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October 02, 2005
Homework & the boob tube
Tim and Emma are doing their homework this morning. It's tough. Diane's watching television nearby, because she doesn't have any homework. Television turns normal children into catatonic consumers, fully incapable of thinking, much less doing any homework.
It was strange to see that Tim couldn't say his multiplication tables with the television going in the other room. No idea what 3x8 could be. All it took to get that capacity back was to leave the room with the television in it.
Emma was having the same difficulty understanding what she had to do. As soon as the television goes off, suddenly she understands.
We have involuntary labelling on cigarettes. We ought to have it on television sets as well: "Turning on this television reduces your IQ by half. Watching it reduces your IQ even further."
This point seems doubly important to account for when you think you're learning something by watching a news program, for example. My guess is that instant messaging has a similar effect.
Posted by Mark at October 2, 2005 09:54 AM
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