6 ms·

Unhappy people watch TV, happy people read/socialize

41 points by alex_c 18y ago

LPTS 18y ago
TV is evil and will turn you into a zombi... sorry I remembered Heroes and house was on the tivo. Those shows are good. I forgot what I was thinking. Must watch more TV. TV... Must see... No... I must see it...
- jodrellblank 18y ago
  Zombies want brains, zombies eat brains. Zombies are probably quite happy, if only you could ask them without being eaten.
  - LPTS 18y ago
    mmm...brains...
matt1 18y ago
In the first paragraph the author suggest correlation: "A new study by sociologists at the University of Maryland concludes that unhappy people watch more TV, while people who describe themselves as very happy spend more time reading and socializing." But in the next paragraph makes the cause -> effect leap: "Analyzing 30-years worth of national data from time-use studies and a continuing series of social attitude surveys, the Maryland researchers report that spending time watching television may contribute to viewers' happiness in the moment, with less positive effects in the long run." I'm not sure what the actual study says, but in my experience it's very much a correlation: unhappy people watch large amounts of TV to escape reality.
- axod 18y ago
  Unhappy people also turn to drink. That doesn't mean we should all stop drinking. Everything in moderation. Also I think we should quantify this... "US TV" is in no way related to say "UK TV". Just look at something like question time/newsnight/top gear/etc etc
  - LPTS 18y ago
    I think you need brain scans to validate your claim about us and uk tv. I think those scans will show that the brain responds the same to uk and us tv.
    - axod 18y ago
      For a start, I'd say it makes a big difference if the channel is funded by advertising, or by the viewers.
      - gaius 18y ago
        I dont think so. The BBC advertises just as much as any other channel; it just only advertises its own stuff rather than washing powder or whatever, so you don't notice as much. You can't tell me it makes a difference whether someone's watching Eastenders or Coronation Street to brain scans.
        axod 18y ago
        "The BBC advertises just as much as any other channel; it just only advertises its own stuff rather than washing powder or whatever, so you don't notice as much." Sorry, but that makes absolutely no sense. Putting occasional information on upcoming programs in the same bucket as washing powder ads every 10 minutes is a bit of a stretch.
        LPTS 18y ago
        It also uses the same propaganda techniques as communist china or procter and gamble to sell people it's worldview. Not just in ads, the programs themselves are propaganda for a certain way of being and acting in the world. True, the bbc is using it's hold on your people's monkey brain to program people with a slightly elitist, more educated (to the extent an 11th grade reading level is better then the 5th grade one in the US), hiply cynical reality. People don't understand how much or deeply their reality is created by the reality created for them that they watch for hours at a time. I don't care if your reality is programmed by whorish ads in the US or high quality satire in the UK. The point is that entering a vulnerable semihypnotic neurological state and giving control of your brain to some other people is what does the damage. It's not just the content of the electronic magic that causes you to enter that vulnerable state. It's a feature of the medium. Britan is less malevolent then the US to it's TV viewers, because what it does to it's hypnotized masses is healthier for them. People are still being brainwashed in the same way, which is a feature of the medium.
tlrobinson 18y ago
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28694 http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28694
- mamama 18y ago
  ^ | | | | pg
  - LPTS 18y ago
    I'm that guy too. I hate TV. Except heroes and house. Ohhh. The daily show. Colbert Report. Gotta catch south park and sarah silverman. Six feet under was pretty good, too... Other then that TV sucks. I watch TV shows, but have no TV. The trick is to download your tv from the internet so you can dodge the ads concentrated power scientifically calibrate to manipulate you, and still get a dose of culture and electronic sedation.
kqr2 18y ago
I think "happy" people may just be busier and not have enough free time. I think there are some good TV shows, but my todo list keeps me busy. The real question though: Do happy people read news.ycombinator.com? :-)
rokhayakebe 18y ago
What about people who consume media online? Watching TV all day is not different from watching Youtube videos all day.
- LPTS 18y ago
  "The medium is the message." In one case, your reality is being programmed. In the other, you are programming it. Watching TV is different from watching youtube. "The medium is the message."
  - axod 18y ago
    Have you found the "Select channel" button on your TV?
    - LPTS 18y ago
      Are you aware of all the research on when exactly humans will change channels, which describes human behavior exactly as if humans were ants? The TV executives are. Or do you think you're some special little butterfly whose behavior is not predictable in the exact same way everyone else has predictable scientifically validated patterns of responding to TV. "Select Channel" does not function neurologically the same way youtube does. TV execs have mountains of private data on that. The difference is the activation in reasoning centers in the brain. When you watch TV, your reasoning center shuts off (and thus does not guide your remote control usage). When you use the internet to watch youtube, your reasoning center stays on. You seem to believe people have free will and aren't walking around completely hypnotized behaving in almost completely predictable ways.
      - axod 18y ago
        "Are you aware of all the research on when exactly humans will change channels" Firstly, modern TVs don't just have a "select channel". They have video on demand, recording, live pause, heck some TVs can play youtube vids etc themselves with full integrated internet capability. Perhaps you're right - maybe some people sit down on the couch, turn on the TV, and don't know how to select a different program to watch. That's not the norm though. Secondly, you can't make big generalizations about peoples usage of the TV. Different countries have vastly different quality of TV output for a start.
bilbo0s 18y ago
I must be one of the least happy people on the planet, because I LOVE to watch movies! Maybe I would have discovered my unhappiness earlier if I hadn't split my side laughing when C-Bass cornered Lloyd in that gas station bathroom stall. Or if I hadn't gazed in humor and a twisted respect when Captain Reno declared himself "SHOCKED!!! SHOCKED to discover there is gambling going on..." in Rick's Cafe. Or . . . oh well, you get the picture.
scumola 18y ago
That's because most of the TV shows suck nowadays. It's not that unhappy people watch TV, TV makes people unhappy because of the crappy programming!
- MrRage 18y ago
  Yeah, most shows suck. But there are many, many shows on lots of channels. There are shows worth watching, though. There are some TV shows, IMO, that are works of art, rivialing some of the great movies out there.
louislouis 18y ago
Hang on, if you're unhappy, you're obviously not going to go out socializing cos nobody wants to talk to a miserable face and alcohol will only amplify the unhappiness. When I'm unhappy I like to be on my own and ride it out, watch tv shows online to cheer me up. So TV shows make me happy not TV makes me unhappy. Open Question: How many hours of TV do you watch per week? I'm on around 3hrs (Heroes, Prison Break, Entourage) but all my shows are watched online without the silly commercials.
sutro 18y ago
I wonder if there's a corollary: happy hackers hack; unhappy hackers read Hacker News. (Goodbye, comment. I expect to see you disappear into the background under a barrage of downmods within a matter of minutes.)
- bkbleikamp 18y ago
  Don't be so pessimistic :) The comment is a) an interesting point and b) funny.

