My Interesting Prompts

1.) How will our society be different in 50 years when some of us have children and grandchildren? What are some aspects (like music, technology, etc) be the same or different than now?

2.) What is your favorite state that you have been to? Why? What makes it so enjoyable to you?

3.) How should the United States government deal with the national debt in the most effective way that you can think of?

I am answering writing prompt number one.

To me society in fifty years will become more technological than ever. There are positives and negatives to this. Most people will have at least one computer, a tablet, and a smart phone. This is good bc people would be much smarter and our nation's IQ will probably be quite higher. I believe that people will begin to realize that school and your education is extremely important towards being successful in life. The negatives of this would be that everyone would rely on their technology to do everything for them. When citizens were in a situation where they weren't using their technology, they wouldn't be able to do the necessary task. Music, I believe, will become much more of techno too. It will be made by computers and music sang by humans will be rare, that is how it is starting to look already right now. Overall, our society will be better and worse in ways. I would not like this completely technological society because it does not feel good to me when I am barely using my brain with my technology like computers doing everything for me.

what might be interesting? I don't know! (mr. pope voice)

• UK Football
• Whether or not global warming is a myth
• Going to war

This is a football Saturday in October, so I feel like it would be appropriate to talk about some football. I am a big UK fan, but people think I'm crazy when I say that I am a more passionate about UK football. I have issues with the way our football program is being lead right now. Ask Jack and Cameron and they will tell you that I voice my opinions strongly about our coaching and our athletic director. So here we go.

Kentucky plays in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The SEC is undoubtably the toughest conference in college football. Kentucky is not known as a football school for obvious reasons, but under Rich Brooks, UK football has been put on the map. As of late, under the head coaching of Joker Phillips, UK football is gradually falling off of the map. I believe that the lack of success begins at the top of the athletic food chain.

Mitch Barnhart has been involved with athletic departments for about 30 years, and has been a part of "successful" football programs according to himself. I have yet to see that whole success thing in our football program under him and I don't see it going anywhere unless he makes some bold decisions. Kentucky basketball is Kentucky basketball and every person that has any clue about sports in general knows that. Simply because of that, Kentucky basketball will always have the resources it needs, both from the University and from outside sources. More attention needs to be put on football because Kentucky basketball will always be prominent. Football, believe it or not, brings in more money than any other sport; almost every other sport combined. The problem is that not nearly enough of this revenue is being put back into the football program. Kentucky has nice facilities, but not compared to the top tier teams of the SEC.

Coaching has a significant part in the success of any sport. The hiring decisions and the coaching decisions have been mind-boggling. Barnhart knew he needed a basketball coach to save his job, so he went on a nation-wide coaching hunt. He offered John Calipari $6 million per year to come and coach at UK. This hire saved his job. Coach Cal said that he would have come to UK for less and it was not about the money, but who would turn down six million per? This is what I mean when I say more attention needs to be put on the football program. Joker Phillips was named as "coach-in-waiting" before Rich Brooks retired. Now Phillips is the head coach and I completely disagree with the decision to make him coach. Brooks had almost 40 years of coaching experience, both in college and in the NFL; Joker has no head coaching experience anywhere, and it shows. "Coach-in-waiting" is a tag put on an assistant coach that is being pursued by other schools, and the current school wanted to keep him from leaving. NO ONE WANTED JOKER. So why would we name him coach in waiting? Anyone would want to coach in the SEC; all you have to do is offer good money. Why not go on another nation-wide coaching search? It certainly seemed to work out for basketball. Joker is being paid $1.1 million per year, which is last amongst SEC schools...even Vanderbilt. As shown with the Calipari situation, we obviously have the money to pay a coach; so why won't we go get one?

Prices have gone up for football season tickets, but the quality of football has been going down. It has become so bad under Joker Phllips that fans have booed the coaches in every home game this season. He asks for patience from the fans. He deserves no patience after we have yet to see any improvement in 18 games under him. How much more patience does he want? Fans have become upset because expectations have been raised due to Brooks' success. Brook took us from a level 4 to a level 7. Fans went through 6 years to get to that level 7, now they want to go from a 7 to an 8 and so on. Fans are angry because with the hire and performance of Joker Phillips, we have gone back done to a level 4/5 which makes fans feel like they have wasted 6 years. I could go on and on about this topic so I'll leave it at that.

The lack of money being put into the football program, the lack of attention on the football program, the decision making, and the overall acceptance of mediocrity has turned our football program in the wrong direction. Better football=more money..we all know that's what really matters to the University. They need to do what it takes to take our football program back in the right direction.

