The influence of television on humans. Why is TV addiction dangerous? How long can you watch TV

Our expert is family psychologist, art therapist, business coach Olga Zavodilina .

There is nothing wrong with watching TV from time to time. Problems begin if he can no longer imagine himself without a blue screen. If life without a TV seems empty, if you feel out of place at home until you click the remote control, if you sacrifice communication with loved ones or a long-planned trip to the hairdresser in order to watch your favorite programs, most likely it’s not just a hobby for TV, but about dependence on it.

Age of information technology

Currently, we are witnessing a gradual transition of human society to a new type of civilization. Many scientists call it informational. This is explained by the increase in scale, complexity of structures and content of streams carrying certain messages and news. At the same time, researchers note the increasing influence of information technology on the human psyche.

And this fact is confirmed by our daily life. Indeed, over the past decades, we have been bombarded with a simply unimaginable flow of information. Modern media of all types have turned into a single global system, located at a fantastic energy level. This can only mean one thing. Human consciousness has fallen into an artificial trap created by itself, and today it is a kind of “squirrel in a wheel.”

In addition, developing information psychotechnologies are acquiring increasingly sophisticated methods of influence for which nature has not prepared our brain. This is why we tend to become completely defenseless in the face of this trap.

The influence of television on a person in general also turns out to be unfavorable. It manifests itself not only in the negative impact on his health. This question has a lot to do with the psychological sphere.

Positive point

On the one hand, low concentration of attention negates all the efforts we put into solving complex multi-step problems. But on the other hand, the modern digital world requires us to be mobile and speedy. The digital flow is covering us like an avalanche in the mountains, and only those who are accustomed to existing in such conditions will be able to survive.

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Television in our lives

Sometimes it happens that living beings, striving to satisfy their basic needs, find themselves in mortal danger. This is the paradox of the struggle for survival. For example, a fish that swallows the bait immediately gets hooked. A mouse attracted by the smell of cheese ends up in a mousetrap. However, all actions of fauna representatives are determined by physiological necessity.

If we consider human behavior, there are no reasonable explanations. It is not at all in order to survive that people indulge in destructive vices and temptations. Sometimes they are not stopped even by a direct threat not only to health, but also to life. Temptation in such cases dominates reason.

The same can be said when considering such a problem as the negative impact of television on humans. After all, sitting in front of a blue screen has become the most popular entertainment of our contemporaries. Most people define their relationship with TV as “love-hate”. The TV itself is perceived by them as a “box for dummies.” However, despite the awareness that television sometimes has a negative impact on people, the majority of the population of our planet happily settles down on sofas and armchairs, without letting go of the remote control. Of course, parents sometimes grumble at their children because it is difficult to tear them away from the screen. However, they themselves try to remain silent about their own preferences of this kind.

How does TV affect children?

Unfortunately, modern parents do not always find time to take care of their children. And when they are capricious, you need to play with them and entertain them. But you need to cook food and work. Then it's time for the TV nanny. The easiest way is to sit the child in front of him and turn on cartoons.

Do you think that nothing terrible is happening and everyone is happy? Moreover, cartoons are educational? But no. Let's take a look at what can happen to a child when constantly watching “good” programs:

nervous system disorders (stuttering, aggressiveness, insomnia, headache);
vision problems due to overstrain of the eye muscles, subsequently – strabismus and myopia;
telemania, when a person is addicted to TV;
obesity - since the child is bored while watching, especially when he is alone at home, he begins to consume sandwiches, chips and other unhealthy foods;
decrease in intellectual level - when watching, the brain does not strain, there is no need to think.

All these problems can also arise in an adult.

Negative influence in the current moment can seriously affect the future: both on the physical and moral state.

I will not tire of repeating that a person, and especially a child, must develop. The ability to sit on the couch in front of the screen will not give you anything. But other talents that are important to develop can bring success.

Diagnosis: TV addiction

For several decades, scientists have been conducting research trying to study the influence of television on humans. They are especially interested in the question of the connection between the scenes of cruelty that we see on silver screens and the realities that exist in everyday life. At the same time, researchers are trying to understand the reason why ordinary consumers still choose the latter between newspapers, magazines and television.

