IS TELEVISION MAKING HUMANITY STUPID?

More than 4 hours of TV-watching each day is equal to 28 hours a week, or 2 months of non-stop TV-watching per year, that is equal to approximately 9 years of watching TV in a 65-year life. 99% of households possess at least one television (A.C. Nielsen Co, Emotionally reactive television). Television gives viewers a great opportunity to see and witness everything from political debates in senate to hippopotamus life in Africa right in front of them. Without moving away from the TV screen spectators can get access to information, new technology, music, art and even to other people lives. Since the time then television became commonplace and integrated part of homes, it made an incredible impact on society and the way of how people see themselves and the world around them. Even though the potential of television is to entertain, educate and inform the audience, it is overshadowed by the lack of individual responsibility in using this modern device, therefore causing the division of the society, increased television addiction because of the development of technologys potential, direct manipulation of people, and negative impact on children. The power of television divides the society into two parts: mass or unqualified and minority or qualified. Jean Guehenno, French essayist and writer, expressed his opinion about television: There are two types of television: intelligent television which makes people difficult to govern, and the television of imbeciles which makes people easy to govern (It is about the time to rewrite the economics, p. 35). In other words, people who are easily

Is Television Making Humanity Stupid? governed by television of imbeciles are missing filter in their heads, meaning that they absorb everything and anything, all the good and bad, false and trashy information that is showed on TV. In contrast, intelligent television provides the information that is important and significant to human being, and for those who are able to filter and separate the essential information from the cheap information. Horace Newcomb developed the analogous idea, who said that society is divided into two components: qualified the minority, creative and selective elite; and unqualified the mass, unintelligent, crude mob. This unqualified mass has tastes that are low-level and unselective. A qualified minority and culture of traditional society is destroyed in the places where the mass culture is developed. This mass culture levels the taste of the people, encourages mediocrity, conformity, passivity and escapism (Television: The Critical View, 368). Because of the fact, that people are easily governed and more and more people turn out to be the mass in the society, it becomes very useful for the television companies. Television companies see the audience as a big group of individuals with unsophisticated tastes. As a result, they stop looking for the new, unique, creative and innovative ideas because it is much easier to create a low-level, sensational, similar and standardized product that would be accepted by the majority or mass tastes. Sooner or later people will become a one big crowd of clones who will be stamped as mass, whose tastes will be the same, lives will become boring, meaningless and empty, without passion and willingness to be different and creative. Continuing the idea of divided society, the assumption can be made that todays television programs reflect the level and tastes of the society. People are educated by the stories that are told on television, by the explorations of important events, by the personalities and stars who entertain them. This kind of education goes on each day, unconsciously and largely without evolution on the audience (Television: The Critical View, 4). The talk 2

Is Television Making Humanity Stupid? shows about the same or repeatedly topics, review and analysis of crimes, and discussions of the events that have happened few years ago take the biggest part of televisions airtime. These types of programs do not require a lot of thinking. According to David Croteau, television tends to focus on dramatic stories to attract viewers, because a certain amount of sensationalism has proven to be profitable for the television companies. However, journalists rely heavily on anonymous sources and just try to get the newest revelations on the air, because of this people start to believe in things that even do not exist. Moreover, television tends to focus on stories that have a negative tone and depressing events. Because of this, the society is lead to despair and pessimism about the possibility of effective change; as well as, growing sense that there is nothing what people can do about the crisis, problems and issues (The Business of Media, 203-204). Looking at it from different perspective, if TV talk shows and all criminal shows get highest ratings, it means that society is satisfied with these types of shows and feel that it can give educational benefits. Today television itself and TV set have a totally different meaning than fifty years ago because of the fast development in the sphere of technology. Television became so integrated in peoples life that it is hard to image life without it. Thirty twenty years ago TV was seen as a big box that showed black and white pictures and had just few TV programs. These days, companies invest enormous sums of money into the creation and development of newest technologies and their integration. This basic equipment promises a dramatic change in you and your world forever (H. Newcomb, 244). Once this basic equipment appears in the room, it can offer everything what is desired huge screen, unlimited access to the colorful images and stereo sounds, remote control, cable station, digital television, 3D and etc. The newest feature that is going to be upgraded in the near future is going to be smell-o-vision TV: a compact box capable of generated 10,000 different smells attached to a television set ( Smello-vision TV: Coming soon, 2011). The modern TV set with the newest integrated 3

Is Television Making Humanity Stupid? technologies and features offer people different ways of seeing the medium and getting the freshest news. The more technological features are integrated into TV set, people become more depended and addicted on TV or just simple on doing nothing. The researches compared self-defined heavy TV viewers (6 hours per day) with non-viewers and found that many non-viewers called television a drug or a religion and believed that it caused less interaction with friends and family, less time spent doing more productive or healthier things, and less critical thought. In contrast, heavy viewers described it as the escape and relaxation (Cary W. Horvath, p. 380). One simple device has power to evoke specific smell, aural and visual images in the mind of the spectator every time he/she watches television and because of this a spectator is more willing to relax without using physical and mental efforts while watching TV rather than reading a book or going to exercise. Consumers have a variety of ways to choose and purchase products while sitting at their homes, including using the Internet, catalogs and television. Television shopping offers consumers the prospect of development a parasocial interaction or perceived interpersonal relationship between spectators and a TV person. In other words, unconscious but direct manipulation of the audience flows straight from the TV screen (Fritchie L. L. & Johnson K., p. 249). According to statistics, In 2001, consumers made about 75 million phone calls to Home Shopping Network (USA), leading to sales exceeding $1.8 billion, while another company called Quality Value Convenience got 133 million phone calls [] and sales of more than $3.9 billion (p. 250). It is very impressive numbers, so it can be made an assumption that audience can be easily manipulated and affected. For example, one of the weirdest television shopping shows I have ever seen was a few hours long broadcast in the USA. This program focused on particular range of product such as diamond jewelry. TV host was presenting, showing and demonstrating diamonds and was trying to convince consumers to buy them. Also, TV person used many tactics to manipulate the audience, such as the 4

