How six months without a TV can change your life

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

It's amazing how perception changes after six months of abstaining from watching full-length films. I experienced it myself.

Several years ago I had a period when my free time budget was very limited. Therefore, after serious reflection, it was decided to abandon some types of entertainment, including full-length films, both fiction and documentaries.

Suddenly, this period dragged on for six months, and even a short video was very rare in those days. But today I do not regret that at all: there have been several positive and, in principle, expected changes in my life. But one change was completely unexpected for me.

Expected changes

As expected, my thinking skills have improved. Literature that requires thoughtful reading, analysis of what I read and further work with it began to be easier for me. I did not make any measurements, but the changes were so tangible that it was impossible not to notice them.

My ability to creatively solve problems and problems has also noticeably improved. I didn’t gush out creative ideas without difficulty, but the process began to take less time and take less effort.

Unexpected changes

The next discovery came when a period of tight time budgets for personal and entertainment had passed. I decided to watch a quality historical film. It was a work without special effects, not about "war" and without a special heat of passion, but I did not expect such a strong intellectual and emotional effect from watching.

For about two weeks, the film could not get out of my head. I remembered almost every scene and event, they were scrolling over and over in my head and awakened the same emotions and feelings.

Why was it incomprehensible to me? As we already know today, the brain is a constantly evolving organ. It changes both physiologically and anatomically as a result of our activities. That is, the more I solve math problems, the better my ability for this kind of thinking becomes.

It would seem that the more I watch films, the better my ability to perceive and feel them should become. But my experience told me the opposite: the less the better. And I started looking for an explanation.

Frozen gaze

One of the most fundamental works on the topic was the book “Frozen Eyes. The Physiological Impact of Television on Child Development,”written by the German scientist Rainer Patzlaff. The book contains many different studies of scientists from different countries.

The main attention is paid to the alpha state, which includes a person watching video production (films, programs, shows).

Alpha state is a general name for similar processes in the brain, when electromagnetic waves of the same length are generated - alpha waves.

This state is typical for people who are half asleep, in a trance, under hypnosis and watching TV. The first three states are characterized by a partial or complete absence of consciousness. Why not assume the same about watching TV.

Television and metabolism

In 1992, American researchers, concerned about the obesity epidemic among children, examined 31 normal and overweight girls. During the experiment, the girls were asked to sit back and relax. After a certain time, the TV turned on (the popular film The Wonder Years was shown).

The aim of the experiment was to find out how the metabolic rate changes at rest. Therefore, a measurement of the so-called basal metabolism was made in a state of complete idleness, during and after 25 minutes of TV viewing.

No one could have imagined how dramatically the metabolic rate would drop immediately after turning on the TV - by an average of 14%.

Although, according to logic, growth was assumed, because new visual images, sound, information appear on the screen, which means that the brain must work more actively than in complete rest.

Since after turning on the TV, only the work of the brain changed, the scientists concluded that while watching it, it was even less loaded than when idle. But what stops working in your head when the blue screen lights up?

Just two beats

American scientist and neurophysiologist Patrick Kelly was looking for methods of non-drug treatment of brain diseases. The research plan included computed tomography of the brain during various activities.

It turned out that a lot of parts of the brain are involved in fast counting out loud from 1 to 120, fast solving simple math problems, memorizing unconnected words. But while watching TV, only the parietal and temporal lobes of the cerebral hemispheres were involved, which are responsible for the perception of visual images and sound.

That is, while watching TV, the parts of the brain responsible for analysis, critical perception, morality, creativity, imagination, and much more are inactive. And what is inactive does not develop and after some time atrophies.

How to live on

After reading this information, I came to the conclusion that during the time of forced abstinence, the functions of my brain, responsible for perception, creativity, imagination, and the like, gained strength, as they were involved in projects that require all this. On top of that, they weren't weakened by inaction. That is why that film, unremarkable in terms of effects and intensity of passions, had such a powerful impact.

What to do with this information? There are three options.

The first is to do nothing. This is the most common reaction. This is not always bad, not always good, sometimes it is neither bad nor good. Close and forget is also a method of handling information.

Second, you can use the information to get the most out of your films by limiting their viewing to the maximum, choosing only worthy works. I think everyone will agree: lately there is a lot of garbage in the film industry, which we sometimes watch simply because we are used to watching, and not because it is worth it. By choosing this option, on the one hand, we will save ourselves from unnecessary garbage and wasted time, on the other hand, we will enhance the pleasure and impression of worthwhile films.

But I went further. I didn't really like the fact that video production influences me, my views and beliefs, bypassing my consciousness and center of control. Therefore, I made the decision to almost completely stop watching films. Sometimes there are documentaries, but I have already forgotten the last time this happened.

There are often webinars and educational films. Of course, at first it was not easy and unusual, but over time, the brain was rebuilt, and there are no regrets. Feeling great and found tons of new ways to have a great time.

Choose your path and be happy.