Who is a TV fan? Psychologists and psychiatrists define pathological dependence on something as a deviation from the norm, which corresponds to signs of an inadequate reaction to a specific stimulus. This includes a large amount of time devoted to the object of addiction, and the use of it more often than usual, and the refusal to fulfill professional, social and family responsibilities for the sake of such pastime, and withdrawal into oneself, as well as isolation. These criteria are perfect for those who sit in front of the TV screen for a long time.

Of course, we cannot say that the influence of television on people is only bad. After all, it broadens your horizons and educates, relaxes and entertains, allows you to temporarily forget about the depressing reality and enjoy the beautiful. With the help of television, we can even make purchases at a TV store. However, even those who understand that it is necessary to reduce the time spent in front of a blue screen are sometimes unable to deny themselves the pleasure of watching television programs or interesting films.

How to increase your chances of winning? To do this, it is necessary to carefully study how television influences a person.

Viewer age

For several years in a row, the most active viewing audience has been people aged 55 years and above. The steady growth in the share and time of watching TV in the older age group leads to the so-called “aging” of the audience. Over the past 5 years, the average age of a Russian television viewer has remained at 48-49 years.

The main reason for the aging of the television audience is the active increase in the popularity of the Internet in society. Younger age groups better assimilate information from sources on the Internet, which are easier to find through mobile devices and laptops, which are available to the vast majority of citizens today.

False relaxation

The amount of time that a modern person spends in front of the TV screen cannot but be terrifying. On average, the population of large industrial cities spends three hours daily on this. This is approximately half of a person’s free time, excluding household chores and sleep. This means that out of 75 years of life, people spend 9 years watching television programs and just sitting in front of a blue screen. Some might attribute this to a great love for TV. Why then is there concern about such passion?

Scientists have conducted a number of studies aimed at studying the body's reactions to exposure to TV. At the same time, changes were recorded that occur in the electrical resistance of the skin and in the heart rate. All these parameters were taken using a special device before and after, as well as while watching television. Similar experiments were carried out not only in specialized laboratories. The readings were also taken in natural, habitual human conditions. At the same time, the TV fan was not just on his favorite sofa in front of his home blue screen. He drank and ate, slept and worked. He always had a device with him that received sound signals. When receiving them, the teleman had to record everything he was doing at the moment and how he felt.

When a signal was received while watching TV, the person characterized his state as passive and relaxed. This was never noted during reading. When the TV was turned off, the feeling of relaxation immediately disappeared, but passivity remained. Viewers confirmed the fact that TV seemed to absorb their energy, leading to emptiness.

Drugs have a similar effect. Tranquilizers that are eliminated from the body very quickly are more addictive than those that are eliminated slowly. So is the viewer. When he watches a TV show, he understands that after turning off the TV, the feeling of relaxation will disappear. And he wants to watch more and more.

What harm is there from TV?

In order for an individual to decide whether watching TV is harmful or not, it is necessary to understand what function television performs and how watching TV shows affects the mental state of the viewer.

Psychologists say that television is evil, and watching TV, for example, at night provokes the development of depression in children and adults. Researchers from Ohio University found that individuals who sit at night in front of a TV or monitor screen are more likely to suffer from depressive disorders.

Negative consequences for the emotional state of an individual are provoked by dim light from TV screens in the dark. Therefore, this small “box” can have a significant impact on the psyche of the individual. Often, the TV screen shows fights, murders, violence, and transmits information about victims of squabbles and natural disasters, catastrophes and natural disasters, wars, etc. Such a pastime does not contribute to the development of a harmonious and peaceful personality, confident in its happy future. Even if watching television programs is limited to melodramas, programs about unhappy love, all this is not positive, and the psyche in this case will also be harmed by television, perhaps not as clearly as in the case of watching programs with violence.

A person with the traits of a romantic or an idealist sooner or later begins to believe that life should be like in the movies: eternal love, endless kisses and flowers. When building a relationship with a potential chosen one, difficulties arise due to cognitive dissonance: the discrepancy between the ideal picture in the head about happiness and real life. Therefore, the influence of the media is a pressing problem today.