41 points by alex_c 18y ago

LPTS 18y ago

TV is evil and will turn you into a zombi... sorry I remembered Heroes and house was on the tivo. Those shows are good. I forgot what I was thinking. Must watch more TV. TV... Must see... No... I must see it...

jodrellblank 18y ago
Zombies want brains, zombies eat brains. Zombies are probably quite happy, if only you could ask them without being eaten.
- LPTS 18y ago
  mmm...brains...

matt1 18y ago

In the first paragraph the author suggest correlation: "A new study by sociologists at the University of Maryland concludes that unhappy people watch more TV, while people who describe themselves as very happy spend more time reading and socializing." But in the next paragraph makes the cause -> effect leap: "Analyzing 30-years worth of national data from time-use studies and a continuing series of social attitude surveys, the Maryland researchers report that spending time watching television may contribute to viewers' happiness in the moment, with less positive effects in the long run." I'm not sure what the actual study says, but in my experience it's very much a correlation: unhappy people watch large amounts of TV to escape reality.

axod 18y ago
Unhappy people also turn to drink. That doesn't mean we should all stop drinking. Everything in moderation. Also I think we should quantify this... "US TV" is in no way related to say "UK TV". Just look at something like question time/newsnight/top gear/etc etc
- LPTS 18y ago
  I think you need brain scans to validate your claim about us and uk tv. I think those scans will show that the brain responds the same to uk and us tv.
  - axod 18y ago
    For a start, I'd say it makes a big difference if the channel is funded by advertising, or by the viewers.
    - gaius 18y ago
      I dont think so. The BBC advertises just as much as any other channel; it just only advertises its own stuff rather than washing powder or whatever, so you don't notice as much. You can't tell me it makes a difference whether someone's watching Eastenders or Coronation Street to brain scans.
      - axod 18y ago
        "The BBC advertises just as much as any other channel; it just only advertises its own stuff rather than washing powder or whatever, so you don't notice as much." Sorry, but that makes absolutely no sense. Putting occasional information on upcoming programs in the same bucket as washing powder ads every 10 minutes is a bit of a stretch.
        LPTS 18y ago
        It also uses the same propaganda techniques as communist china or procter and gamble to sell people it's worldview. Not just in ads, the programs themselves are propaganda for a certain way of being and acting in the world. True, the bbc is using it's hold on your people's monkey brain to program people with a slightly elitist, more educated (to the extent an 11th grade reading level is better then the 5th grade one in the US), hiply cynical reality. People don't understand how much or deeply their reality is created by the reality created for them that they watch for hours at a time. I don't care if your reality is programmed by whorish ads in the US or high quality satire in the UK. The point is that entering a vulnerable semihypnotic neurological state and giving control of your brain to some other people is what does the damage. It's not just the content of the electronic magic that causes you to enter that vulnerable state. It's a feature of the medium. Britan is less malevolent then the US to it's TV viewers, because what it does to it's hypnotized masses is healthier for them. People are still being brainwashed in the same way, which is a feature of the medium.

