1. Television affects you through hypnosis
The brain has four states in which is can be in. These states are the Alpha, Beta, Theta and Delta states. The Alpha state is the state relaxation and heightened creativity whereas the Beta state is that of alertness and concentration. We are in the Beta state ‘most’ of the time during the course of the day. The Theta and Delta states are states of deep relaxation found in mediation and sleep. When you switch on the television and watch for only one minute, your brain moves from the beta level of concentration and critical analysis to the Alpha state of relaxation, passive acceptance and suggestibility. In this state, you mind becomes a sponge, absorbing what ever comes its way regardless of whether what is being fed is junk or nutritious. The brain slowly becomes what it does. If shifting to a state of easy suggestibility and lowered critical thinking is the order of the day, then you are slowly turning into a zombie. A spongy one at that. No, really. This is the reason that people who watch too much television tend to have inaccurate and unrealistic view of life.
2. Television affects your attention span
Television is flashy and fast. It’s loaded with stimuli and excitement. You have different camera angles, flickering lights and changes in sound etc. The brain becomes accustomed to all this razzmatazz, more so with children. When the time comes to pay attention to a lecturer or teacher who doesn’t supplement their lectures with exploding cars, crashing spaceships, beautiful mermaids and other exciting special effects, it becomes a little too boring and the brain cannot stay focused and we all know that there are no teachers with budgets that match that of a Hollywood producer.
3. Television affects your kid’s mental and social development
It is advised that children below the age of 2 should not watch TV at all and that those above 2 years of age should watch no more than 2 hours of quality programming in a day. Apart from the blatantly obvious risk of exposing kids to material that may negatively influence their behaviours (smoking, drinking etc) and the effect on their attention span as described above, there are other ways that TV affects children. Excessive television viewing also causes:
7% decrease in classroom engagement
6% decrease in math achievement (remember critical thinking)
10% increase in being victimized by peers because of loss of social skills
13% decrease in physical activities on weekends.
9% higher intake of soft drinks.
5% increase in probability of being overweight
4. Television is addictive
Addiction is another way television affects you. It produces a feel good chemical call endorphin. This chemical is addictive. Studies have shown that people who watch a lot of television display withdrawal symptoms when required to cut down their TV time. Remember the time you lay in the fetal position sweating and trembling when they stopped showing the sitcom “Friends” on TV? Endorphins is why…
5. TELEVISION ROTS YOUR BRAIN
Did you know that you brain is more active when sleeping then it is when watching television? Amazing isn’t it? Like I explained earlier, just a minute into it and you become a spongy Zombie just taking in what ever is thrown your way. You brain does very little work. The more you watch TV the more you put it through this. lg smart tv 43 inch 4k Remember, it becomes what it does. Its not the same as reading where you brain is forced to create images of what its taking in. Excessive television viewing has been linked to diseases such as Dementia and Alzheimer.