why tv as 'background' can drive me nuts

[jenk]

I have trouble keeping it in the background. Even if I can split between the show and what I'm doing, the commercials blare out & distract. I can have trouble carrying on a conversation if the tv is on.

This seems to surprise some people. I'm not sure why. But then, I perceive commercials yelling at me and others don't get why I react that way. I literally *back away* from the assault that no one else perceives.

So I was a bit relieved to see this in Jerry Large's column this week:

TV keys into a basic brain response, which is that people pay attention to novel or sudden auditory or visual stimulation. When a set is on, most people, whether they consciously want to be or not, are drawn to it.

Maybe you want to watch your favorite show. But beneath that conscious choice, your brain is just fascinated by the flashing images and changing sounds. [...] Watching TV makes people feel relaxed and passive. It feels good, but the good effect vaporizes as soon as you turn the set off, which trains people to keep it on. It's just like some drugs in that way.

Did you see the survey last week, in which a big chunk of American workers said they feel overworked and stressed out by their jobs? And you know home life is full of stress that maybe wasn't there a generation ago. Dr. TV to the rescue, but there's a cost.

After bouts of TV watching, research subjects stopped feeling relaxed, but continued to feel passive, and had trouble concentrating.

Families of heavy watchers had trouble relating to each other when they were asked to leave their sets off for a week, and some couldn't make it that long. Withdrawal is tough.

Many people, when they are polled about television habits, say they watch more than they want to. It's hard to turn the set off once you settle in. Middle-class viewers were especially prone to feeling guilty about suckling from the tube.

People live busier lives now, more work, more activities outside work and school. We get worn out and want to veg out, but because we are so much busier, we have less time to spare and giving more of that time over to TV means less time for reading, for family, for community, for just sitting and thinking.

How many Americans spend time sitting and thinking? Heck, just being alone for a few minutes freaks some people out. Americans want to be doing something all the time, even if it's just watching TV.

Of course, some of the same can apply to computers - but I think some of that has to do with what you're doing on the computer. Reading feels different from writing feels different from playing a game feels different from watching a video.

Maybe it's my perception again. Or maybe it's a rationalization.

Anyway. I am going to grab a book and go snuggle my hubby.