I was visiting a friend this weekend and somehow conversation wandered off into a discussion about TV Addiction and he started rambling off about a Scientific American article that he read back in February. As i was buried in my own research, i never even heard about this little bit flying by. How great is it to finally feel justified in my hatred of the TV for its addictive powers!

Apparently, we are biologically programmed with an orienting response that handles situations that provide a quick change in scenary. This is crucial because when something changes rapidly, we need to focus on it. Blood rushes to the brain to handle the thought processing necessary to react to such stimuli. Unfortunately, it takes upwards of 16 seconds to adjust to such changes in order for blood to leave the brain and stop focusing. Television capitalizes on this because scene-shifting is so common. Thus, we focus on the TV and never let go. Our processes slow down below sleep levels, making us feel even more groggy because we aren’t actually metabolizing at a high level. This sudden shift in reduced body processing is what makes us feel initially relaxed by sitting down in front of the TV – everything grinds to a halt. But the result is problematic and we start to feel gross with continued sitting, but are unable to break our gaze away from the addictive box. The initial draw to the TV becomes both a habit and an addiction, as we want that sudden stress relief, regardless of feeling even grosser hours later. Mental note: TV == heroin.

Now i can feel better knowing that i never want a TV in my home.

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