The harm from watching TV is not always noticeable, since it has a cumulative effect and the consequences of harm from the television “box” do not reveal themselves immediately.

Attracting the viewer's attention

Why do people sometimes cannot tear themselves away from the blue screen? This is partly explained by the presence in us of a biologically orienting reaction. This concept was first described by the famous physiologist Ivan Petrovich Pavlov in 1927. By indicative we mean our visual, auditory or instinctive reaction to a previously unknown or sudden stimulus. This is a person's innate susceptibility to potential threat. Typical examples of such a reaction are turning the eyes towards the emerging source of irritation, slowing down cardiac activity, etc. Alpha waves are blocked, which return to their normal rhythm within a few seconds.

In 1986, a number of researchers studied the influence of various television techniques on the occurrence of an orienting reaction. As a result, clear conclusions were made that with a quick change of frames, original editing and sudden noises, which television advertising usually uses, there is a significant increase in viewer interest. At the same time, it was pointed out that it is not the content that is unique, but the form in which the material is presented.

The overload of TV with advertising and music videos has a strong influence on the appearance of an indicative reaction. Moreover, the nominal frequency of such techniques is one unit per second.

What is the use of TV

Useful methods of using television:

the main advantage of television is the free viewing of films, series and television programs;
if you have the ability to exclude meaningless programs in favor of full-fledged and educational ones, then spending time behind a blue screen will have a very positive impact;
educational programs, television programs about the world around us, about the results of human achievements, about the formation of relationships between people, about historical events provide an excellent opportunity for self-education and self-education;
TV makes it possible to keep abreast of current events, sensations and incidents;
have an idea of how celebrities live and what they do;
entertainment and music programs help to calm down and cheer up after a hard day at work;
many quickly fall asleep watching TV, which is important for those suffering from insomnia;
sports programs help you stay fit and exercise at home;
by watching culinary programs, you can learn the art of cooking;
Thanks to television broadcasts, the government can inform the population on a massive scale.

IMPORTANT. Use television programs wisely and beneficially for your health and outlook.

TV and memory

Can people talk about what they watched? This problem has also been studied by scientists. After the experiments, it became clear that a person’s memory was positively influenced by viewing footage taken from different points and with several cameras simultaneously. A similar effect was noticeable with frequent frame changes. These are the methods used by television advertising. The recognition effect weakened sharply with decreasing frequency indicators.

This can also be said when studying children's educational programs. The television techniques used provide invaluable assistance in learning, but with a sharp change in frames, the child’s brain is overloaded. And this negatively affects the perception of the material.

As for television advertising, its main goal, with a sharp change in unrelated scenes, is to retain the viewer's attention. People most often remember the name of the product, but all the details in the video pass by. At the same time, the viewer’s approximate reaction weakens. He is still glued to the screen, but he already feels tired and does not receive any positive emotions in return.

Training the brain with hearing

But from time to time you need to reduce the flow of visual information and practice listening to it. Often people who stare at small screens for very long periods of time rely too much on their vision. That's why I advise my patients to train using the radio.

Try to receive information exclusively by ear, and it doesn’t matter whether it’s news or any programs. Many will be surprised that not everyone was able to understand.

I often ask my patients to make short notes for practice, and then use them to retell the content of the program to me.

This exercise includes all the important stages of working with information: listening comprehension, classification (selecting the necessary moments and recording them), reproduction.

If you do the exercises often, a person begins to quickly perceive oral speech. And if visual attention also switches faster, then a person will never find it difficult to respond to someone’s unexpected appeal.

TV and psyche

Experts who have studied the problem of the influence of television on humans do not at all claim that it is impossible to sit in front of a blue screen. However, they warn those who spend too much time on this that various problems will arise.

Why is TV addiction dangerous? Scientists have conducted quite a lot of experiments to answer questions about the attitude towards life of those who cannot take their eyes off the blue screen. The results were simply amazing. The influence of television on the psyche of these not quite ordinary viewers was confirmed. Regardless of the years they had lived, they felt anxiety and restlessness, while feeling like unhappy people, which cannot be said about ordinary spectators. Similar sensations came to them at a time when they simply did nothing or were left alone with themselves.

