Generally speaking, I don’t think a whole lot of good comes from watching TV. There are many better things to do besides watching the boob tube. For instance, read about something, get some exercise, go into nature, go out into public and talk to a stranger, work on a project, or learn how something works.
That said, there are times when it’s nice to watch a sporting event or educational show to relax or learn something. I personally avoid all sitcoms, news, awards shows, or anything else with a strong political or cultural agenda behind it. But even during the college football game of the week, one will be subjected to an onslaught of commercials.
Commercials are intended to sell, and they often do so by subconsciously creating a feeling of lack and then offering a product as a solution to make a person whole again. These days they also appeal to many peoples’ sense of altruism and self righteousness with contrived images and messages of equality and tolerance. They also tend to jump from image to image in rapid succession which isn’t great for a person’s attention span. And they are often very high volume and noisy to capture one’s attention.
None of it is real and so I don’t want it to be a part of my subconscious landscape, shaping the way I see the world. We absorb everything we’re exposed to. So when I choose to watch TV, at commercials breaks I hit the mute button on the remote and pick up a book or something else to look at because I don’t want the visual images either.
It’s a bit extreme perhaps, and takes a lot of conscious attention to stay on top of, but I notice something when I’m diligent about it. I can watch a program of some sort and not feel my energy drop. I don’t turn off the TV feeling depressed or unfulfilled from the subconscious messaging that my life would be better if only I had a BMW, or a huge group of best friends who all drank Coors Light to become the life of the party, or a perfect family of four bubbling over with excitement for take out pizza with extra cheese inside the crust.
We are the sum of the small experiences we have every day. So to me it makes no sense to let television commercials be part of that equation. Especially not on a regular basis. They’re fairly toxic for the mind and soul and rob a person of a little bit of their independent mind. So next time you turn on the TV, try muting the commercials to see if you notice a difference.