Greetings from a live person!
Greetings from a live person!
I'm in Huntsville, AL. Home of NASA, Space Camp, 10,000 engineers, and a surprisingly vibrant arts community.
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nameloc2080
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Fri Jul 29, 2005 2:09 am
- Location: Southport, United Kingdom.
- Contact:
Oh, I'm jealous! I love all things British! My life's goal is to someday have the money to visit...and then find a way to stay! Will I just have to make a nice British boy fall in love and marry me, or what?nameloc2080 wrote:Hi my name is Anthony and I'm from the town of Southport, Merseyside which is in the UK. Nice to see some life on the White Dot website! I'll be back more often now!
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DoctorDowntime
- Posts: 22
- Joined: Sun Aug 07, 2005 5:11 am
- Location: California, USA
Greetings from Silicon Valley...
...the place of my origin, heart of the tech boom, bust, and a proliferation of TV-mutated devices everywhere. You'd be suprised (then again, you probably wouldn't), how many people here seem to live their entire lives through one of several screens:
1.) The text messaging screen of their cell phone, or simply the cell phone addiction itself.
2.) Televisions themselves, or...
3.) Their smarter, newer brother, the computer.
And in other news:
I read an article on the Yahoo news service a few weeks back that modern China is experiencing an epidemic of video game addiction amongst its youth, and cites it as the leading cause of missed school days, and poor scholastic achievement. So much so, that they have created clinics and programs to help get these kids back to real life.
I dearly hope they succeed...
Doctor Downtime
1.) The text messaging screen of their cell phone, or simply the cell phone addiction itself.
2.) Televisions themselves, or...
3.) Their smarter, newer brother, the computer.
And in other news:
I read an article on the Yahoo news service a few weeks back that modern China is experiencing an epidemic of video game addiction amongst its youth, and cites it as the leading cause of missed school days, and poor scholastic achievement. So much so, that they have created clinics and programs to help get these kids back to real life.
I dearly hope they succeed...
Doctor Downtime
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justin wood
I am currently living in Orange County, California (what I would call the biggest joke of the world). For some reason we have a television show named for us AND the city next to me (Laguna Beach). Somehow people have been fortunate enough to get to see our pretty little lives! Where most people have suburbian homes with suburban cars, 6 television sets, freeways connecting everything, and a desert that is getting destroyed with all of it. There is no downtowns over here, the only public spaces are on the streets - and one must have a car to participate in those.
I am anxious to get out of here or fix it (I am studying Architecture at Cal Poly Pomona - Los Angeles) and I hope to actually build some downtowns where people can go instead of sit in their houses watching movies or going to the movies.
Either that or I'm moving to London or Germany!
I am anxious to get out of here or fix it (I am studying Architecture at Cal Poly Pomona - Los Angeles) and I hope to actually build some downtowns where people can go instead of sit in their houses watching movies or going to the movies.
Either that or I'm moving to London or Germany!
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jimbo
australia?
Rupert murdoch´s Autralian! Oz is just as commercial, new zealand is less so...But the whole world is pretty commercial these days. Its well depressing, we in the west go to india and are like wow and filled with admiraion for their natural lives but often they just want a tv and a car and loadsa money like us...
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Guest
But of course!
I'm located in the United States, the midwest, in the dusty little state of Indiana. Well. It's a bigger state. But still dusty.
I am extremely happy to be here. I've been telling the story of television, brainwashing and subliminal meanings for years without much response in this area.
From time to time the pals will talk about TV shows as if they where real experiences and I never get picked for Trivia games. Sad when most trivia type games focus so much on TV. Apperently, with bright colors and catchy themes most trivia games (at least ones I'm being exposed to) manage to over look 2,000 years of recorded history and a little thing called science.
I ran across White Dot when I ordered my TV B-Gone, which I stumbled upon by accident. The flyer inside had info, and looking around the site, I feel good.
I am extremely happy to be here. I've been telling the story of television, brainwashing and subliminal meanings for years without much response in this area.