Why?

1. If you could have one super power what would it be? explain.

2. Is global warming a myth or not? Why or why not?

3. Should we have gone to war in Iraq? explain.

all three of these writing prompts intrigue me this week. obviously it has nothing to do with the fact that i created them, but still they are all unique and interesting topics. the topic that interest me the most would have to be question number two.

in my humble, modest, and correct opinion global warming is NOT a myth. it is real and is a huge danger. in an article by Rolling Stones magazine they talk about global warming, or climate change if you prefer. in this article they write about how Australia is the most fragile of continents and how if any continent is going to be hit first by climate change it will be Australia. after that go on to show pictures of dead kangaroos, the dramatically changing climate (typhoons, drought, fire, heat waves, etc.) it is so bad that scientists are predicting that the great barrier reef will be completely obliterated by the year 2050. thats just forty years from now, so if you want to see it i suggest you go and see it soon. also reports have been done that show that global warming is true and is not just fluctuation in the earths normal flow of things, things have been heating up far too quickly. this website (http://epa.gov/climatechange/) speaks all about what the evidence is and how its being analyzed and such. this is a really helpful website out there for all of you who still need more evidence to be convinced that global warming actually exists.

so even though all of the evidence is out there and has been proven multiple times, it is up to you all to decide whether or not global warming is real, and if you decide that it is (which it most definitely is) to do something about it. i would be very glad to hear all of my fellow peers, and mr. Logsdon's and mrs. carpenters, response to this question of whether or not global warming is a myth or not?

Assignment 6:Create Your Own Adventure

What interests you? What is your point of exigence?

This week, create the three writing prompts that you find most intriguing. Then, choose one prompt and respond to it.

Ready...

Go!

Due Sunday, October 2 at 11:59 pm

Step Aside Nobels....

What does it say about our society that the Emmy's have so much glitz and attention and the Nobel Prizes are quietly announced in the news? Is this bad? Good? Appropriate?

What kind of world do we live in nowadays? We live in a world where the actors who do the best at playing a cop on TV show or the show where the worst singers draw in the most viewers are more popular than scientific innovation. What a sad, sad world that is.

But why is this? Could it be because people aren't as entertained by scientific discoveries as they used to be? I think the most logical explanation is simple: entertainment. Everyone loves Law and Order and American Idol, but most people don't get really excited about quantum mechanics. Anyone, please try to refute that.

Chances are, you don't know who won the Nobel Prize this year for Physics. I sure don't. I'm not even positive they've had the awards ceremony yet. But I'll bet you know who won Best Comedy TV Show this year at the Emmys. Or Best Picture this year at the Oscars. Is this a bad thing? No. Does it have the potential to be a bad thing? Absolutely.

I am not saying that the Emmy's or TV shows are bad for us. In fact, TV shows are a lot of fun, and they bring us a lot of enjoyment. But everything is about glamour and ostentaciousness, and the world is slowly becoming more and more shallow and swimming farther and farther away from the mainland (where we used to be).

Television is a helluva drug

Look at the image beside this text, and then try to tell me that TV hasn't infected your mind. If you don't recognize what's so funny about it, congratulations, you have not been hypnotized by the world's most successful salesman. I'm not talking about the geico man, although he is fairly successful; I'm talking about television itself.

Television is one of the most obvious marketing operations in the history of the world. Its strategy is genius: distract people with quality entertainment, and then drill them with catchy tunes and iconic pictures to sell stuff. The plan is so obvious that most people don't even realize how effective it really is. The archetypal ACME co. salesman is now invited into your own home.

Regardless, I wouldn't say that television is a harmful phenomenon; it's not. With all kinds of opportunities to learn about world news, science, and even *gasp* well marketed products and services, television is at the center of the information revolution right alongside the internet and the cell phone. Quality entertainment is to be had in front of the humble idiot-box, and time is ripe for the wasting. From wonderful cult classics like "Doctor Who" and comedy gold like "The Office" to the gut wrenching "Jersey Shore" and relentlessly misinformational "Oreilly Factor," TV has seen us through the best and the worst in entertainment.

What is television exactly? Is it a successful door-to-door salesman or a modern vaudeville performer? I say it's both. Only fool would say that television isn't an effective marketing tool, and only Helen Keller in all her senseless majesty would deny that television is entertaining. What a truly magical invention television is.

I never asked for this...

...Terrible scheduling of television shows.

