No Television?

[Duke Zion]

In a way I was joking, your life sounds allot more fulfilling then mine, but I know that you have downtime at some point, there is nothing wrong with watching a little TV. What do you do when you are not doing those activities you listed, just staring at the wall...

[Duke Zion]

I actually have my TV on 24/7, but not necessarily watching it all the time. I cant sleep without it.

[The Pat-Man]

Originally Posted by Psych

Holy shit. I just looked this up, $300 for colour and $100 for b&w.

Wow. Just wow.

waaaaaaaaaaat

[Blunderstar]

Those activities I listed were just some of the ones I did this past week. There's never a time when I'm "bored", with nothing to do. To be honest, I'm not even entirely happy with my life right now - there's better shit I could be doing, and I wouldn't be suprised if somebody came into this thread and called the activities I do boring, in the same way that I'm condemning telvision. I've only been trying to really improve myself for around half a year now. Glad I started early in life though, rather than falling into a rut and being depressed at 35.

[yawanur]

Originally Posted by Blunderstar

falling into a rut and being depressed at 35.

but there's always those premieres and finales to look forward to...

[Duke Zion]

Originally Posted by Blunderstar

Those activities I listed were just some of the ones I did this past week. There's never a time when I'm "bored", with nothing to do. To be honest, I'm not even entirely happy with my life right now - there's better shit I could be doing, and I wouldn't be suprised if somebody came into this thread and called the activities I do boring, in the same way that I'm condemning telvision. I've only been trying to really improve myself for around half a year now. Glad I started early in life though, rather than falling into a rut and being depressed at 35.

True. True. But what about Breaking Bad? That show is awesome bro

[Blunderstar]

Breaking Bad's the best/only good thing on TV, but it's still just a television show. If somebody told me that I couldn't watch the new season for whatever reason, I wouldn't kick up a fuss. I like it, but it doesn't give me the same feeling as other things.

[Duke Zion]

So you do technically watch TV

[Blunderstar]

No?

[yawanur]

Originally Posted by Blunderstar

Breaking Bad's the best/only good thing on TV,

damn i actually believed you

[Blunderstar]

What, lol? I sold my TV, along with all of my video games - I even made a thread about it. Breaking Bad ended about a year ago, and even then it was the only show I enjoyed. I only started my spiritual journey shit sometime after then.

I'm not going to go out of my way to watch Breaking Bad, but I'll admit that it's the only good thing worth watching. Maybe that's hypocritical, but I like I said - I'm still transforming and very pseudo right now. By the time the new season airs, I probably won't care, I'm still on Allan Watts.

[crazzyass]

Originally Posted by Shrike

It pays for the BBC, it's a hangover from like the 1930s when only state broadcasters existed. Yeah it's kind of a pain in the ass, though the BBC makes some of the best tv anywhere in the world, along with great news output and online content, ad and sponsor free thanks to the license fee.

What's the big fucking deal anyway, you guys have to pay for cable or HBO or whatever to get decent programmes.

And frankly i'm sick of the fact that every time I mention it in passing, several fucking americans pipe up and go "OMG you have to pay for a TV license??!! Lol socialist facists!!!"

You can't watch ten minutes of television without having an ad break shoved in your face and you can't see a doctor or get treatment without being reamed out the ass by your health insurance companies. Personally I think you're the worse off, now go fuck yourself.

TV is fucking obsolete anyway, at least the old broadcast network model.

Yeah, this. Considering in America we have to pay for the actual cable/satellite service, then pay extra for the good channels with good content (Showtime, HBO, etc), AND watch commercials, I'd say that the license is an infinitely better deal.

But whatever. I have a better chance of getting away with murder here. That has to count for something, right?

[Sir Cornwell]

I only watch shit on Netflix/Ytube. This limits my access.

I always end up feeling dirty and like I've mostly wasted my time.

Anything you can do sitting on your ass is not an "activity".

[p6867]

Having not really watched television until i was in my early 20's, when i watch television i just see social programming. Television really does tell you how to feel about given things, how to look at life and human interaction. Fortunately, i was old enough once i discovered television to look at it's social engineering aspects as ridiculous, but most people aren't. Those people have taught you how to look at the world and a view of right and wrong that coincides with their own goals, and that's sad. Outside of not being indoctrinated with organized religion and public schooling, I can't think of anything besides television that my very strange upbringing kept me away from.

Most humans are pussies, whatever made me not like most of you should be praised.

[Bale]

You should check out 'Infinite Jest' by David Foster Wallace. Check him out, he has some great interviews on the nature of television (addiction) and entertainment in general.

Anyways, this book is a massive novel where the main thread connecting all of the events is a tape. This tape is so entertaining that anyone who watches it is so absorbed they neglect every human function and eventually die from constantly replaying it.

But it's a great novel for many reasons: it deals with entertainment addiction, drug addiction and escapism, depression in a world of repression and reading it will make every other novel seem tame in comparison.

[Shrike]

Originally Posted by Bale

You should check out 'Infinite Jest' by David Foster Wallace. Check him out, he has some great interviews on the nature of television (addiction) and entertainment in general.

