contributors to humankind or human unkind?: I’m new to this debate forum, or any debate forum considering that the last one I actively participated in was when the original MSN came out with Windows 95. I’m not too sure of the ...
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contributors to humankind or human unkind?
I’m new to this debate forum, or any debate forum considering that the last one I actively participated in was when the original MSN came out with Windows 95. I’m not too sure of the age groups here or the seriousness of the debates, but I have a serious issue that is tearing away at me to get out and be discussed. This is a very complicated, multifaceted issue that may take a bit of reading to understand the full perspective I have, so please don’t jump to conclusions. Basically, this issue has to do with societal doom and misery (caused by selfishness leaving us all lonely and bitter), along with social propaganda and pressure groups, or what I’d rather call “unsettled social groups” for a very good reason.
There is an extremely high occurrence of at least one television per household in the country I live in, and also in any “developed” country. This makes it a useful tool at spreading everything from truths to lies.
I once read that children, up until the age of about four, are unable to differentiate between reality and the content on a television screen. The brain at such an early age has no reason to know that these images it’s seeing aren’t actually happening. If those children are never taught that the on-screen content is not actually reality, how will these children ever learn to be anything other than what they’ve always seen? Ex: Social pressure groups portray white men as dumb and preoccupied with sex. This causes youngsters to grow up believing this is the reality and this is how they are by nature because they simply know of no other way to be. I view this method used by the unsettled social groups as very malicious, devious, and worst of all, selfish. (Not even bothering to mention corporate America making us believe we have to have something or we will remain unhappy without it, further adding to the misery of the masses and the rich peoples pocketbooks.) And so it goes, they grow up and continue watching these television shows with displays of a warped reality that are nicely packaged to keep them entertained or passive when they should be outraged and active. The really bad part of it all is that they don’t know they are watching a warped view of reality because it’s what they grew up with. How do you tell someone 2+2 is not 4 when they grew up being taught to believe it was?
In "Turned-on Toddlers," Werner Halpern writes about the over-stimulation that TV presents, possibly being the root cause of ADD and ADHD. In “TV-land”, we miss out on all the more uninteresting, hum-drum (or boring as so many children call it) activities in life, such as sitting still and reflecting on life or walking from one location to another. TV presents us with ever-moving activity that seems interesting, and from this, a child learns that this is reality and always must have something to do so as to not be “bored” when in fact this is not true. I digress off topic a bit, but this is another example of how TV shapes the minds of our children and warps their view of reality. Statistics have also proven that heavy viewers of TV do more poorly in school and/or in social situations.
So why do I prefer to call these pressure groups “unsettled social groups”? Well, it is widely understood that fear or misery is the fire that drives so many people’s efforts in a society. Hitler, if you want a prominent name for an example of fear. Or (insert corporate giant identity here) preys on the misery of the masses, making people believe they want (or even worse, making a product a necessity to someone’s life) something to make their life complete. Misery can be traced back to an unsatisfied want or desire. In order to serve the self-concerned plight of any particular self-centered person or group, a longing or want for something more must be created. Once the seed is planted, the organism breeding on misery or fear will almost certainly grow, as there are plenty of methods to deliver the seed to the masses via today’s technology (TV for one). In relation to pressure groups, a seed was once planted to make people believe their lives were unfulfilled, unlived, or unhappy (when in truth the color or complete warping of reality we choose to display is what breeds the beginnings of the unhappiness or emptiness). I’d now like to enter into a scenario…
Farm life in the old Mississippi delta…the patriarch of the farm starts his day at the crack of dawn and goes through his listing of priorities and tasks. About this time, the supporting matriarch also goes through her list of priorities and begins collecting the milk and eggs to feed her family. The girls are being taught to follow in her footsteps while the boys are out helping to get various other supporting roles complete, following along in the father’s footsteps. For the most part, these tasks are not done for selfish reasons, as the husband and wife married through a selfless form of love, and the children do it because they are told and will one day better understand life and then will need no one to tell them. They enjoy life to its fullest despite the demands placed on them, for what is a life without reason or someone other than yourself to care about?