You’re paying for a service that doesn’t let you control anything, forces you to watch things on its schedule, and to top it off, a third of what you get are ads. That’s how “basic cable” works. All I’ve got to say is that we’re getting ripped off. There are plenty of services that are completely free, where you pay to remove advertisements and get even more features. At least we’re moving away from that. With services like Netflix and Hulu, we’re only adding a few dollars to our monthly internet bill. That, and the ability to watch anything whenever you want with no advertisements, seems like a great deal. Heck, even a DVR is great for breaking free of the scheduling-menace that is television.

I used to watch TV whenever I had free time, but eventually shifted to watching everything on my computer and Xbox through Netflix. Once I started using Netflix exclusively, I realized that this was definitely a much better deal than cable television. On Netflix, I could watch 33% more of what I wanted to watch with absolutely no advertisements or commercials. This also let me watch anything I wanted to whenever I wanted to. That meant that I could pause whenever I was busy, and resume at a later date. This flexibility removes much of the problems people have with cable these days.

Television is a gigantic time vacuum. You spend hours, watching one unrelated program after another, changing channels on a whim. That’s why moderation is a good thing. Like anything else, learning when to stop will change a television addiction to using it for recreational and entertainment purposes.

As per my first blog post, I watch a lot of television. Currently, I’m watching and/or have watched:

· Doctor Who – It’s a British show that’s been airing since 1962. The show’s main character is The Doctor, who is a time-traveling humanoid alien. He travels across time and space, visiting many places in the past, present, and future in different planets and galaxies. It may seem cliched, but Doctor Who was probably the show that started the trend.

· Chuck – Chuck is a show on NBC about an “ordinary” person, Chuck Bartowski (played by Zachary Levi), who has his brain implanted with the entire CIA database. Needless to say, this leads to a lot of strange scenarios.

· White Collar – Con man Neil Caffery is captured by the FBI after years of being chased, and offers to help them solve cases using his connections, experience, and skills, in exchange for his eventual release.

· Psych – After an odd situation forces Shawn Spencer to pretend to be a psychic, he must use his actual detective skills and wit to pretend to be a psychic while solving crimes for the Santa Barbara Police Department.

· Scrubs – This show follows the antics of J.D. (John Dorian) and Christopher Turk through their experiences at Sacred Heart Hospital. With a bunch of slapstick humor and short episode times, watching Scrubs is great for relieving stress after a long day.

I watch TV for the reasons posted above. It’s for entertainment and for when I have free time, and it’s a great escape from the pressures of life.

Television..kind of subduable

I love TV; plain and simple. The primary reason for this is because of sports. I am constantly watching sports, whether it's a live game, a recorded game, highlights of a game, or even discussion of a game that has or hasn't happened yet. I also have my handful of shows that I enjoy watching. I do not spend hours and hours a day watching "pointless" TV. The only reason that I would watch more than an hour of TV is because of a sporting event or the premier/finale of one of my shows. The number that collaborates with the time spent in front of the TV is obviously too high. I believe that this falls on parenting. Children do what their parents let them do. If the parents let them watch TV for 5 hours, then they will surely watch TV for 5 hours. The parents ruin the children by, in some ways, being careless with what they allow them to do. TV can be addicting. Too much of anything isn't necessarily good. Limits must be set, especially if problems begin to arise. Too much freedom with something that can be so negatively addicting is what is creating the basis for these large numbers and statistics, which is not good.

The Emmy's, the Grammy's, the Oscars, the MTV video awards. On and on we can go naming the award ceremonies obsessing over celebrities and their awesomeness. Today's society is easily captivated by all the wrong that the world has to offer. We somewhat promote and condone, to a seemingly ever-increasing extent, unethical and immoral behavior. We are wrapped up in movie stars, recording "artists", the latest celebrity gossip and "news." It isn't that we don't honor and recognize those who actually achieve something worthy of attention (i.e. war heroes, most nobel prize winners), it's jus that we focus too much on these media celebrities. The ones who should have the attention are the ones who usually do not have any on them. The ones who are worthy of our recognition and admirability are the ones who may not know they deserve it because of their humble and grateful personalities. Society's view of stars, idols, role models, etc. is skewed to an unfortunate extent, but there are fortunately some who still understand.

TV has its ups and downs

While television is a mainly negative influence on our society as a whole, it does have some redeeming qualities. It supplies us with vital news at a moments notice, or gives us the weather, or warns us of impeding threats. That being said, it is a hugely negative impact to many, especially children and teens. Kids will come home and mindlessly watch TV for hours instead of doing homework, sports, or other things. Adults also become extremely sedentary from TV and waste large amounts of their time on it. I would argue that TV is even worse than video games, which are more looked down upon as a way for kids to spend time, due to their lack of thought or socializing.

