How does the television affect your brain?
TV, an apparent source of relaxation, causes a lot more damage to your brain than you think. After reading this article your zapper won’t look so tempting anymore.
Pulling the plug out may be very beneficial. A little rehab can improve your mood, lower the stress level and reinforce the ability of creative thinking.
Turn the sound up, I want you to listen to me very carefully.
TV has its proses and I’m pretty sure it’s easy to find valuable programs that can teach us something. Still, the vast majority does not realize, how negatively television influences their lives.
This article was written to make you realize some pretty important things. To force you to think for a minute about the consequences of sitting in front of the TV screen. The decision what to do with those facts is up to you. Let’s see if those reasons below can convince you:
1. TV kills your imagination. So the thing about this medium is that it has a little impact on what you see. It only narrows down to changing the channel. But when you choose a channel you have it all handed on a plate. Your activity goes down to zero (which doesn’t mean you’re winding down! More about that in a moment).
And it turns out that… a person watching tv is not thinking on her own. Her brain is bombed by various images, information, sounds which were shaped much earlier. Eyes staring at the TV screen get those ready schemes which destroy the ability of creative thinking.
Reading a book means using your imagination, because you create all the images by yourself. You do so also by listening to the radio – in those cases you develop your skills of creative thinking. TV hands you everything on the plate. TV maniacs, who watch it very often, lose the skill of using their imagination.
2. Shapes your beliefs about the reality. I’m sure you agree that television has an impact on the way you see the world. And do you think that this medium presents the reality the way it really is? Is the world really so brutal, immersed in wars, hatred, grievance and lies? If you watch a lot of TV news, you may exactly think so.
No wonder. Do you think people would like to watch in the news, that 120 planes has landed safely at Warsaw Airport today? That some lady has become a happy mother of a newborn? That some shelter rescues sick animals?
I don’t think so.
95% of the information is very pleasant and relaxing news about murders, frauds, catastrophes. Evil, evil and evil.
Well, go outside, go downtown or go abroad and you will find out that only on the TV the world looks so brutal.
TV builds a filter inside your head and you see the world in this exact way – everything is negative. Don’t let that happen! Picture of the reality shown on TV is very, very curved. Still this is very understandable – TV stations show what people want to watch. But bear in mind, it has an extremely negative influence on how you function. Luckily, you can stop this. If you still want to know what’s going on in the world – the Internet is your alternative. On the web you pick what you need.
Look at this world using your own eyes and have your own opinion about it. Look outside the window and you’ll see – it’s a much better place than shown on the tv.
3. It makes people feel worse. Going on with the previous paragraph, I will refer to the advertisements and a matter of luck. Commercials. I know, it’s obvious they don’t affect you : ) You must realize that even if you disagree with them or negate their influence... your subconsciousness is still doing her job.
I don’t mean they will induce you to buy anything – that’s the smallest problem. But you must know that commercials program people to be unhappy. By watching them everyone starts to feel ugly, sick and sad – otherwise, would they be good consumers?
The miserable man is always the best customer!
I saw this TV commercial lately. “Do you feel how hard wrinkles disfigure your face?” Masterpiece. Just think about it, how many women will start to feel terrible, even though before this advertisement they did not even realize that they have wrinkles?
I have an offer for you: let go of watching commercials. You don’t need them in your life.
4. It's hardly conducive to relaxation. Frequent television watching may cause high levels of stress in the people's lives. There was even a study showing that during this form of "relaxation" many muscles are tensed, so the body does not really rest. For true relaxation, you also need to rest your mind, and TV doesn't provide you with that. It is true that while watching TV you do not need to think (hooray!). But your mind, attacked by numerous stimuli, must maintain its activity at a very high level all the time.
It is also worth mentioning that some neuropsychological studies have shown that while watching TV some brain centers, responsible for critical thinking, are turning off. As a result, the ability to undermine the various issues starts to disappear, and the tendency to accept uncritically someone else's opinion, increases.
Ah, I almost forgot! I have one argument that can surely convince you, even if you still haven't thrown your pilot out of the window. Italian sexologists proved that couples with TV's in their bedrooms make love two times less frequently than those who don't.
This text may seem slightly provocative or exaggerated. And it's supposed to be like that. These, of course, represents only one side of the coin, however, it is your goal. This is a wake-up call. To make you aware of what can happen to your mind when you give in a brainwash.
Start to decide consciously of what you are letting in to your head.
What are the benefits of letting television go? You will be a happier person, that’s for sure. Stress level in your body will lower significantly. You will be looking at the world around you with greater curiosity, more optimistic. You’ll wake up your imagination and creative thinking ability. You’ll start to like your bedroom more : ) And more importantly, you will gain time! To other forms of entertainment and relaxation, much healthier for your mind.
What you do with all that knowledge is up to you. This is my offer – take a break from TV for two weeks. Completely. After this time, think of what has changed in your life. I did that and it changed a lot. I haven’t watched TV for three years. And I am very happy that I decided to break free.
I do not deny that there are a lot of interesting and valuable things on TV. This is an educational medium as well and I’ve watched a lot of programs that taught me a lot. Some movies and floor shows are really worth watching. That’s why you should always ask yourself: “Can this program bring anything into my life? Is it valuable for me?”
I just want you to notice that your life can be better off without television. Most of what it can offer you is completely unnecessary. When you experience this on yourself, you can freely pick what’s best for you.
Time for some discussion. What is your experience with watching or not watching the TV?