No offense to my parents, but I was raised by television.
They simply couldn’t compete with the hundreds of channels TV offered me. Even as I got older, I realized that everyone in my generation could bond over one show or another.
That fact alone is not troubling. However, the content of these programs is.
From staged reality shows to never-ending sports coverage to the latest stalker-esque update on some talentless pop-culture star, every program seems to just numb the mind.
You might be thinking, “Well, isn’t TV supposed to numb the mind?” The lack of mental stimulation would not be a problem if TV were not placed in the center of our living rooms, our bedrooms, our entire lives. We can even stream TV on our phones. The sheer amount of hours spent in front of it might make it our most influential teacher.
The Learning Channel (now commonly known as TLC to hide the fact that it teaches you nothing) airs a reality show about the now infamous Octomom, while The History Channel has quests for fictional monsters and biased documentaries on conspiracy theories.
Once you think of TV as our generation’s greatest teacher, it suddenly becomes clear how damaging a lesson in numbness can be.
While these shows may be put on TV with the best of intentions, the end result always seems to be a dumbing down of our culture.
And like someone much smarter than me once observed — maybe because he didn’t have a TV to distract him — the road to hell is paved in good intentions.
So what is the solution?
America needs more smart people on TV. We need more intellectual discourse.
We need to show each other that smart people can be entertaining too, and that watching some celebrity train wreck to make yourself feel better about your life doesn’t actually make your life any better.
I’ve noticed a trend in TV’s educational value. Shows meant for children appear to be getting smarter, but as you get older, programs teach you less and less.
For instance, “Dora the Explorer” teaches children functional moral lessons (and even a little Spanish).
Once children get to “Jonas,“ starring the Jonas Brothers, TV teaches less, though there are still some moral lessons. Plus, they get the added bonus of learning how to hide their sexuality with promise rings.
Finally, at our age, we have “Jersey Shore,” which teaches us how to hide our sexuality with hair gel.
Imagine a country where, instead of discussing the latest revelation on Tiger Woods’ sex life, we discussed the topics that now seem so forbidden, (but we nonetheless think of) like religion.
What if we discussed democracy as was intended by our forefathers when they set out a government “by the people, for the people”?
I often question our dedication to democracy when sports are easier to discuss than politics.
If Gator fans and Bulldog fans can talk football every now and then, why can’t liberals and conservatives find a way to discuss politics?
I’ve wondered lately how the void in human life that was set aside from work and finding food was occupied before TV.
Long ago, hunting took up most of the human brain power. Once food was easier to get, it was work that took up most of human time, but there was still some leftover.
What did people discuss in their time off?
Did they have intellectual discussions? Did constant media exposure kill those discussions? And even if it did, can’t we use TV to bring it back?
Eric Tegethoff is a biology senior.