Personally, I do not find television a fun way to pass time for the reasons mentioned above. I do not like the lack of thought or interaction with other people. If I need to blow a few hours I will play tennis or Xbox or just find someone to hang out with. That, to me, is the real conundrum of television. Not only does it waste so much time for so many, it seems utterly pointless.

Television? What's that?

Nowadays, I often hear many people around me at school talking about something like the latest episode of some show or another, or something about how Character A kissed Character B when Character C is supposed to be engaged to Character A, oh the scandal!!!!

Well, okay. That's not entirely true. I do hear people talk about television shows a lot, though. And in some cases, I do watch television shows myself. Just...not actually on TV, as they air. More often, my viewing experience involves either YouTube or the video rental store.

The main reason for this is that we don't have anything even vaguely resembling cable. But there are certainly more reasons behind it than that. My father, in cancelling our cable in 1997, was doing so in the hopes that it would help his children to read more, and, consequently, become more skilled in the arts of writing and speaking. (This did, initially, work, as I was the only person in my preschool who was able to read the Junior Novelization of Anastasia (or, for that matter, any other movie that was Novelized in a Junior way)). Whether his attempt at enlightening us is still effective to this day is debatable.

But even now, save for the occasional Adventure Time episode, I do very little TV watching. I really have no reason to watch much television. It hasn't affected my life much before, and I certainly don't believe it will affect my life any more than it already has anytime soon.
(Except maybe for making me check my watch in a panic when I am on a plane and 40 minutes have passed. And not blinking around statues.)

Television

"Does TV provide a good form of entertainment?"

The question as to whether or not TV is a "good" form of entertainment is hard to answer. If you, Mr. Logsdon, mean to ask if it is an effective way to be entertained, then the answer is yes. If America is in the mood for comedic, dramatic, romantic, violent, or otherwise specific mood, it can be found somewhere in their 70-500 channels accessible from the comfort of their own home. It can (and sometimes is guaranteed to) keep us entertained for hours or even entire evenings, and with DVR/Tivo and more channels than ever available, the already effective system is also ever growing in its ability to glue us to our furniture and burn as few calories as possible.
If you mean to ask if it is a healthy, social, typical, or otherwise positive use of time in the pursuit of curing boredom, then the answer is definitely no. Picture the movies set in the 80's and 90's. Kids were throwing ball with their dads in the front yards, or throwing a football in the street outside an apartment. When they walked inside, it was more likely to crash on the couch after a long day of play than to sit there for hours to stare at a screen. Picture the movies we watch set before that era. Were there even TV's in houses? Not often. Back then, it was an oddity to spend half as much time as we do in our living rooms or bedrooms just watching something.

TV is something we are not evolutionarily ready for. Our genes want us to get up and consume energy as we acquire it. We eat, work, eat again, work some more, eat one more time, and then what? Watch TV until we get tired and drag ourselves to bed. This mixed with our high fat diet is a tragic ironic situation in which our own evolved minds produce an environment so fast our bodies are used to being active and stimulated in the old environment and stimulated and don't take well to watching television.

Television Take over

I love the television I don't understand why anyone wouldn't like watching TV. I'll agree that watching television is usually a waste of time and that you could be spending your time doing better things but at the same time I'm almost seventeen years old, meaning I'm not watching spongebob and Suite Life of Zach and Cody. Instead I'm watching something sports related or a movie or the history channel which I feel isn't a waste of time.

However, there are younger kids who do watch silly shows, that are pointless and obtain no educational value. Another huge concern for me that falls under the category of TV is video games. I was raised without any system and to this day I don't own any system and I don't care to cause I would rather be practicing a sport, but there are teenagers that waste hours on end in front of the television playing video games that don't help you in any way. This is not good for these kids because they could be participating in a productive activity.

Although TV is a waste of time in some situations and is cumulativally a bad thing, what would you do without watching your team, favorite show, or movies on TV.

RIP TV

I should begin by saying that I love television shows. They have the potential to deliver engrossing narratives with casts of rich, multifaceted character that movies just don't have the scale to. They are awesome. However what is not awesome is that I have to wait a week to continue watching this engrossing narrative. Also, while I am watching said engrossing narrative, my drooling will interrupted by a large black man on a horse to try to sell deodorant to men. This is not awesome.

