"Yesbutwhatdidweusetodobeforetherewastelevision?"Howoftenwehearstatementslikethis!Televisionhasn'tbeenwithusallthatlongbutwearealreadybeginningtoforgetwhattheworldwaslikewithoutit.Beforewe
"Yesbutwhatdidweusetodobeforetherewastelevision?"Howoftenwehearstatementslikethis!Televisionhasn'tbeenwithusallthatlongbutwearealreadybeginningtoforgetwhattheworldwaslikewithoutit.Beforeweadmittheone-eyedmonsterintoourhomes weneverfounditdifficulttooccupyoursparetime.Weusedtoenjoycivilizedpleasures.Forinstanceweusedtohavehobbiesweusedtoentertainourfriendsandbeentertainedbythemweusedtogooutsideforouramusementstotheaterscinemasrestaurantsandsportingevents.Weevenusedtoreadbooksandlistentomusicandbroadcasttalkoccasionally.Allthatbelongstothepast.Nowallourfreetimeisregulatedbythe"goggle-box".Werushhomeorgulpdown(吞咽)ourmealstobeintimeforthisorthatprogram.Wehaveevengivenupsittingattableandhavingaleisurelyeveningmealexchangingthenewsoftheday.Asandwichandaglassofbeerwilldo-anythingprovidingitdoesn'tinterferewiththeprogram.Themonsterdemandsandobtainsabsolutesilenceandattention.Ifanymemberofthefamilydarestoopenhismouthduringaprogramheisquicklysilenced.
Thewholegenerationsaregrowingupaddictedtothetelly(television).Foodisleftuneatenhomeworkundoneandsleepislost.Thetellyisuniversalpacifier(抚慰者).Itisnowstandardpracticeformothertokeepthechildrenquietbyputtingthemintheliving-roomandturningontheset.Itdoesn’tmatterthatthechildrenwillwatchrubbishycommercialsorviolence-solongastheyarequiet.
Thereislittlelimittotheamountofcreativetalentavailableintheworld.Televisionconsumesvastquantitiesofcreativework.Thatiswhymostofprogramsarebad: itisimpossibletokeeppacewiththedemandandmaintainhighstandardsaswell.Whenmillionswatchthesameprograms thewholeworldbecomesavillageandsocietyisreducedtotheconditionswhichobtaininpreliterate(无文字的)communities.Webecomecompletelydependentonthetwomostprimitivemediaofcommunication:picturesandthespokenword.
Televisionencouragespassiveenjoyment.Webecomecontentwithsecondhandexperiences.Itissoeasytositinourarmchairswatchingothersworking.Littlebylittletelevisioncutsusofffromtherealworld.Wegotsolazy;wechoosetospendafinedayi