From time to time the pals will talk about TV shows as if they where real experiences and I never get picked for Trivia games. Sad when most trivia type games focus so much on TV. Apperently, with bright colors and catchy themes most trivia games (at least ones I'm being exposed to) manage to over look 2,000 years of recorded history and a little thing called science.
I ran across White Dot when I ordered my TV B-Gone, which I stumbled upon by accident. The flyer inside had info, and looking around the site, I feel good.
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justinwood
- Posts: 16
- Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2005 4:53 am
- Location: Los Angeles, California, USA
- Contact:
Hey most recent guest!
I am encouraged by your posting. I too felt fairly isolated about the whole idea about television being a drain of culture, life, and enriching experiences. I am very glad that you dont feel as alone now.
I do believe, though, that a big problem about wanting to depromote television is this, as I have been thinking about lately:
Who really wants to deal with reality? A lot of people find reality exhausting and now that we have devised so many digital worlds at such a low cost we are finding people all over the world wanting to give in to the fake world of television, video games, epic movies, and so on - virtual reality. Very few cultures seem to try and resist (I am somewhat convinced that many in Germany and Norway today seem to try and resist, but clearly not all of them).
In my personal life I sometimes feel like the loser: I allow myself to be vulnerable, allow myself to be subject to reality, hurt feelings, loss, pain, confusion - because I want to deal with reality - it sounds more beautiful I suppose - the tragedy of humanity.
Somehow as people like us, who wish to rid of the virtual reality world, need to convince those on drugs like TV that this ugly, hopeless, and beautiful real world is more worthwhile than the fake one that our generation and the last have been subjecting themselves to.
The sound of my grandpa's voice and the lines in his face profess the battle of a broken world, being through world war II and many deaths of family members and tragedies - he still says he lived a beautiful life, with tears in his eyes. This life was one without virtual reality. When people of today look back and remember mostly TV shows, some movies on Friday nights, and whatever else, will they say the same thing?
Doubtful.
I am encouraged by your posting. I too felt fairly isolated about the whole idea about television being a drain of culture, life, and enriching experiences. I am very glad that you dont feel as alone now.
I do believe, though, that a big problem about wanting to depromote television is this, as I have been thinking about lately:
Who really wants to deal with reality? A lot of people find reality exhausting and now that we have devised so many digital worlds at such a low cost we are finding people all over the world wanting to give in to the fake world of television, video games, epic movies, and so on - virtual reality. Very few cultures seem to try and resist (I am somewhat convinced that many in Germany and Norway today seem to try and resist, but clearly not all of them).
In my personal life I sometimes feel like the loser: I allow myself to be vulnerable, allow myself to be subject to reality, hurt feelings, loss, pain, confusion - because I want to deal with reality - it sounds more beautiful I suppose - the tragedy of humanity.
Somehow as people like us, who wish to rid of the virtual reality world, need to convince those on drugs like TV that this ugly, hopeless, and beautiful real world is more worthwhile than the fake one that our generation and the last have been subjecting themselves to.
The sound of my grandpa's voice and the lines in his face profess the battle of a broken world, being through world war II and many deaths of family members and tragedies - he still says he lived a beautiful life, with tears in his eyes. This life was one without virtual reality. When people of today look back and remember mostly TV shows, some movies on Friday nights, and whatever else, will they say the same thing?
Doubtful.
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guest
No broadcast TV in Durham, NC
To answer where I am... Durham, NC
It's been 5 years now. No cable. No over-the-air TV.
I'm a fan of NetFlix, and while that still means I watch TV, it's a limited viewing, I only watch what I want, no commercials, and it's something we share every few nights as a couple (ie: social get-together and not zombie-vision).
I am also an avid user of the TV-B-Gone. Love it!
It's been 5 years now. No cable. No over-the-air TV.
I'm a fan of NetFlix, and while that still means I watch TV, it's a limited viewing, I only watch what I want, no commercials, and it's something we share every few nights as a couple (ie: social get-together and not zombie-vision).