tlrobinson 18y ago

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28694 http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28694

mamama 18y ago
^ | | | | pg
- LPTS 18y ago
  I'm that guy too. I hate TV. Except heroes and house. Ohhh. The daily show. Colbert Report. Gotta catch south park and sarah silverman. Six feet under was pretty good, too... Other then that TV sucks. I watch TV shows, but have no TV. The trick is to download your tv from the internet so you can dodge the ads concentrated power scientifically calibrate to manipulate you, and still get a dose of culture and electronic sedation.

kqr2 18y ago

I think "happy" people may just be busier and not have enough free time. I think there are some good TV shows, but my todo list keeps me busy. The real question though: Do happy people read news.ycombinator.com? :-)

rokhayakebe 18y ago

What about people who consume media online? Watching TV all day is not different from watching Youtube videos all day.

LPTS 18y ago
"The medium is the message." In one case, your reality is being programmed. In the other, you are programming it. Watching TV is different from watching youtube. "The medium is the message."
- axod 18y ago
  Have you found the "Select channel" button on your TV?
  - LPTS 18y ago
    Are you aware of all the research on when exactly humans will change channels, which describes human behavior exactly as if humans were ants? The TV executives are. Or do you think you're some special little butterfly whose behavior is not predictable in the exact same way everyone else has predictable scientifically validated patterns of responding to TV. "Select Channel" does not function neurologically the same way youtube does. TV execs have mountains of private data on that. The difference is the activation in reasoning centers in the brain. When you watch TV, your reasoning center shuts off (and thus does not guide your remote control usage). When you use the internet to watch youtube, your reasoning center stays on. You seem to believe people have free will and aren't walking around completely hypnotized behaving in almost completely predictable ways.
    - axod 18y ago
      "Are you aware of all the research on when exactly humans will change channels" Firstly, modern TVs don't just have a "select channel". They have video on demand, recording, live pause, heck some TVs can play youtube vids etc themselves with full integrated internet capability. Perhaps you're right - maybe some people sit down on the couch, turn on the TV, and don't know how to select a different program to watch. That's not the norm though. Secondly, you can't make big generalizations about peoples usage of the TV. Different countries have vastly different quality of TV output for a start.

bilbo0s 18y ago

I must be one of the least happy people on the planet, because I LOVE to watch movies! Maybe I would have discovered my unhappiness earlier if I hadn't split my side laughing when C-Bass cornered Lloyd in that gas station bathroom stall. Or if I hadn't gazed in humor and a twisted respect when Captain Reno declared himself "SHOCKED!!! SHOCKED to discover there is gambling going on..." in Rick's Cafe. Or . . . oh well, you get the picture.

scumola 18y ago

That's because most of the TV shows suck nowadays. It's not that unhappy people watch TV, TV makes people unhappy because of the crappy programming!

MrRage 18y ago
Yeah, most shows suck. But there are many, many shows on lots of channels. There are shows worth watching, though. There are some TV shows, IMO, that are works of art, rivialing some of the great movies out there.

louislouis 18y ago

Hang on, if you're unhappy, you're obviously not going to go out socializing cos nobody wants to talk to a miserable face and alcohol will only amplify the unhappiness. When I'm unhappy I like to be on my own and ride it out, watch tv shows online to cheer me up. So TV shows make me happy not TV makes me unhappy. Open Question: How many hours of TV do you watch per week? I'm on around 3hrs (Heroes, Prison Break, Entourage) but all my shows are watched online without the silly commercials.

sutro 18y ago

I wonder if there's a corollary: happy hackers hack; unhappy hackers read Hacker News. (Goodbye, comment. I expect to see you disappear into the background under a barrage of downmods within a matter of minutes.)

bkbleikamp 18y ago
Don't be so pessimistic :) The comment is a) an interesting point and b) funny.