There was a time when television was considered a valuable source of important information about the world. The idea that TV is intrinsically stupid didn't real

There was a time when television was considered a valuable source of important information about the world. The idea that TV is intrinsically stupid didn't really have popular traction until Newton Minow's "vast wasteland" speech in the 1960s. I agree that the web is more subtle, especially today, when the chrome has yet to wear off. But no medium is free from time-wasting. History is replete with people whose reading and writing was arguably "a waste of time". It's certainly replete with artists, musicians, and writers whose tendency to focus obsessively on their hobby was bad for their finances and their health. Ramanujan arguably worked himself to death with mathematics.