According to studies, TV fans are more likely to feel sad, irritated and absent-minded. It is more difficult for them to switch and concentrate attention. Such people explain their addiction to TV by saying that they want to take their mind off troubles and the sad thoughts that overwhelm them, and also somehow fill the free time they have. In addition, according to research, TV fans are less likely to take part in sporting events and are often obese.

Passion for television shows reduces self-control and increases intolerance to natural everyday troubles, negatively affects a creative approach to solving problems and does not support the desire to achieve the intended goal.

Why break up?

It would seem that depending on the TV there is nothing wrong. After all, it’s better to watch endless TV series than, for example, drink beer. But any addiction creates internal discomfort. After all, it is very important for each of us to feel free, and excessive attention to television deprives us of this freedom.

It happens that a person stubbornly watches programs that cause him nothing but irritation. Why the world scolds the talk show heroes, but turns on their favorite channel again and again. Often this indicates dissatisfaction with yourself and your life. A person transfers this irritation to the characters of TV shows, because discussing other people’s problems is much more pleasant and easier than discussing your own. However, such behavior cannot eliminate the feeling of dissatisfaction. But while a person spends all his time watching TV, he simply has no time to understand the true reasons for his dissatisfaction and change his life.

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Children's TV mania

According to statistics, almost forty-five percent of children whose ages range from 5 to 12 years spend all their free time watching the TV screen. The influence of television on children is enormous and can turn them into real TV lovers. What attracts them to TV?

According to studies conducted by German scientists, viewers simply forget the content of all television programs over time. However, the emotions that were experienced at the same time always remain in the soul. This is the key point that binds the little viewer to the blue screen. After all, children transform the emotions they receive into emotional attachments. In other words, kids are drawn to TV unconsciously. They strive to relive a feeling that has already taken place, and not necessarily a positive one. Of course, many parents have noticed that their child loves to watch scary movies. This is emotional attachment to the experience of fear. Already an hour after the start of viewing, and sometimes even fifteen minutes later, the child is overwhelmed by other people’s emotions coming to him from the screen.

Why can't kids watch TV? Experts who study the physiology of the sense organs have confirmed the fact that TV-addicted children begin to suffer from a complete loss of the ability to imagine. They don't need to think or imagine. The TV does it for them.

If you look at three-dimensional real objects, the brain will work

The fact is that our brain needs to perceive three-dimensional objects.
Most information about the world comes through vision. When we look around to gather information, it's not just our eyes that are actively working. The entire brain system associated with receiving it changes.

Remember a situation when a person approached you from afar. You won't understand what exactly he's saying when you can't see anything. But if you focus your gaze on it, you can already hear it: the sense of distance adapts to hearing.

Try to remember the moment when you noticed your dog in the distance. You only perceived her visually, but you heard her loud breathing and imagined the coarse fur on her front paws. And you felt calm when you then approached the dog, stroked him, and the image created in your head coincided with real sensations.

Our brain is not always passively waiting for information, but is actively moving towards it. He switches his attention to the desired object and tries to perceive the information as fully as possible, using all five senses and imagination to fill the lack of data. And the eyes are the key to this whole process.

Harm to health

What are the negative consequences of TV addiction? This disease leads to the following problems:

- to deterioration of vision, which is a well-known fact that does not require additional evidence; - physical inactivity and one of its consequences - spinal curvature; - excess body weight due to a sedentary lifestyle; - sleep disturbances, increased fearfulness, excitability and other neurological problems.

After turning on the TV, the child finds himself under its hypnosis. The language of TV is the language of images. They are perceived by the right hemisphere of the brain and are directly related to the subconscious. All the emotions that were experienced by the child while watching TV programs also go there. Due to the greater development of the right hemisphere, children become easily excitable.

Children under six years of age do not perceive information presented to them from the screen critically. They are unlikely to be able to distinguish truth from fiction. Everything that happens on the screen is taken by them at face value, at the same time passing into life and affecting their behavior.

