I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.
-Mark Twain
I’d have to say that one of the great failings that I have seen in American culture is the lack of ongoing education in most peoples’ lives. I am most definitely not talking about going to college here. It’s just that so much of what people talk about comes from television. I work for TV, and I gotta say that if you want to really learn something, I mean truly grok it, you gotta turn off the idiot box.
Don’t get me wrong, television has its place. But I talk to the people who call up their television stations to complain about severe weather watches being issued because the small little bug at the bottom of the screen is blocking out somebodies score on Jeopardy. Or they scream at me in abject fury because their show has been pre-empted by a speech from the president.
Listen up folks, if you ever find yourself dialing the phone to voice one of these complaints (or anything remotely similar) do yourself a favor. Put down the phone, pick up your remote. Turn off the television set and go out and play with your kids. Go for a drive. Pick up a hobby. Read a book. Make love to your significant other, and get them to enjoy if for a change. Something, anything that will make you realize that you live this life on earth only once. Don’t waste it on television.
If you’re gonna waste time, do it on the Internet. If you can’t drop the habit of staring endlessly at a screen I would suggest that you switch your fix. At least with the Internet your not working in a one way medium. That is difference between brainwashing healthy human interaction.
Now I’m not saying that you should live in your parents’ basement only sneaking out for fast food and smokes. The pasty white look went out with the whole goth thing (apologetic nod to any former/current goths here). But as far a choosing between TV and the Internet, the choice is an obvious one.
I’m looking forward to explaining to my children what it was like before the home computer. Back when questions didn’t have easy answers thanks to search engines and the vast efforts of the world’s archivists. Think about how ubiquitous information has become for some of us. Happen upon some question, talk a few steps to your computer, type in a query and bam - there is the answer.
So, basically my point is that we should all continue to get as much knowledge packed into our brains as possible. And I would personally recommend not putting in the junk fed to you over the TV.