormon clycokorticostisteroid or something like that to appear
this stress-hormon affects a hippocampus in brains - damaging that. The
result: Altzheimer disease. I have the info of the original source if
somebody wants to check

Do you remember the 'Orwellian' dystopia in which people were
brainwashed by screens at their homes? Is it not the present situation?
But it has been done so cleverly that people do it voluntarily - in the
Orwell's book they were forced to it.

I have not watched television for at least five years - I don't like to
watch it and I never have time to sit and occupy my mind with that stuff.

I have not followed mass-media at general neither for some years.

Can or will you live without television?

Peace.
aki korhonen.
Oulu.Finland.