Appearance changes

For both adults and children, TV poses a danger in terms of weight gain. Almost all people like to chew something while watching a movie, and it’s not always vegetables or fruits. Most often, a person chooses unhealthy and quite high-calorie foods. These can be crackers, chips, hamburgers and other sandwiches. In addition, I often drink tea and coffee with pastries while watching a movie. Considering that a person sits for several hours in a row and does not expend any energy at all, such excessive eating of food is harmful. This leads to the deposition of fatty deposits, which ultimately lead to excess weight.

A sedentary lifestyle leads not only to the appearance of unattractive folds of fat, but also to the exacerbation of various diseases. If a person moves little and walks in the fresh air, then his immunity decreases and he becomes susceptible to various diseases.

It is especially harmful to eat in front of the TV late in the evening, shortly before bed, or at night, when the stomach is resting.

TV time

How much TV can children watch? Before the age of seven, it is generally undesirable to do this without adults. Parents can only turn on a certain educational cartoon for their baby, which plays for a short time.

It’s good if adults are next to their child while watching children’s programs and comment on the story they see. It is also advisable to have a joint discussion of what was presented to the young spectators.

How long do experts allow children to be in front of a blue screen? It depends on their age:

1. It is not recommended to do this at all before two years of age. 2. From 2 to 3 years only half an hour a day 3. From 3 to 7 years - no more than an hour and a half a day. 4. From 7 to 13 years old - only two hours a day.

In addition, it is not recommended to install a TV in a children's room. Otherwise, the child will spend all his leisure time only in front of a blue screen. He will prefer it to active games, educational and useful activities. In this case, it will be very difficult to establish the necessary control over the baby. The TV on can become a familiar background, which can lead to the fact that the baby simply cannot concentrate on thinking or reading. It will be difficult for a child to even fall asleep without TV, which will certainly have a negative impact on his psyche.

You can watch the series offline

“They only watch TV at home” - in 2021 this is nothing more than a stereotype. You can start getting ready for work while listening to an episode of your favorite show on your laptop, and then watch it on the subway on your smartphone. Play an unfinished movie in the evening while you have lunch in a cafe during a break. Don't wait until you return from vacation to find out how a great series ends, but turn it on during moments of relaxation on the beach or on the road. There is no need to spend mobile traffic: everything interesting can be downloaded in advance, as long as you have Wi-Fi.

Most popular channels

Mediascope conducted an analysis of the coverage of Russian TV channels in 2021, and based on this data, their popularity rating can be generated.

On the 1st line of the rating is “Russia-1”, which is the heir to the central Soviet television. The main audience of the channel watches TV series; domestic serial films are especially popular. The majority of the audience consists of people over 55 years of age.
Although Channel One is inferior to Rossiya-1 in terms of overall audience coverage, it remains unrivaled in terms of the number and popularity of entertainment and information television programs. There is an active desire of the channel to lure viewers from the online space. Thus, over the past year, Channel One was able to attract an additional 1.7% of viewers due to a successful online promotion strategy.
NTV, which has won the love of Russians thanks to its high-quality domestic series, is in third place in the TV channel ratings. The best projects for the past season were the following series: “Dinosaur”, “Ambulance”, “Balabol”. The bulk of NTV's audience are people over 40 years old.
Next comes the REN TV channel, specializing in TV shows about mysticism, fantasy, secrets and conspiracies. On the one hand, a lot of interesting and unusual content is indeed generated here every day, which attracts ordinary people who want to immerse themselves in the political games and plans of global corporations. However, due to such content, the REN TV channel received a not very pleasant “Anti-Premium” from the government for disseminating false information that misleads viewers.
The TOP 5 channels of 2021 are closed by the STS project, focused on entertainment programs, films and TV series. A lot of youth content is shown here every day, which is why the bulk of the channel’s viewers are people aged 12 to 25 years.

Such TV channels as “TNT”, “Channel Five”, “Domashny”, “TV Center” are also worthy of mention.

The influence of television on humans

This article is intended to reflect on the influence of television on individuals and society. The whole truth about the dangers of TV, about how it affects the human psyche and prevents him from developing.