Maybe twenty years ago, these interruptions were tolerated. But twenty years ago, one couldn't sit down with their laptop and watch the same programming, without the nauseating commercials and weekly interruptions. It doesn't make sense. As I write this blog, I have a tab of episode 5 season 2 of The Sopranos paused. If I wanted to, I could pull up Hulu to watch the latest Daily Show, ESPN3 to watch any game, or Youtube to see anything. When I could do all this in 120 seconds, why I should I suffer through a modern television broadcast.

Television must evolve. They live now, but in ten years? Twenty? Fifty? It is easier than ever to go online and the future will only bring further progress. These mega corporations that control the programming must adjust their ways. If not, then when I am some creepy old dude walking through a museum, I will see kids asking their parents what that thing that dosen' project holograms is.

Television

Why do you watch TV? Why do you not? What shows do you love or hate?


For me, Television is a really big part of my life. It's something that I can just sit back and enjoy without any stress, and immerse myself in. It provides a nice topic for discussions with other people either in person or online, and can be plain fun. Sadly, most TV is not like this nowadays. Quality programing is rare to come by. Back in the 90's you could turn on your TV to dozens of great shows, such as Batman The Animated Series, Animaniacs, Freakazoid, The Tick, Spongebob and many other wonderfully made shows. Yeah those are all cartoons but hey, that's what I remember, seeing as I was pretty young in the 90s. 


But now, you turn on the TV and there is nothing of worth on. The news is talking about the celebrity disaster of the week, Cartoon Network is full of reality shows, the video game stations are playing Cops, there's just practically nothing of worth anymore. If you want to enjoy TV you have to work for it, so it seems. I work for it. I haven't turned on my actual television (outside of to play games or watch movies) for quite some time. Instead, I just get my shows online. By watching television in this manner, you don't have to deal with re-runs, ads, or the crap that gets aired 24/7 nowadays. You're not even restricted by what airs in your country, or when it aired! I can watch the original Kamen Rider from 1971, or Kamen Rider Fourze which is airing right now. I'd never be able to watch the shows I love if it weren't for this method. No American TV station would ever air what I watch... and I don't care! I can just watch it on my own time. So on one hand, TV sucks if you just sit there and eat whatever slop you're fed, but if you make an effort to seek out good stuff, there's plenty to be had. You don't even need to be a dirty, immoral pirate to be an active viewer. Anyone with a DVR can break free of the shackles of programming and watch what they want when they want. 

keep it to a minimum

Honestly, I do not watch television much. The only time I sit down and watch my television set is during the UK basketball season when cheering on the Cats. However, I am a Hulu addict. Every week, I will sit in front of my computer and watch probably 2-4 of my favorite shows (depending on the time of year). Some of these include Glee, Project Runway, House, Switched at Birth, and Pretty Little Liars. I love Hulu because it allows you to watch all the shows you like, but at a time that is convenient for you. Why do I watch television? Well, it is a great escape from doing homework, which is probably why I’m doing my blog post and physics homework on the day they are due, but further than that, I find it very relaxing to come home and have about an hour when I don’t have to use my brain. I can be entertained and it doesn’t drain me of energy. If anything, I would say that watching one hour of TV a day makes me more motivated to do things afterward because I’m not exhausted from using my brain. Now, whether this is a good thing or not, I have not decided. Should we always have our minds stimulated and never turn them off for entertainment, or is this method of relaxation a good thing? One key word: moderation. According to The Kaiser Family Foundation, "American children and adolescents spend 22 to 28 hours per week viewing television, more than any other activity except sleeping. By the age of 70 they will have spent 7 to 10 years of their lives watching TV." That is a scary statistic. So much time is wasted on television watching and for what? Is it really going to benefit you in the future? Probably not. What scares me more is that the availability of TV is increasing, and I am perpetuating it. You can watch it anywhere and anytime on your DVR, computer, or cell phone. It is becoming easier and easier to catch up on your missed episodes, which is probably increasing those statistics from earlier. Television is a great form of entertainment, but it has too much importance in some people’s lives. The most important thing is having your priorities straight and realizing that television is not critical to life. But some every once and a while couldn’t hurt, right?

TV Will Make Your Children Into Terrorists

Truthfully, I watch TV quite a lot, and very few people today can actually say that they never watch TV because socially people don't want to be known as a "couch potato" but really everyone watches TV and its very apparent when people start talking about their favorite TV shows. On the other hand everyone wishes they didn't watch as much TV as they do, because 99% of the time you could be doing something useful with that time, and in my case could be actually doing homework on time.

I watch TV because it is something interesting to do at home, I usually watch ESPN, The Entourage, or some show on the Discovery channel, they are all complete opposite parts of the spectrum of TV. I admit that most of the time the educational value of the shows I watch are little to none, but I see the point of TV is for fun not for learning. I think parents who do not allow their children to watch normal shows like Spongebob are hurting the childrens' social abilities, because truthfully just because a kid starts out smart does not mean that they will end up being successful later in he/she's life.