I am also an avid user of the TV-B-Gone. Love it!
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Guest
Also TV-free in Durham, NC, USA. Been TV-free seven years.
Today I read the USA Today article posted here about American kids' time being spent indoors now instead of out, making them fatter and more stupid than kids previously. The article cites parental fears of having kids out of their sight, but doesn't say much about how these fears of pedophiles et. al. are substantiated. Are they driven by watching TV news stories of this kind, which contribute to the "mean world" syndrome? Then the more they watch, the more afraid they are to let themselves or their kids venture out, so then they stay in and watch more, and the more they watch the more they are afraid....etc., etc., etc., until virtual reality is preferred because it's "safer." Nevermind the development of obesity and attention deficit disorders, which are far more prevalent than pedophiles....
Justinwood, your question about dealing with reality is on target. Reality is mind-blowing hard. Some argue that religion developed to try and handle just how mind-blowing hard it is. A Methodist minister, William A. Fore, has written on the subject -- especially "Television and Religion: The Shaping of Faith, Values, and Culture." He says that television has co-opted many religious functions. Now that I'm on the outside, it is easy for me to view the TV culture as a religious cult. Everybody sits and gazes at the altar, and spend money on trying to become like the images they see on the altar (whether they admit their purchasing is manipulated or not). God is not dead; God is on TV.
Unless you stop watching. Then you get the Real Thing -- which is going to be hard, but good. Yes, yes, yes, it's worth the pain of entering reality. The true reality-based community is the TV-free one.
Grace and peace.
Today I read the USA Today article posted here about American kids' time being spent indoors now instead of out, making them fatter and more stupid than kids previously. The article cites parental fears of having kids out of their sight, but doesn't say much about how these fears of pedophiles et. al. are substantiated. Are they driven by watching TV news stories of this kind, which contribute to the "mean world" syndrome? Then the more they watch, the more afraid they are to let themselves or their kids venture out, so then they stay in and watch more, and the more they watch the more they are afraid....etc., etc., etc., until virtual reality is preferred because it's "safer." Nevermind the development of obesity and attention deficit disorders, which are far more prevalent than pedophiles....
Justinwood, your question about dealing with reality is on target. Reality is mind-blowing hard. Some argue that religion developed to try and handle just how mind-blowing hard it is. A Methodist minister, William A. Fore, has written on the subject -- especially "Television and Religion: The Shaping of Faith, Values, and Culture." He says that television has co-opted many religious functions. Now that I'm on the outside, it is easy for me to view the TV culture as a religious cult. Everybody sits and gazes at the altar, and spend money on trying to become like the images they see on the altar (whether they admit their purchasing is manipulated or not). God is not dead; God is on TV.
Unless you stop watching. Then you get the Real Thing -- which is going to be hard, but good. Yes, yes, yes, it's worth the pain of entering reality. The true reality-based community is the TV-free one.
Grace and peace.
God vs. tv
Hi, I'm from Brookline, Massachusetts (just outside of Boston) and I've been tv-free for 8 months.
I found some of the points in the previous post very interesting. It seems to me television *is* very much like a religion and I'm surprised more people don't realize it.
I am not religious myself but many of my relatives are evangelical Christians (fundamentalists, actually). They talk a lot about how important their religion is to them but I honestly don't see how their beliefs affect their behavior all that much. Instead, they just sit at home all the time watching tv.
When I told a particularly religious aunt that I don't let my 2-year-old watch tv at all, she acted like I'd committed some horrible sin. I received similar reactions from the rest of my family. It seems none of them can imagine life without the idiot box.
It occurs to me that religious leaders really ought to be preaching against television itself, not just the content. Even if you watch only "wholesome" programming, if you waste every spare moment of your life staring at images on a screen, isn't that basically idolatry? How do religious people justify their obsession with tv?
After all, the word "Christian" is supposed to mean "Christ-like." Somehow, I'm having trouble imagining Jesus camped out on a couch all day downing Cheese Nips and soda while watching Desperate Housewives.