So, the average adult’s day goes something like this. He wakes up, has breakfast, goes to work, returns from work tired in the evening, has dinner, and “relaxes” in front of the TV to rest. This person believes that watching TV will help him relieve stress, fatigue, tension that he received at work, relax and rest before the next working day. However, in fact, our zombie box only makes the situation even worse.

Do you know how much TV the average person watches per day? According to various sources, from 4 to 6 hours! Even if we take the average value - 5 hours a day - this is about 21% of the total time in a day or 31% of his waking time (minus 8 hours allocated for sleep).

That is, the average person spends 5 of his allotted time or 3 of his waking hours watching TV! Think about these numbers! Of course, we can assume that a significant contribution to such statistics is made by pensioners and non-working people, who watch the zombie box much more than the working people. But even taking this into account, the numbers are simply scary.

What does a person get from TV? I will consider only the main points:

Flow of negativity. Recently, the vast majority of information and news programs are based on the negative.
Propaganda. A very large percentage of airtime on television is devoted to the promotion of certain ideas and principles. Such propaganda has a huge effect - the vast majority of the population is imbued with such ideas and blindly follows them (this can include anything from creating an image of the “correct” life path: study - work in your specialty - retire, to imposing stereotypes of a consumer society: mobile phones gadgets, branded items, credits and loans, fashionable parties, etc.).
Distraction from real problems. And the third direction of influence of television on a person is “driving” into his head some new, completely unnecessary and unimportant things for him, in order to replace with them really important and relevant thoughts (for example, programs about the planned takeover of the Earth by aliens at the height of the financial crisis or creating images of external enemies).

All this turns the TV into a zombie box, that is, a certain device that affects the human psyche, adjusting it to certain specified standards, one might say, zombifies it.

Under the influence of television, a person becomes “programmed” for a certain direction of thoughts and actions, a spiritually weak, weak-willed, spineless “zombie”, ready to do anything for which he receives a signal.

The question arises: why is all this being done? The answer is logical: it is beneficial for someone. To whom? Firstly, for the state (any state), which is important to make people obedient and ideological - such people are easier to manage, and secondly, for representatives of big business who earn huge money from this. Well, in our conditions, mostly everything comes down to the financial benefit that the “owners” of the zombie box receive at the expense of the people who love to watch it.

The influence of television on a person is that, having watched enough television, he rushes to “adjust” his life to the standards promoted there, buying for this purpose goods and services imposed by stereotypes, but at the same time does not think about changing his life for the better, acquiring the knowledge that skills and abilities that will really help him break out of the vicious circle and become successful.

He simply does not need this, because there are much more serious problems, for example, an invasion of aliens (figuratively speaking).

Many people confidently believe that watching TV is relaxation; this is how they relax after a hard day at work.

The fact is that when you watch TV while lying on the sofa, you actually relax physically, but at the same time your psyche is working, seriously strained and often even overexerted. That is, you get tired psychologically. And, for that matter, just lying on the couch will be much more beneficial in terms of relaxation than lying on the couch and watching TV.

Let's consider several common myths about the influence of television on humans.

Myth 1. TV is an opportunity to relax and unwind. It’s not true, TV is a zombie box that greatly strains your psyche and even changes it in the right direction. Slowly but surely. It often happens that after watching the news or some TV programs, people walk around depressed, loaded with information, worried, discussing it with each other, even afraid! Someone starts to have a headache... Is this rest and relaxation?

To really rest and relax, you just need to change your field of activity, preferably to something active. For example, take up your hobby, which is for the soul. This will be a vacation, but not a zombie-box.

Myth 2. You need to watch TV to keep abreast of important news and events. There are people who simply feel seriously uncomfortable if they don't watch, say, the evening news. Do you know these? I know personally. As a rule, this is the older generation. Well, judge for yourself, this is a real addiction! This is akin to a bad habit: if you don’t smoke on time, withdrawal begins. If you feel this way about watching TV, it's something to think about very seriously.

