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"It fills you with naughty laughter to know you did this and other people have no idea what happened," Burke said. People around him noticed that the screens had turned off, but no one raised a fuss.
Responding to the accusation that it sounded like unaccountable power, Burke said, "You've heard about the battle for eyeballs. They're your eyeballs. You should not have your consciousness constantly invaded. Television people are getting better and better at finding ways of roping us into TV where we can't get away."
Inventor Mitch Altman has created TV-B-Gone, a one-button universal remote that you can use to turn off television sets in public places. He also discussed his invention on NPR.
Comments
my professor friend did research that shows that when you look at a piece of paper with writing on it, your mind is actively conscious and thinking.
But when you watch television or read computer text, your brain functions in the same was as it does when you are dreaming, to a certain extent.
Posted by: hk | October 20, 2004 7:32 AM
I had heard that about television, I believe, but not about reading computer text. What is it about reading text on a computer that makes your brain work differently than when you read text on paper? Did your friend get into that?
Posted by: nedlog | October 21, 2004 12:08 PM
Yes.
Really, I can't go into the details, because I just don't get it.
It has everything to do with light and energy frequency. When you read a text on page, light bounces off the page and hits your retina, and subsequently your brain in an "active" pattern.
But, for some reason, when you see something on screen, you are abosorbing deeper, in another region of the brain than if you were to do it from actual light reflecting. This computer screen light is generated, not reflected, so that has something to do with it.
Tell you what, I'll ask him, and give you an answer when I know something more tangible.
Posted by: hk | October 22, 2004 4:40 AM