On the other hand, shows like Teen Mom should not be allowed to watch because they do not help people one bit, and all they are really used for in my thoughts is to make dumb mistakes look ok or to make people who watch the shows feel better about themselves because they aren't in the position of the person in the show. Overall, there should be some rules on what TV shows can be produced, and each one should have some reason to the person watching it.

Overall, TV isn't as bad as everyone makes it seem; yes, everyone should try and not watch TV as much as they do, and really focus on something that will help them in the future.

TV < Anything Else

I think that we watch because its a way to distract ourselves. We are able to take our minds off any of our problems, and become part of the fun and perfect lives portrayed by the television shows. I try to refrain from watching too much tv. I feel like I'm loosing brain cells if I watch it for longer than an hour or so. The only shows that I have to watch are Modern Family, Gossip Girl, and 90210. Both Gossip Girl and 90210 have that crazy drama aspect to them that I find appealing, and Modern Family on the other hand is simply hilarious. Shows that I hate are the fake, reality shows such as Jersey Shore. Its painful to watch and I always end up having second hand embarrassment for the people.

I feel as though television can provide a good source of entertainment, but definitely not y the crazy drama fulfilled shows. The fact that our society today wants to watch people make complete fools of themselves amazes me. Also, tv shows are a huge source of advertisement. Companies pay tons of money to have their products appear in the most successful shows, and it's a way for the producers to publicize their opinions. I'm not saying that tv is a complete waste of time, however, it shouldn't be obsessed over the way it is.

TV

I think television has both good and bad attributes in society. It provides an easy form of entertainment for everyone since there are so many different types of shows and channels now. It can also be harmful in that people watch their TVs for more than a healthy amount of time. I have to say I like watching some TV. I mostly watch things that make me laugh like comedy central or fox. I like to watch some movies on TV except for the fact that there are way too many commercials nowadays. The shows I hate are the reality shows because they make people act worse then they actually do in real life, and these people get crazy just because they think it is enjoyable for the TV views (i.e. jersey shore).
What it says about our society that the Emmy's are getting more attention than the Nobel Prizes is that advertising triumphs. If you advertise something on TV then it'll probably get more attention than other forms of advertisement. People pay money to get their shows and products recognized and in a way it's fair because these people just want to promote what they have but the importance of it is not necessarily big. Shows like the Emmy's appeal to viewers because they award entertainment rather than real human progress. I believe that in the end, TV is a good thing because it shows advancement in technology and in forms of entertainment. It's just how people use them that reflects the characteristics of our society.

TV is a Waste

TV for the most part is a waste of time and life. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, "American children and adolescents spend 22 to 28 hours per week viewing television, more than any other activity except sleeping. By the age of 70 they will have spent 7 to 10 years of their lives watching TV." Now, think for a moment. If adolescents spent that 22 to 28 hours a week studying science, practicing an instrument, playing a sport, just think how successful they would be. Think how much further society would move. Instead, they squander their time in front of the TV, engrossing themselves in the next show. TV can be a useful tool for learning or for getting the news, but even this branch of television is tainted by opinion and rage outlets such as FOX and MSNBC. I, however should not be talking. I admit that I watch the Daily Show and the Colbert Report almost religiously. I also watch The Office and Tosh.O, so i do have my fair share of shows that I tune into every week. But I do try to limit my time spent in front of the TV because I think it is a waste.

Is tv for zombies?

Television for most people is a love hate relationship. We love to watch it but hate that it sucks us in and takes away time for other more important things. Most of the shows on television today to put it lightly are crap. They exhibit no possible way to enhance our life except to entertain us, and there are many other possible ways to entertained (reading, playing outside, etc). About the only informative channels and shows are the news, NOVA, PBS, and others like those. Television is one of the reasons there is such a problem with obesity on the united states. Instead of playing outside children are watching tv. Television usually ends up taking 4-5 hours out of my week that I could have spent studying. For those of you that say that you study while watching television you are must be superhuman. Whenever I try to multi task I just end up watching tv. Therefore although there is a love hate relationship between tv and I. I believe that tv is not providing anything extra in our daily lives other than another distraction of this modern day age. And so I try whenever possible to stray away from television.