…and I actually know of a true story of a poor Mississippi farm woman who would wake her house to sounds of a beautiful piano tune before she proceeded to make a total of somewhere between 80 and 100 biscuits every day. Not to mention the smile on her face and in her soul, or in the souls of all her family or the people she touched. But today’s society teaches the masses to be self-centered, give no one the time of day, and consider the motives of only the self and no one else. This will lead someone down a long, lonely path in life where they never know another soul because they only care about themselves. When they reflect back at the end of their life, the only thing behind them is destruction of any relationship they ever had (such is the sad position my own mother had put herself in). This lonely, self-concerned state of being is why I call pressure groups unsettled, meaning they have been made to be unhappy with their lives as if they should have something they don’t. What’s even worse is that these people have been taught since birth that this is the way they should be and that their misery is to be blamed on someone else. These groups are pressure groups, in that they pressure the mass media to display warped realities to serve their own plights, they pressure governments to bend to their will, or they pressure schools to teach our children with a perspective that will only aid in the deliverance of their misery or unsettled state to others who may have had the potential to be truly happy and selfless otherwise. To say they are repressed when they pressure so many aspects of society to bend to their will, and succeed in doing so, makes me believe they are not at all repressed, but liberated to the point of repressing other people’s lives.
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So... TV, man's wonderful creation and downfall.
I've heard this before, mainly from my father. He chose to raise me and my 4 siblings without one. Worked rather well, as far as I'm concerned. I understand his wisdom now that I'm older.
Yes, I belive children are missing out on the necessities of life. dress up, play tea parties, role playing, thinking games, and reading to mand a few. It's becoming obvious too. The first few years of our life are when we learn how to interact with the rest of humanity. Not necessarily TV, but America's TV shows, are no way to go about it. Simply because they don't require thought. And therefore we get more children who cannot think for themselves. TV can be good, but even more dangerous when treated carelessly...
"You can see the stars and still not see the light"
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Firstly, Welcome! Hope you enjoy debating here and I will look forward to debating with you!
There is no doubt that that youngsters are becoming more and more addicted to TV. These new reality programs and pop idol's seem to be enhansing the problem.
TV should be an educating tool, with nature programs, current events documentaries. It has now become mostly for entertainment. It's a shame.
Maybe parents should be more strict on the amount of Tv their child watches and what they watch.
Computer consoles are another problem but I'm not getting in to that because I'm hooked on Pro Evolution soccer and FIFA!
I knew a man who once said:
"Death smiles at us all. All a man can do is smile back."
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I just wanted to say that I like TV and I haven't killed or maimed anyone yet.
epaphras_faith
He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose. (Jim Elliot)
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Originally Posted by
epaphras_faith
I just wanted to say that I like TV and I haven't killed or maimed anyone yet.
I'm not sure what shows you may watch on television, and for that matter I don't know exactly what shows someone who has maimed or killed another person has watched...and even the connections between maiming, killing, etc can be anything from direct to extremely indirect...down to a point that the human eye and knowledge may be too primitive to see.
The complexities of the woven fabric of life, tho, are constantly manipulated by everything (even that which may seem too trivial). Are you actually sure that you've never maimed or killed someone (maybe even unintentional or in such a way that you never even knew you've left some form of destruction in your wake)?
In any case, this leads off topic, and so I guess I just ask...because you are a functional person (or at least to a point that you don't maim or kill someone), you have decided that my view of television is incorrect? Or, more importantly, that my view on the inertia of the entire human race moving in such a direction as it is...well...leads towards a dark age, of sorts.
Why debate about the inertia of humanity? I suppose I get frustrated when I see the continual growth of pressure groups, pointless beurocracy, ignorance, hate, and self-centeredness (which causes a suppresion of true, selfless love and happiness). Such occurences as this only follows a cycle. The rise and fall of the roman empire, the egyptian pharos, and soon we too will fall (altho with the introduction of more advanced technology into the equation, does this help further the life of our society as we know it?).
Television, because of its common occurence and the way it is used, is helping to make our massive amounts of water turn to blood (unimportant issues become important).
k2
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Originally Posted by
katuu-k2
I'm not sure what shows you may watch on television, and for that matter I don't know exactly what shows someone who has maimed or killed another person has watched...and even the connections between maiming, killing, etc can be anything from direct to extremely indirect...down to a point that the human eye and knowledge may be too primitive to see.
The complexities of the woven fabric of life, tho, are constantly manipulated by everything (even that which may seem too trivial). Are you actually sure that you've never maimed or killed someone (maybe even unintentional or in such a way that you never even knew you've left some form of destruction in your wake)?
In any case, this leads off topic, and so I guess I just ask...because you are a functional person (or at least to a point that you don't maim or kill someone), you have decided that my view of television is incorrect? Or, more importantly, that my view on the inertia of the entire human race moving in such a direction as it is...well...leads towards a dark age, of sorts.