If you don't watch the news on TV, you have absolutely nothing to lose! The most important thing that can affect you personally will definitely be conveyed to you: your friends, relatives, relatives, colleagues. And what happens somewhere out there “in another reality” - you absolutely don’t need it.

Myth 3. Watching TV is my hobby. This is also a huge misconception, and here’s why. A hobby is always some kind of creative activity aimed at creating something, self-realization. If a person is interested in fishing, he catches fish; if he is interested in numismatics, he creates a collection of coins; if he is interested in sports, he creates his health and shapes his body. What creates such a “hobby” as TV? Never mind! In what way does a person realize self-realization? Nothing! By watching a zombie movie, you simply absorb information; on the contrary, losing the ability to develop and create creative activities, you become a programmed “zombie”, controlled by TV moguls and those who stand behind them.

Come up with something more interesting than watching TV, something in which you can really find yourself and open up new opportunities for self-realization.

Now let's go in the opposite direction. Here are 4 good reasons to refuse to watch the zombie box.

Reason 1. Saving time and directing it into something more rational and necessary. Remember that the average person spends 4-6 hours a day watching TV? Imagine how many important and useful things you can do in this time! So give up the zombie box and fill the freed up hours with truly useful creative activities or real, complete rest.

Reason 2. Taking care of your psychological balance. In the life of any person there are already many inevitable factors that have a negative impact on his psyche. So why add a zombie box there as well? Give it up in favor of protecting your healthy mental state, which has not harmed anyone, but on the contrary.

Reason 3. A positive example for the environment. For example, if you have children and you spend hours sitting or lying in front of the TV, you are setting the same negative example for them. When they grow up, and right away, they will exactly repeat your actions, and the zombie box will cause harm not only to you, but also to your children. Think about it! Stop watching TV and set a positive example for others.

Reason 4. Healthy body. And finally, a working TV screen (any screen, even an ultra-modern plasma one) releases a huge amount of positively charged air ions into the air, which are absorbed by the human body and create an imbalance in it: an excess of positively charged particles over negative ones. This, in turn, worsens the permeability of the blood, leading to its thickening, which at the end of the day already happens in the body, and a working TV only enhances this negative effect. The result is a slowdown in bleeding, poor passage to various organs (especially those that already have their own problems), and a deterioration in their condition. Exacerbation of existing diseases and the emergence of new ones.

Therefore, watching TV before bed is especially harmful! Instead, it is better to take a walk, especially, if possible, in nature (near a pond, in a park, in a forest, in a mountainous area), where the body, on the contrary, will receive negative air ions that are useful for it, the blood will become more fluid, and all organs will receive the necessary nutrition, and this will ensure healthy and sound sleep.

Speaking about the negative impact of television on people and society, for the sake of fairness it is worth saying that somewhere on some channels, of course, there are really interesting and useful television programs that do not fall under everything described above. Naturally, every rule has its exceptions, and here too. But in general, the TV is still a zombie box. Especially in our conditions.

I foresee the following question: what about the Internet? After all, there is also a lot of negativity in it, and even worse than on TV. Yes, the Internet can also have a very negative impact on a person, but it has one feature that the zombie-box does not have: on the Internet, a person himself has the ability to filter and select the information he needs. But the TV space is very limited in this regard. By the way, this is why many people, convinced of the dangers of television, watch some programs that are interesting to them via the Internet.

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The credibility of television as a source of information

According to surveys, for 69% of Russian citizens who watch TV, it is news and other official information from central television channels that is the main source of knowledge about the situation in the world . This high percentage is largely due to the greater trust of the older age group (60 years and older) in federal channels.

Important! For comparison, the number of young people (from 18 to 24 years old) who trust TV is almost 2 times less, namely 48%.

Of course, TV channels can serve as the main source of information for Russians, but experts recommend using other sources, mainly on the Internet. On the Internet, various data and information are transmitted at a much higher speed than on television, where, before being broadcast, the news must go through more than one editorial office.

As for the veracity of information, television can claim to be a reliable source of information. However, due to the subordination of channels to the government and individual companies, deliberately distorted data is sometimes broadcast, precisely in the direction that is beneficial to their owners.