For your TV viewing pleasure

Why do I watch TV? This is an interesting question that I have never given much thought to. To me it is simply a habit. When I have free time (as if) I'll watch TV, but its also a way for me to relax after either a long day at school or simply after running around on the weekends. At night after my parents are done working and after dinner and if there are no late night practices or other activities, as a family, we will sit down and watch TV. Sometimes movies if we have time but usually just an episode of our latest favorite show. However, my family is slightly unconventional in the fact that yes we do have cable, but we can not schedule our lives around show times on TV. Therefore, we watch everything on either hulu.com or netflix.
I like a wide variety of TV shows. But there are only a few shows that I watch week to week and those would be Glee (MY FAVORITE), Desperate Housewives, Bones, Hell's Kitchen, and America's Got Talent. Of course there are other shows that I watch, but those are the ones I watch every week on hulu. There are few shows that I dislike though. I do like some game shows, but others can get annoying. I also dislike long unnecessarily drawn out shows such as the whole Secret Life of the American Teenager thing. That has just lasted FAR too long.
After contemplating my TV watching habits I have seen a pattern. I watch TV because it is entertaining and convenient. Almost every show I would ever want to watch is at my finger tips. Either through cable, Hulu, or Netflix it is all right there. I may need to do a little searching but then it is hours and hours of episodes ready to be watched. It easy to throw on an episode of something while doing homework and also at night when my family is relaxing from a long day it is nice to sit together and be entertained my one of our favorite shows.
However, TV also has its negative impacts. It has almost become hard to sit in a silent room without TV or at least music. I've become ancy in silence I believe that to be a downfall of my generation. Admittedly I do like my silence but I also need a little bit of noise whether it is TV or music when I'm doing anything.

Television: I'm feeling a good anti-societal rant coming

"A perfection of means, and confusion of aims, seems to be our main problem."

Albert Einstein

How is television applicable?

How is television a perfection of means?

I don't know if anyone noticed, but the whole TV experience hasn't changed much since its invention in 1927 and its proliferation in America following WWII. We still sit in front of a box displaying images and speakers producing sound. What we do have now are more gadgets and more options--hundreds of channels, surround sound, DVR, audience participation shows like American Idol, etc.

Have you ever wondered why TV hasn't witnessed any revolutionary changes? There could be several hypotheses, but I think TV's unchanging history is due to its near perfection in what it does: communicate. Can any other communicator compete with the TV experience, with its appeal to sight and hearing--arguably to two most important senses? No, and no other communication device has.

Television dominates communication because it is cheap, easy to manage, and provides an experience as close as it comes to vicarious.

How is television a deleterious "aim"?

At first television broadcast the news--television was a mass communication device. But why couldn't television be entertaining, like a take-home cinema? With such easy access, entertainment could reach every home with the touch of a button. And what better way to reel in the cash than to stick ads between sessions of entertainment? Television is a perfect example of the market--the competition among shows for the most viewers to create the most competition among companies for advertisement spots--seizing control immediately and turning the boat around 180 degrees into the waters of entertainment appeal.

Since the arrival of this system, little has changed in the TV world. But what has changed in the outside world? Entertainment television became such a central part of the modern family that it now celebrates its own nostalgia on channels like "TV land." But do we celebrate television for bringing us the world news for 60+ years? Does television educate (other than a few select channels)? Does television exist for anything but the entertainment market?

No, it doesn't. Ask me and I'll tell you this kind of rampant capitalist exploitation of people's urge to find entertainment is exactly the reason America is the kind of cesspool that better understands Big Brother more than the Big Bang, Ocho Cinco more than Otto von Bismarck, and Sarah Palin the reality TV mom more than Sarah Palin the presidential candidate.

Einstein seems to attack the same point. Humans are excellent at developing astoundingly efficient technologies, but if no one steps in to use these technologies for the betterment of society then they only more efficiently destroy our respect for anything but entertainment.

Moderation

I do watch TV. I watch it afterschool as something to do while I relax. I also have certain shows that I keep up with. The shows I keep up with the most are Army Wives, Pretty Little Liars, Jerseylicious, Jersey Shore, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, The Amazing Race, What Not to Wear, and Ninja Warrior. Looking at that list, consisting of my favorite shows, I realize that five out of eight are related to drama. Army Wives is the #1 TV drama for women; Pretty Little Liars is a drama/mystery show for teens; and Jerseylicious, Jersey Shore, and Keeping Up with the Kardashians are all reality shows, which, of course, are made up of drama. I wish I could explain the appeal of a drama or reality show, especially to women. Maybe I like watching them because I like helping people with their problems, and those shows consist of many social problems that I enjoy analyzing and seeing progress. Many people would argue that reality shows in particular are a bad influence on the minds of people who watch them because most people on those shows do not behave appropriately. I would actually agree with this statement. I think that when people watch others drinking, partying, being promiscuous, and acting pugnacious on TV, it either directly makes the viewer want to do it, or subconsciously makes them think it’s normal or okay. On the other hand, I think that if the viewer is set on what they know is right and watch these shows purely for entertainment, it’s okay to watch them. What Not to Wear is an informative show, although predominantly watched by women. However, the last two are competition shows – The Amazing Race and Ninja Warrior – which any age or gender could enjoy equally. TV should be used in moderation like everything else. Watching an hour of TV everyday will not hurt you, but it can’t interfere with your life. Television is a way to communicate a sense of other people’s lives, real or made up, but we can’t forget that we have our own lives to live.