I found some of the points in the previous post very interesting. It seems to me television *is* very much like a religion and I'm surprised more people don't realize it.
I am not religious myself but many of my relatives are evangelical Christians (fundamentalists, actually). They talk a lot about how important their religion is to them but I honestly don't see how their beliefs affect their behavior all that much. Instead, they just sit at home all the time watching tv.
When I told a particularly religious aunt that I don't let my 2-year-old watch tv at all, she acted like I'd committed some horrible sin. I received similar reactions from the rest of my family. It seems none of them can imagine life without the idiot box.
It occurs to me that religious leaders really ought to be preaching against television itself, not just the content. Even if you watch only "wholesome" programming, if you waste every spare moment of your life staring at images on a screen, isn't that basically idolatry? How do religious people justify their obsession with tv?
After all, the word "Christian" is supposed to mean "Christ-like." Somehow, I'm having trouble imagining Jesus camped out on a couch all day downing Cheese Nips and soda while watching Desperate Housewives.
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justinwood
- Posts: 16
- Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2005 4:53 am
- Location: Los Angeles, California, USA
- Contact:
Guest:
I find your analogy of TV to Mass or Congregation to be extremely dead on: They stare at the alter, pay money for it, and try to be more like what they see - the gods on the TV. A very good comparison.
For Lydia:
I am extremely glad that you pointed out the American fundamentalist Christian. I myself am a Lutheran/Evangelical Free Christian - some of the most fundamentalist Christians I know own a suburban home and place a TV at the center of that home. And you are correct, no religion should be listening to and watching a TV set - it contradicts everything about Christianity and the life that Christ lived while here on earth. And as a body, these Christians should be, most likely, talking with each other and analysing the way in which things such as TV work and how it effects their livlihood, their views, and behaviors.
If you are at all interested, I highly recommend Neil Postman's "Amusing Ourselves to Death" - Chapter 8: Shuffle Off to Bethlehem. If not chapter 8, then the entire book. This chapter deals with the issue of the fundamentalist Protestant TV Christian movement and, with wit, enlightens the situation for both Christians an non-Christians - and you may be able to use this kind of information to talk with your relatives about it (as long as it is done with clarity and calmness - since most people dont want to be harshly shot down, even if they know they are at some sort of fault).
If you don't have time to read it I woud gladly read through it myself again and report Postman's arguments to you and anyone else who reads these posts.
Justin Wood
I find your analogy of TV to Mass or Congregation to be extremely dead on: They stare at the alter, pay money for it, and try to be more like what they see - the gods on the TV. A very good comparison.
For Lydia:
I am extremely glad that you pointed out the American fundamentalist Christian. I myself am a Lutheran/Evangelical Free Christian - some of the most fundamentalist Christians I know own a suburban home and place a TV at the center of that home. And you are correct, no religion should be listening to and watching a TV set - it contradicts everything about Christianity and the life that Christ lived while here on earth. And as a body, these Christians should be, most likely, talking with each other and analysing the way in which things such as TV work and how it effects their livlihood, their views, and behaviors.
If you are at all interested, I highly recommend Neil Postman's "Amusing Ourselves to Death" - Chapter 8: Shuffle Off to Bethlehem. If not chapter 8, then the entire book. This chapter deals with the issue of the fundamentalist Protestant TV Christian movement and, with wit, enlightens the situation for both Christians an non-Christians - and you may be able to use this kind of information to talk with your relatives about it (as long as it is done with clarity and calmness - since most people dont want to be harshly shot down, even if they know they are at some sort of fault).
If you don't have time to read it I woud gladly read through it myself again and report Postman's arguments to you and anyone else who reads these posts.
Justin Wood
Last edited by justinwood on Sun Nov 06, 2005 10:09 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Amusing...
Hi Justin,
Thanks for the book recommendation.
I'll definitely check it out.
Lydia
Thanks for the book recommendation.
I'll definitely check it out.
Lydia