I'm unplugging my TV
by Josh Staiger
You heard me. No TV at all. Zip.
This means no Southpark, no Futurama, no Family Guy, no Daily Show, no Curb Your Enthusiasm, no Deadwood. Not even any movies on HBO.
As much as I love all of those shows (a lot), I've come to the realization that after I'm dead, no one is going to remember me for how many Larry David arguments I've sucked down nor how well I can recite the words to Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls (may his balls rest in pieces).
TV is evil. TV rots your brain. TV makes you stupid.
Actually - no. I take that back because I'm not sure it's really true. Some of the smartest people I know are those who most enjoy Southpark's toilet humor with great regularity.
The cardinal sin of TV is not that it makes you stupider... at least not directly. The cardinal sin of TV is that it munches up time... time that you could otherwise spend to cook a new dish or study a foreign language or make new friends or get smarter or get laid or fall in love. TV takes time away from the things that matter.
It's amazing how fast life passes you by. One minute you're saying goodbye to your parents and carrying stuff up to your dorm room on your first day of college... the next you're saying goodbye to your college friends as you depart for a new job and a new city... one day you have the misfortune to have to fly home and put one of your best friends in the ground... and before you know it you you've spent more time in a cubicle than you have in the classroom.
And I'm only 24... Just imagine what my dad is thinking right now when he still remembers holding me in a baseball glove that day I came home from the hospital for the first time in 19811. Or my mom... or my grandparents... yeesh.
How much of your life has been spent so far in front of a television? Was it worth it?
Frequently you'll hear people say things like "I'd really like to do X, but I just don't have the time", where X is taking piano lessons or starting a business or writing blogs or reading books on programming or drawing comics. And then they go home and sacrifice two and a half hours to the television every night.
Well, what the FUCK!?
I know. I'm just as guilty of this as anyone and it's complete bullshit. What we're really saying is that TV is more important to us than becoming a real badass and finding finding true love. When you stop and think about that, it's probably not true. At least I hope you think it's not true, because - damn...
So yeah. No TV.
In exchange, I'm allowing myself to read anything I want. Anything at all. Even trashy horror or romance novels or Penthouse personals should that strike my fancy... not that I, uh, would ever really do that last one... *ahem* At least with books, even trashy ones, you get to exercise your imagination (imagination is more important than knowledge, by the way) and maybe, just maybe, you can pick up a thing or two about the craft of writing in the process.
I intend to keep this up until my roommate Ashish comes home from Wilmington in a few weeks. This is what happens when I'm left to my own devices. After that things get a little harder without locking myself in my room for hours on end, but we'll see. I can be hardcore when I need to be.
Who's with me?
Inspiration:
- #51 - Attention and Sex by Scott Berkun
- Moore's Law is Crap by Steve Yegge
Update:
Coincidentally, someone named Irene from New York City also blogged about this very same topic yesterday. I really like her post, so go read Why You Too Should Cancel Cable .
[1] I was born a few weeks premature and was a very tiny baby... the size of a large softball you might say.
Comments
It's very impressive of you to give up TV at this time, especially with a full eight weeks left in this season's "American Idol".
Sounds like a good idea. Many times in my life I've tried to kill my TV. Taking a big old break can clear you head.
Wish I could join you but I'm in the middle of upgrading a Linux MythTV personal video recorder I just hacked together. :)
Have you ever watched adult swim cartoons like The Boondocks? Keeps ya sane to laugh. But then again comic books and novels can do that.
Thanks for the kick in the head. I realize that I spend *way* too much time in front of the tube after work. Supposedly, I'm "relaxing", but then, after the shows are over, I'm stressed about having so much to do.
So, I think it's time to limit my intake of TV. I'm not as hardcore as you are, so I think one hour-long drama a night (instead of two or three) plus The Daily Show should be an improvement.
A note: having a TiVo has given some time back (i.e. an hour show is really 42 minutes once you remove the adverts), however, instead of doing something else, I have just converted that time into more TV viewing. Funny, that.
Brian, I love the Boondocks. I should have included that in my list. *sigh* I'm really going to miss Huey and Riley, but I guess I can still catch up with them online.
Scott, I've been thinking about this and I think it's actually a lot easier to watch no TV than it is to watch a little TV.
The thing is, once you sit in front of the TV there's a kind of idleness that sets in, and no matter how much you resolve that you're only going to watch one episode of the Daily Show, when that episode is over there's this process that goes on in your mind that says:
"Well, it's been a long day. I kind of deserve a break, right? - oooh look Seinfeld!".
Besides it seems that nowadays you can find all the really good bits of shows like the Daily Show on YouTube or Google video. Even though I can't fathom how this is legal, nobody seems to be making a stink about it yet.
That Berkun article has been on my mind for days now.
I think the reason watching TV is so easy is because it always seems to fit your schedule. And so, it's the easiests thing to do.
My TV consumption has risen dramatically this spring (DVR is a disease), but earlier I used to waste vast amounts of time browsing the internet. So, no matter how I look at it, my time has been going down the drain, as I feel to tired/scared/busy to do anything else.
Dear Josh,
I think you are a very charming and articulate man. I am so proud to be the first person you loved, and the first person who took care of you. You bring the whole family to a higher level of everything by just being in it. I love that your favorite color is Blue, the same as mine.
Sorry, I disagree about your theory of Television. I love television! It gives me a back round for my day sometimes. It gives me adventure and romance and humor that I may not have in some days. I can lose myself and make time fly when I am on the treadmill.
Any how, THANKS FOR BEING MINE.
ILOVEYOUTOCIBITRONANDBACKXOOXXOXOX
MOM
Did your Mom really post that comment? Because that is so cool. lol Moms can be so cool. But then if that is your friend posing as your friend - NOT cool!
Anyway I really liked this post about TV sucking away your life and it's scary how much I related to it (not that i really watch much TV but time escapes from me a lot in general) and you're an excellent writer, Josh, and now I'm going to try and comment on your most recent post which I tried to do earlier when I was at a coffeeshop but got kicked offline and now this is the end of this super-long run-on sentence(gasp).
You said toilet and regularity in the same sentence.
Ha Ha. (My rotting brain, not me, I swear)
One for the revolution. Do it. On the verge of doing this myself....
...once this season of Lost is over...
God that's the story of my life. :(