"Your cable television is experiencing difficulties. Please do not panic.

...Do not attempt sexual relations, as years of TV radiation have left your genitals withered and useless." ~Matt Groening, The Simpsons

I let my parents sift through all the crap on TV. They watch an entire show, DVR the good stuff, and then I watch it on my own time. Today I learned that Mike Rowe used to sell Precious Moments figurines on TV shopping channels, Brazil’s dress in the Miss Universe pageant was godawful, and the Sterling Hall bombing in 1970 killed a physics researcher and injured three others when no human harm was intended. Time consumed= 45 minutes

I wouldn’t want to watch TV any other way. Why should I have to waste three hours on a couch learning what I could have in ten minutes? And I can’t say that the things that I actually learn from watching TV are all that important anyway.

I watched the series Chuck starting the day the first episode aired, until the third season or so. I watched Glee until the second season. I watched How I Met Your Mother for about three consecutive seasons. The reason I stopped? I simply didn’t have time. Some shows reached a point where you couldn’t make any sense of an episode unless you saw the three one-hour specials prior to it. Others had nothing to do with the three seasons prior to the show. The plotlines became too demanding. I couldn’t keep up.

It wasn’t as if I was missing out on much. The shows reached a point where their storylines held no merit, either. They were releasing episodes faster than they could come up with stuff to fill them with. So, what happened?

SEX. That’s what happened.

I turned on an episode of Glee one day, and it was eerily reminiscent of the day I watched Grease 2 (minus the “HEY. THAT’S NOT JOHN TRAVOLTA” moment). The ENIRE show was like “Reproduction”. A little raunchiness isn’t inappropriate for a teen audience, but uncomfortable (and repeated) sexual situations are a total turn-off.

On another note, I find it absolutely appropriate that the announcement of the Nobel Prizes is relatively reserved. I don’t believe the recipients of that honor want that moment tarnished by the superficial aura that excessive media attention brings. In the case of the Emmy awards, more attention is paid to the glamour on the red carpet rather than who actually won. This simply wouldn’t be proper for the Nobel Prizes. Their work is what deserves the recognition.

Currently, I watch the Discovery Channel (Dirty Jobs, Mythbusters, Sons of Guns); the History Channel (American Pickers); Animal Planet (River Monsters); TLC (Cake Boss, My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding*) the world news (MSNBC)- which has become terribly biased as of late; and miscellaneous cartoons.

*This show is actually a rather insightful documentary describing the conflicting cultural differences between the average citizen and the traveling gypsies. They address common myths and allow the gypsies to express how they feel on topics such as discrimination and marriage.

What does it say about our society that the Emmy's have so much glitz and attention and the Nobel Prizes are quietly announced in the news? Is this bad? Good? Appropriate?

Our society is becoming less and less intellectual. Personally, I would much rather watch the Emmy's instead of the Nobel Prizes, simply because the Nobel Prizes will most likely lack excitement. There would be no beautiful women, nice music, or flashy red carpet presentations. It would stereo-typically be of old men who smell of tapioca. Not only would it lack the zeal that the Emmy's have, but it would also be pretty confusing to learn of the achievements people made. I would probably not understand what the achievements were if I were not experienced in the field of the recipient. However, the Emmy's display television stars, who everyone has heard of, or they can simply watch the short playings of their work and get what they have done to deserve an award.

It's not that the Nobel Prizes are not as important as the Emmy's, but we as a society have become so much less intellectual that we would not usually be able to appreciate the Nobel Prizes, nor could we understand the reasoning behind them. The Emmy's, however, can be understood by most people, as it is entertainment, and provides a much more appealing look, since you've got beautiful people everywhere.

In conclusion, not only have we lost our intellectual sides, but we've become more shallow as a society as a whole. Heck, I'm not complaining. I enjoy beautiful people.