Why debate about the inertia of humanity? I suppose I get frustrated when I see the continual growth of pressure groups, pointless beurocracy, ignorance, hate, and self-centeredness (which causes a suppresion of true, selfless love and happiness). Such occurences as this only follows a cycle. The rise and fall of the roman empire, the egyptian pharos, and soon we too will fall (altho with the introduction of more advanced technology into the equation, does this help further the life of our society as we know it?).
Television, because of its common occurence and the way it is used, is helping to make our massive amounts of water turn to blood (unimportant issues become important).
k2
You point to a problem that is inherent in humanity and is not caused by TV. Rather what is being seen is simply a symtom of the problem. It is not actually the problem. It demonstrates the problem. The issues you describe, peer pressure, self centeredness, hate, ignorance, etc, have been existence in spades since the beginning of the world. Wars, famine, robbery, murder, rape, slavery, etc. have all been around much much much longer than television. TV only represents the problem, and often accurately.
epaphras_faith
He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose. (Jim Elliot)
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Originally Posted by
epaphras_faith
You point to a problem that is inherent in humanity and is not caused by TV. Rather what is being seen is simply a symtom of the problem. It is not actually the problem. It demonstrates the problem. The issues you describe, peer pressure, self centeredness, hate, ignorance, etc, have been existence in spades since the beginning of the world. Wars, famine, robbery, murder, rape, slavery, etc. have all been around much much much longer than television. TV only represents the problem, and often accurately.
I'm not necessarily talking about war, famine, rape, etc...but more along the lines of selfishness (which is a problem that may lead to loneliness, unhappiness, apathy, laziness, ...).
Yes, I agree that it's a sort of symptom of the state of humanity, but I also see that it is used in ways that further a sort of negativity. And TV can only be one source of many.
You disagree that this "symptom" will not negatively effect the lives of people subjected to it by television starting early in life? I suppose what I've gotten from this is to heavily reduce the amount of television viewing in any child I raise.
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Originally Posted by
katuu-k2
I'm not necessarily talking about war, famine, rape, etc...but more along the lines of selfishness (which is a problem that may lead to loneliness, unhappiness, apathy, laziness, ...).
Yes, I agree that it's a sort of symptom of the state of humanity, but I also see that it is used in ways that further a sort of negativity. And TV can only be one source of many.
You disagree that this "symptom" will not negatively effect the lives of people subjected to it by television starting early in life? I suppose what I've gotten from this is to heavily reduce the amount of television viewing in any child I raise.
It certainly has an effect. I guess my major point would be that it is not the only thing. Selfishness in particular, is modeled heavily in the american public school system. Teachers, and I hold nothing against them, unless they are unselfish in nature will exhibit selfishness. They cannot help it.
I would say that if you are going to limit TV watching, it needs to go along with appropriate instruction on such things. Talk about self centeredness with the child. What does it look like? How does it come into being? TV is not the only culprit. It can be harmful, but it could be helpful. Imagine finding a harmful show and using it as a negative example as you sit with the child and discuss the problems it portrays and why certain viewpoints are unhealthy. This has more instructional power than the TV itself. Plus you get to spend good qulaity educational loving time with your child.
TV by itself is harmful. However, with a child and parent discussing it, it can be very useful.
epaphras_faith
He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose. (Jim Elliot)
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We're agreed on the topic, then. So I will educate in hopes that the future will be brighter for some.
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Originally Posted by
katuu-k2
We're agreed on the topic, then. So I will educate in hopes that the future will be brighter for some.
.................agreed.
epaphras_faith
He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose. (Jim Elliot)
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Wait...
I watched T.V. my whole life, everyday, hours on end. The only diffrence between me and the kid next door is I watch Discovery, History, I channel etc., I read tons of books, and I study quantum physics in my spare time. So from T.V., Books, and the Internet, I am now years ahead of my peers in all subjects. So I argue it is not the T.V. to blame, but how the T.V. is used. Sure if people watch American Idol, Survivor or whatever, they are doing exactly what you say, and they will most likely be miserable, but if they watch the education channels (they are their trust me) T.V. can be very benefical. The most important thing about life I have learned is this - The greater the chance for good, the greater the chance for bad. Right now T.V. is a cold, inpersonal device used to keep the masses in a vicious cycle, but it can also be used as an amazing educational device!!
So although I agree with your arguement, I also think it has more to do with the people watching the T.v., then it has to do with what the people are watching on T.V.
Everything ages, nothing will be here indefinitly, and entrophy is a proven fact. What is true today, may not be true tommorrow, and the future is never 100% certian. In short, there are no absolutes.
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