Free from cable!

[fezzyfestoon]

I just had to voice my support for the lack of television. I first noticed years ago when I stayed with my friend in Sweden for a bit and had no TV that it was far preferable. I noticed again when I moved to Austria and didn't miss it one bit. Upon returning to the US I found myself watching an ass-load of TV I wasn't at all interested in. I struggle with moderation when it comes to most everything I do. I know definitively that my problem is a common one among my fellow Americans, especially when it comes to TV (and food). So let me let you in on a little secret...TV is nothing compared to almost anything else you could do. Every time I had a hint of boredom I would just plop on the couch or jump on the computer. Without that option even being there, it's been a totally different world. And I can only imagine it getting better without the internet. The reduction in information pollution alone would be even more staggering than getting rid of TV. I urge you all to try it out. TV blows. And that's not to say that I don't watch any shows. I do love some of the stuff the networks put on, but I can find all that commercial free in a hot second. Money saver, time saver, brain saver, life enhancer...what more could a life-decision be? And thus concludes my brief and lazy campaign against TV!

[fezzyfestoon]

I am not willing to do it.  I enjoy watching political news and sports.  How does one watch those live without a TV?  There is the Internet, but it would take up my screen and I couldn't do anything else on the computer.

"Live" is profoundly overrated. Information is long term. What am I going to do with it immediately that I can't in a few hours or days? What is so urgent these days about finding things out within milliseconds of it occurring. You knowing changes nothing about its occurrence, it will be the same information when you hear about it 35 seconds later. We hear so much so fast our brains are being wasted on an information faucet with no filter. We are inundated with the unimportant and it is so sensationalized we think each time we get blasted with an update, it's the single most important one yet. And its only value is being the last thing you heard. And yet you forget about it six lines of information later...which probably translates to 20 seconds. Which brings me to your other concern about being able to multitask. Who cares? Why are you trying SO hard to relax and be entertained. Nothing has any value anymore outside of its massively minuscule novelty. Take some time to invest your interest in something worthwhile and interesting for more than the moment you first see or hear it.

[fezzyfestoon]

Ah, see I still have the fleeting and self-modified version of my internetless childhood motivating my potential freedom from that. But I don't want to be free of the internet, just free from its dominance over my life. TV was an actual negative experience for me despite its allure. The internet is extremely useful to me and I enjoy what it can bring me.