Zen TV Experiment

Zen TV Experiment [ http://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/tvturnoff/toolbox/zentv.html ] “The problem is not that TV presents us with entertaining subject matter, but that TV presents all subject matter as entertaining. This transcends TV and spills over into our post-TV life experiences. TV trains us to orient toward and tune in to the entertainment quality of any experience, event, person. We look for that which is entertaining about any phenomenon rather than qualities of depth, social significance, spiritual resonance, beauty, etc. In this sense TV doesn’t imitate life, but social life now aspires to imitate TV.

Further, we become greedy. Not greedy in the traditional sense in reference to material wealth, rather, we experience a greed to be entertained. It’s not just a need for entertainment, but a downright greed for entertainment, and it becomes a 24-hour obsession. In the absence of entertainment, we usually entertain ourselves with plans for future entertainment. “

Adam Curry had the reference to Zen TV Experiment and I encourage you to read his story [ http://live.curry.com/stories/2002/02/19/bloggingTuneOutAndSwitchOn.html ]. I remember when I was dreadfully sick, scared, anxious, and depressed. I went to a teacher who said, “Turn off the TV and newspapers for one month, and see how you feel.”

Today, I am angry and confused. I still crave the TV drug. We’re watching selected DVD movies from Netflix; in my sanest moments I know it is only slightly different. At least the volume of consumption is controlled (at least until I upgrade to the 8 DVD’s out at a time plan ).

I want to live a life that feels real, alive, meaningful. I’ll be 40 on September 17th of this year. And while I lust after a wide screen HDTV, I am not sure why. It is nothing compared to how I feel taking a walk with my wife, or spending two hours helping a friend physically heal through massage therapy and heartfelt talk.

Perhaps it is that during much of my life, TV has been there when I was alone, scared, or sick. When I was sick as a child, I watched TV all day long since Mom was usually at work (when I was older). When I had broken up with a girlfriend, or just plain didn’t have one because I was a pimply runt, TV provided distraction.

Can TV as a technology be helpful or used in balance? I don’t know yet. I do know that watching selected movies as a family and talking about them before and afterwards changes the dynamic. It feels less like entertainment--and thus there is some resistance on all our parts. Yet, it also feel more like a shared experience.