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[abuali]

Salaams

In DSM, like in most communities, TV has become a 'necessity', especially in our khoja community. And 99% of people who have TV have some form of cable TV.

One of the Holy Prophets hadith about the end times is about the Shaytan that will be in each house of the so called believer.

I believe the Holy Prophet was referring to TV.

What do you guys think?

Is TV Bad?

Can it be good?

Or is it just plain ugly?

[abuali]

Here is an interesting article by Ken of kenrockwell.com who has had decades of experience in hollywood

TV is for idiots. I realized this when I was 7 years old and haven't owned a TV since.

I haven't watched TV since 1969. I worked in it for decades, and knew enough not to watch it. It makes you stupid, and my colleagues in the networks agree! Some of them would point out what a verbal beating they'd get from friends who actually saw what got broadcast. When you work in most aspects of TV, you rarely have time to watch what's going out.

My wife watches reality shows, saying "look how stupid this is." That's why people watch it; these shows are deliberately stupid. I remember when Bravo and A&E broadcast good stuff, but it only appealed to educated people, so today they're down in the mud wrestling with everyone else.

Movies are OK because they are art, like a painting, a play or a symphony. You have to pay to watch them.

TV is bad: it caters to sucking as many people as possible in to watch for the purpose of selling ads. Movies try to make people want to pay to see them, while TV just wants people to tune in just long enough to make a tick in Nielson's ratings.

TV is going away, since only older people are still watching. People today watch the Internet instead. The Internet can make you stupid or smart, depending on what you do there.

I realized that although I found TV programs like Get Smart, The Beverly Hillbillies, Twilight Zone and Star Trek entertaining, none of this was making me any smarter or more interesting.

I worked in TV ever since high school. Working in TV is very different from watching it. I used to design weapons of mass destruction, too, but never shot off a boomer myself, even if we simulated it plenty of times to make an honest living. We know better, and you should too.

You might think that my "TV is for idiots" mantra might not have gone over well working in Hollywood, but others in the biz agreed.

There is no such thing as idle time. Any time one person is watching TV, another person is reading, studying, exercising, and otherwise getting ahead of the loser in front of the TV.

Any time spent in front of TV is time that's putting one further and further behind.

TV is designed to attract as many viewers as possible. Programming is designed to appeal to the lowest common denominator. Language is kept to a fifth-grade level or below so it doesn't lose anyone.

PBS is even worse. PBS makes you at least as stupid, but it's worse because the people watching it have a sense of hubris, thinking that they are smarter than people watching other networks. That makes them watch more, and get even stupider.

Sure, once a week my wife brags that she learned something on TV. When I read books, even I learn something every minute.

The best TV seems to come from Fox. Murdoch is a master of media, and knows how to draw a crowd. This dawned on me in 2001 with Fox' "Marry a Millionaire," where a local San Diego comedian, who wasn't really a millionaire, had women dancing naked in front of him on stage. In two hours, he picked the one he wanted to marry. Women watched the show in astonishment, called their friends to watch "this horrible thing," and Fox made TV history. I had to live that down for a few years, because that comedian used my last name for his stage name.

It's funny how many grown-ups don't know that TV is pretend. As attributed to Murdoch, "the purpose of news is to entertain, not to inform." My wife watches TV and believes it. Even the news is pretend; have you ever seen all the credits for writers at the end? (or have those been squeezed-back too far?)

I've heard rumor that there might be some people who think I'm smart, but I'm barely riding in the front seat of the short bus. The only way I'm able to pass is because all the time most people are sitting in front of a TV, I'm off trying to learn something. I'm not smart at all, it's just that TV has made so many people so much stupider.

TV is only getting worse as it fades away.
The ancient Romans knew how to draw a crowd. Back in the good old days, a carnival was exactly that: they brought in animals and slaughtered them for the public, free. Also expect more televised executions, beatings, car chases and people getting killed as caught on security cameras. We all thought they were kidding on Monty Python when they suggested showing the freeway, but that's what we get today in America.

I could go on, but please remember that watching TV is about as helpful as smoking pot. Some people might enjoy it, and it makes money for the people providing the goods, but it lowers your IQ. If you've got extra smarts you might survive, but it's not helping you.

http://www.kenrockwell.com/hdtv/makes-you-stupid.htm

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[abuali]

TV == Idiot Box Hypothesis Validated by Research in New Zealand
Angsuman Chakraborty
July 21st, 2005

A 30-year study of 1037 children has found that those who watch the most TV are least likely to go to university and get a degree.

"Those who watched little television had the best chance of going on to university and earning a degree," said researcher Bob Hancox, deputy director of the Dunedin Research Unit.

Over 20 percent sat in front of the box for more than three hours each school day and they did the worst at all academic levels failing to get high school leavers certificate, a bursary for university, a trade diploma or a degree.

Hancox said that although teenage viewing was strongly linked to leaving school without any qualifications, earlier childhood viewing had the greatest impact on getting a degree.

The study found that even bright children and those from well-off families who watched a lot of TV were less likely to go on and get a degree.

Findings were published in the international journal Archives of Paediatric and Adolescent Medicine. - Sapa-dpa

Further reading on the study can be found at http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1 ... 303857B231

[abuali]

http://www.turnoffyourtv.com/

Interesting site dedicated to a campaign against TV



http://www.whitedot.org

[Umm.aly]

There is no such thing as idle time. Any time one person is watching TV, another person is reading, studying, exercising, and otherwise getting ahead of the loser in front of the TV.

So very true! It surprises me when people claim to be bored, or are having boring holidays, when there is so much to do and learn out there! We have not been created to be entertained all the time such that when there is no such entertainment it becomes 'boring!'

[abuali]

We are entangled in habits that waste valuable time. Time by which Allah swears!

Is it possible to abolish TV from our daily lives? How can we do the seemingly un-doable?

[Umm.aly]

Yep definitely do-able! Throw out the TV and u have nothing to watch then! It is more like a habit then interest or fascination. Dont have anything to do? Switch on the TV to pass time..

[sadika]

nd wat du u do wit the pc? every1 watches movies on their computers these days

i agree its bad. how to create awareness is another problem

[Muhammad Mahdi]

I think you are being overly critical of TV.
There are many educational programs, News, which are on TV and in my opinion, nothing bad with this.

As with every tool, it depends how one uses the TV

[abuali]

just like gambling is very advantageous to the one who wins.

But it is looked down upon because its disadvantages are many many fold more than its advantages

[Muhammad Mahdi]

Gambling and TV are two different things.
In gambling very few benefit at the expense of others.
TV on the other hand allows anybody who effectively uses it to benefit. A knife in the wrong hand can cause murder. But the same knife can also be used to cut vegetables, right?

[abuali]

Gambling and TV are two different things.
In gambling very few benefit at the expense of others.
TV on the other hand allows anybody who effectively uses it to benefit. A knife in the wrong hand can cause murder. But the same knife can also be used to cut vegetables, right?

And a knife and TV are two different things.

Here is a question for you..

Observe, whether in India or in Tanzania, and answer the following two questions:

1. Majority of programs on TV are a.Educational or b. Entertainment (think sas bhi kabhie bahu thi)
2. Majority of viewers view which programs on TV?

And I am sure you will see the similarities between TV and Gambling than between TV and a knife