Is Television Making Humanity Stupid? original price of this diamond bracelet is $30000, but now you can get it just for $5999 ; this is a hand-made bracelet that you will not be able to get in your local store ; if you buy it, you will look like Marilyn Monroe etc. It is an example of quite expensive item, so it is difficult to persuade the audience to buy, but the majority of products that are advertised on TV are simple, daily and convenience products, such as brooms, pots, kitchen tools and other products. Such manipulation strategies are very effective because they create the feeling of authority, trust, liking and scarcity to miss a great chance. Television has an incredible ability and power to influence and brainwash the viewing public. As a result, the longer people stay watching TV, the more likely they will be affected and probably will buy those products. Television is a form of fiction, and the audience likes to live in that fictional world and to hear the stories that are told, but more importantly, people start to value this fictional world and believe in those unrealistic stories. In addition to the televisions divided society, fast development in technologies that stimulates the addiction on TV and direct manipulation of people from the TV screen, the society faces even more serious consequences of television that affect the smallest TV viewers kids. The main victims of television are children. The 486 scholars conducted a survey and research in order to find out what impact television has on children. Researchers found that children aged between 6 and 17 spend an average of about two and a half hours watching television every day. It leads to suspect that it plays a significant role in everyones lives and especially children are vulnerable to its influence. Television is a powerful medium, that is capable to shape behaviors by transmitting ideas and belief, as well as giving demonstrations and recommendation for certain actions (Roger Dickinson, 2000). Rudi Volti, the professor of sociology, claimed that there is some evidence that exposure to televised violence dampens a childs emotional response to witnessing of violent acts, and diminishes his or her concern about such acts (Society and Technological Change, p. 204). The mass 5

Is Television Making Humanity Stupid? media scholars recognize differences in televisions ability to bring out certain consequences on children and evaluate the role that television plays in certain areas of childrens lives. Quite a wide range of television consequences on children is noted in the table below (the mean score for answers on that category is 2.8 out of a possible 4.0) (The effects of television on children, p. 150 -151).

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From the table, the assumptions can be made that TV increases alienation, prosocial behavior, verbal ability, as well as reduces creativity, reading ability and physical activities of children. Television is one of the main sources of entertainment where the content may include violence and adult content that can negatively effect childrens perceptions. In other words, television is flooded with sex and violence. Many children end up watching television 6

Is Television Making Humanity Stupid? even before they start school, so television has a huge impact on their impressionable minds. The best way of taking television seriously is to look and analyze the consequences of television on growing children (Wayne C. Booth, 45). Every single second millions of people all around the world, turn on their colorful boxes. If somebody does not have TV set, he/she will be left out of the community; the life, dreams and fantasies will be unfulfilled; he/she will not be able to recognize the names and faces of daily stars shown on TV. However, there are some obvious effects of television such as division of the society, TV addiction formed by modern technological implementations, manipulation and brainwash of people, as well as negative impact on children. Television is making humanity stupid because the majority of television programs are designed to unqualified, low-level and tasteless society, which is easy to govern and manipulate. Also, this unqualified would rather stay long hours watching TV and become addicted to this meditation. The worst thing is that this stupidity starts to develop at very young age and makes a huge impact for the entire life. Television reduces the world to its simplest common denominators. It continuously pushes the boundaries of ignorance and idiocy. We are taught to worship Paris Hilton, but not Einstein (The Negative Effects Of Television, 5).

Is Television Making Humanity Stupid?

References Booth C. W. The Company We Keep: Self-making In Imaginative Art, Old and New. Daedalus, Vol. 111 (4), p. 33-59. Bybee C., Robinson J. D. & Turow J (1995). The Effects of Television on Children: What The Experts Believe. Communication Research Reports, Vol. 2 (1), p. 149-155. Chung H., Chang C., Dickie C., Lee C.J., & Selker T (2007). Emotionally Reactive Television. MIT Media Laboratory, Cambridge, p. 1-4. Retrieved March 31, 2012, from http://web.media.mit.edu/~jackylee/publication/iui10663s-lee.pdf Croteau D. The Business of Media. How the Media Business Influence Society, p. 203-204. Dickinson, R (2000). Food and eating on television: impacts and influences. Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 30 (1), p. 24-29. Retrieved March 26, 2012, from http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=866077&show=abstract Fritchie L. L. & Johnson K. K (2003). Personal Selling Approaches Used In Television Shopping. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, Vol. 7 (3), p. 249-258. Retrieved March 26, 2012, from http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm? issn=13612026&volume=7&issue=3&articleid=858550&show=html Horvath C. W. (2004). Measuring Television Addiction. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, Vol. 43 (3), p. 378-398. Newcomb H. (1997). Television: The Critical View, Fourth Edition. Oxford University Press,

Is Television Making Humanity Stupid? New York. Rotariu I. (2006). It Is About The Time To Rewrite The Economics: The Course From 3S to 3E, p. 1-89. Retrieved March 26, 2012, from

http://www.ilierotariu.ro/documents/books/rewrite-the-economics.pdf Smell-o-vision TV: Coming soon? (2011). Retrieved March 26, 2012, from

http://theweek.com/article/index/216494/smell-o-vision-tv-coming-soon The Negative Effects Of Television (2010). Retrieved April 1, 2012, from http://www.rawfood-health.net/NegativeEffectsOfTelevision.html Volti, R (2001). Society and Technological Change, Fourth Edition. Macmillan Publishers New Zeala, p. 323.