Anyways, this book is a massive novel where the main thread connecting all of the events is a tape. This tape is so entertaining that anyone who watches it is so absorbed they neglect every human function and eventually die from constantly replaying it.

But it's a great novel for many reasons: it deals with entertainment addiction, drug addiction and escapism, depression in a world of repression and reading it will make every other novel seem tame in comparison.

Was it you that recommended that Darkness Visible book? I read it and it really wasn't that good. His answer to depression was to go into a psych ward and take some drugs and then I guess it went away or something? Great.

I liked the bit about Paris, but really it was just way too short.

[Bale]

Originally Posted by Shrike

Was it you that recommended that Darkness Visible book? I read it and it really wasn't that good. His answer to depression was to go into a psych ward and take some drugs and then I guess it went away or something? Great.

I liked the bit about Paris, but really it was just way too short.

No, I've never heard of that book.

[ayingerbrau]

Originally Posted by Blunderstar

What, lol? I sold my TV, along with all of my video games - I even made a thread about it. Breaking Bad ended about a year ago, and even then it was the only show I enjoyed. I only started my spiritual journey shit sometime after then.

I'm not going to go out of my way to watch Breaking Bad, but I'll admit that it's the only good thing worth watching. Maybe that's hypocritical, but I like I said - I'm still transforming and very pseudo right now. By the time the new season airs, I probably won't care, I'm still on Allan Watts.

I sold most of my stuff like that a while ago. What do you think about living without the Internet?

[ayingerbrau]

Stay away from any kind of regular drama, soap, news broadcast and any shit like that and you can still enjoy the odd show or film from time to time. Not EVERYTHING on TV is shit, but finding the good stuff is a challenge, just go by personal recommendations and downloads.

Of course it is unnecessary, but most of how society is structured is unnecessary.

[ayingerbrau]

You'd all be better off just killing yourselves. Between now and your suicide convince as many other people as you can to do the same.

[Intoxicated Shaman]

Piracy and a terabyte external hard drive is all you need these days. And a high speed internet connection.

[Blunderstar]

Originally Posted by ayingerbrau

I sold most of my stuff like that a while ago. What do you think about living without the Internet?

The Internet is the most valuable tool we can use for information - without it, I wouldn't have discovered de sade, khan academy, walt whitman, meditation, satanism; the list is endless, but they're all things that have defined me as a person. Yes, the Internet has defined me as a person, but I can say that safely because I didn't use it to live on myspace, youtube, facebook, twitter, etc.

We have a library of fucking marvellous things to increase our knowledge, and yet those last sites I listed are the only things we use it for.

Zoklet has helped me a lot, despite 95% of my time here being a complete waste of time. Looking back, the most enriching exchanges weren't in PEOO, GS, or LLR, but in the novelty forums. I'll probably be spending less time here, but it's going to be a better experience than I had previously.

[JNH]

I like to watch stuff that I can learn from or that can make me think. The problem is that it's so hard to find in the huge shit pile of celebrity gossip, reality tv and all other types of dumbed-down filth.

[Psych]

I like watching television, specifically high production value dramas and comedies.

I wonder if a few hundred years ago people used to talk about the mindless idiots who would watch Shakespeare's dumb plays.

[The Pat-Man]

Originally Posted by Psych

I like watching television, specifically high production value dramas and comedies.

I wonder if a few hundred years ago people used to talk about the mindless idiots who would watch Shakespeare's dumb plays.

ancient egyptians banned reading occasionally because they believed that it made you stupid.

[Shrike]

Originally Posted by Psych

I like watching television, specifically high production value dramas and comedies.

I wonder if a few hundred years ago people used to talk about the mindless idiots who would watch Shakespeare's dumb plays.

Oh yeah they definitely did. I mean prose writing (as in novels) was seen as far inferior to poetry a couple hundred years ago.

[High School Janitor]

I like blunderstar, sounds like me before I got hooked on the droogs and spiraled into some sort of self made hell. On my way out though! Anyways, when I was a kid my dad took the TV out of the house until i was about 16. I thought it was the most fucked up thing ever, but in retrospect Im glad he did it. The only time Ill catch myself starting at the tube is if im at my girls house and something good is on NatGeo or the History Channel. Besides that file sharing is the way to go. But like blunder said,there is so much more to life than audiovisual stimulation. Finding good conversation, making music, exercise, and just trying not to be sucked into the mass consciousness are good enough for me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasteland_Speech

[The Explanation]

You guys are missing out. I understand not wanting to veg out and watch the tube all day, but there's nothing like having a bunch of friends over to watch a game. There's also a ton of dramas out now that go a lot deeper than TV ever has before. Shows like Breaking Bad, Southland, etc. really are worth watching in the same way that a good book is worth reading.

[JNH]

Originally Posted by Psych

I wonder if a few hundred years ago people used to talk about the mindless idiots who would watch Shakespeare's dumb plays.

I'm sure kids in classrooms will be studying Jersey Shore hundreds of years from now.

[High School Janitor]

The Classics of the 21st Century

[Duke Zion]

Originally Posted by JNH

I'm sure kids in classrooms will be studying Jersey Shore hundreds of years from now.

Decline of civilization and popular culture...