TV

As many of you know, we don't have TV at our house. We own a TV and a good-sized movie library, but there's no television watching here. Three years ago we decided to cancel our Cable. Mostly, it was a financially based decision - a way to save $50 a month. But we also discussed the other ways our family would bennefit: more time talking, reading, playing... less time vegging, less time watching ads, less exposure to the crap on TV. I'll admit I've missed HGTV, AMC, History Channel and TLC. I LOVED watching Clean Sweep! (Da na na da da... that's me singing the theme) The first few months were hard - we definitely were in the habit of just always turning on the TV, even if it was just for "background noise". But after the initial shock wore off, I've been amazed at how much more FUN goes on in our house now. Movie watching is now a family activity or a special treat. The kids really do spend more time reading and playing. I spend my time more productively too. I highly recommend it!!!

And it's always nice when you find science/experts back the choices you've made in your life. A friend of mine loaned me a book on the science of happiness ("Happiness" by Richard Layard). After discussing what happiness is, how it can be measured and its sources, the author discusses how the social and technological changes of the last 50 years have affected measured happiness. One of the things he touches on specifically is television. He cites a study done in 1973, when TV was finally introduced into some Canadian communities. Social life (very important for happiness) was reduced, participation in sports declined and measured creativity was reduced. He also points out how TV "hastened the demise of the family evening meal" and "must be one of the reasons for the decline of community life in the United States."

Then he explores how TV (it's content) affects our feelings about life and our behavior. TV does not just mirror life (that would be boring). It focuses on extreemes (violence, sex, chaotic relationships) and contains far more wealth and beauty than "real life". In the end we become desensitised and become discontent. We've heard lots of studies linking violence/aggression with TV, but I'd never considered TV's affect on happiness. "Television programs now contain much more violence and more illicit sex than are contained in real life. As a result people who watch more television believe there is more crime in real life and more adultery than there is." This leads to people feeling less trust in others (important to happiness) and to being more likely to engage in such behaviors (also not good for happiness).

TV also affects happiness by raising our standards of comparision. Studies have shown that after you pass a certain level of income (for basic needs), increased income DOES NOT correlate with increased happiness. Happiness (financially) comes from where we PERCIEVE our position to be, not the actual dollar amount. Yup, it comes down to keeping up with the Joneses. TV programs contain more "well-off" characters and fewer "blue-collar" ones than real-life and advertising shows us a world where people live better than average. The result is, the more TV people watch, the more they overestimate the affluence of others. Thus they percieve their relative "position" as lower than it actually is - and happiness is reduced. Add to that how advertising "reduces our happiness with our possessions." TV also affects how we feel about our bodies and our spouses. "Television creates discontent, by bombarding us with images of body shapes and riches we do not have."

"We should not go back to a world without televsion, but we can surely use our televsion better than we do now." Although the author does not directly tell us HOW to do this, I believe one of his comments is the key: "TV only has an effect if it shows us something different from our own experience." So, if our TV veiwing shows us an experience that is more POSITIVE than our own, it will build us and our families. If our veiwing shows us experiences than differ from our own, in a negative way, we are undermining our (and our children's) happiness. It looks like it's time for Beorn and I to reexamine our movie library....