Is It Time to Sell Our TVs?

The television seems to have slowly crept its way into our social and home lives over the course of many decades, but is its universal presence necessary? What are the downsides of having a television? Initially, the introduction of TVs into important rooms of the house was an innocent idea, but the grip it holds over us may be more than promised. We will explore this topic in this article.

We must first ask ourselves where TVs are commonly placed throughout the house because this indicates what kind of power we allow them to have. Most commonly a household will have either one or two TVs, sometimes more. They are usually put in bedrooms and the lounge room, meaning we allow it to have power over how much sleep we have and how many meaningful conversations we allow in the lounge room. Often the television will be turned on just to have some background sound, but there is a certain beauty in peace and quiet. I believe that the TV shouldn't enter the above equation or be the centre of attention in such a location. Such an important room of the house should have a focus on conversation, instead of TV. The bedroom should be reserved for two main things: sex and sleep. TV should never come into that equation, in fact, being too stimulated before sleeping can cause you to stay up too late and will worsen the quality of your sleep. Bedrooms function as a quiet and peaceful place of rest and reproduction with a layout that allows for space to move in.

Minimalism is the belief that you should only own things you actually use and discard what is extra clutter and doesn't serve a purpose. I allow the exception of heirlooms because of how sentimental they can be. The TV enters this paradigm, but we must first analyse its purpose. TVs are forms of lowbrow entertainment and deep down I think everyone knows that they don't really learn anything useful from them. Rooms without massive TVs in them tend to look more appealing, as having no TV encourages more creativity in the design process, and opens you to new ways of centring a room. TVs are bad for room design, as having a big black square taking up valuable wall space, instead of art, a bookcase, indoor plants etc. is visually unappealing, lazy and uninspiring.

I'm not one to always question authority, but we absolutely must question the authority of the people who appear on TV shows. First, have a think about what the most popular shows are at the moment. What shows do you hear talked about the most? Are the stars worthy of having such an influential position in society? Why are they there and who put them there? What are the intentions of the people who gave them power? What can we learn from the stars? Is there anything worthwhile learning from them that will make you smarter or more creative? If the answer is nothing and for no good reason, then you shouldn't watch the show.

TV shows are bioleninism in practice and poisonous to the soul; what we consume takes a toll on our physical body, our mentality and our spirit. Imagine you were constantly watching shows that degrade your people and show ignobility. After constant exposure, you will soon begin to emulate that behaviour and degrade yourself. When I see glimpses of TV shows and movies, I imagine them being thought up in board rooms or writing roundtables and what kinds of undesirable people would be in that room.

I understand many people like to switch their brain off and just veg out on the lounge after work and watch whatever is on TV. There are just so many other noble or creative things you could be doing instead! Computers are superior to TVs not just because you can articulate better with a mouse and keyboard, but because you can spread your workload out over many screens (if you have them) and be more creative and do a wider range of productive activities on the computer. I'm not one to be a stickler with money, but the prices and sizes of new TVs are way too excessive, you really don't need a screen that big, just sit closer. The thrill of going to the movie theatre to see a movie on the big screen used to be a big deal, and I maintain that big screens should be reserved for the movie theatre only. Now that almost everyone has a big screen TV and surround sound system at home, they are free to be antisocial when watching movies. That thrill has now worn off, if not completely diminished.

There is a growing trend of people wondering if they should get rid of their TV, and the reasons are as varied as they are numerous. Most commonly it is over its effect on relationships, as they can lead to less involvement and quality time with each other. Other reasons are due to its negative effect on your attention span and creativity and the constant barrage of negative stories on the news dampening your mood. After all, if you don't use a muscle like your creativity, you eventually lose it. This is because the TV and the standard lounge room setup that accompanies it encourages laziness, but is couched in the lie of entertainment (mind the pun). Whatever your reason may be, I hope someday you join this growing trend too.