I personally have great difficulty enjoying such activities, and I perceive a harm to one's possible creative or even spiritual output and development from them.
Anime? Serenity? Battlestar Galactica? Seinfeld? Television, like movies or novels, can be amazing and well worth the invested time when they are well done or particularly meaningful. Television can be an art that not only entertains the viewer but enriches and enlightens them. I certainly think that massive amounts of it (like any leisure activity) can be detrimental and limiting, but to so lambaste television outright is to demean an artform that you, yourself, enjoy on occasions. The point is moderation in all indulgences.
Very well-said, Kate, very well-said. But there is no accounting to taste and I think what they were also generally attacking were tabloid journalism and soap operas as well because that seems to be what the common everyman/woman watches most often nowadays.
True, I suppose, but would we expect any big changes in the last couple of years?
Even so, the report does not make clear exactly what the numbers mean. "Average household television viewing time" could cover a multitude of sins, and there is nothing in the report about how the data was collected, nor is there anything defining terms. It could be that a family of four watching two hours together is credited with eight hours viewing, or that a television that is on is assumed to be watched, or that a bunch of survey responders guessed high, or...
Numbers without context are not useful.
I think the numbers would change significantly because of the accessibility we have to watching television over the internet. Websites like Hulu and the bigger use of illegal downloading really decreases the amount of television we watch (on the action television). The amount of TV you watch is different than the amount of time you spend in front of a TV Device. If they include what we watch over the internet, I could understand the amount of change. Or the usage of websites like youtube.
But it's like you said, number without context suck.
Rym and Scott shit-talk a lot of things they don't have personal experience with, like Fibromyalgia and current TV shows, and therefore are unlikely to have informed opinions on those topics. Just FYI for those who may not have realized that by now. Definitely think about it, but I wouldn't take every negative thing said as the gospel truth. TV is not 100% passive for every viewer, just like Fibromyalgia is not some made-up disease that doesn't exist and people just use as an excuse to complain. There are plenty of people who engage their brains when they watch TV. When the crew watched Lucky Number Slevin and everyone was trying to guess what was going on, that's not 100% passive. The reason elimination reality shows are so popular is that people can get engaged and try to figure out who is the best, who they like, who is doing things technically correctly, etc. TV also has the benefit that you can do something else while watching it, so if you have a lot of physical work to do, you may be able to watch TV while you cannot read.
Is Lost a legitimate show to spend my time on? My roommates and I may or may not have decided moments ago to watch all 5 seasons by the time the new one starts.
First season is OK, but really...no. The joke about the writers of Lost having absolutely no idea where the show was going are not based on nothing. In fact, it is pretty much a statement of fact.
Then again, if you like an hour of Totally Random Shit happening with no real direction at all, then go for it. But if you are looking for a plot that goes somewhere, don't waste your time.
First season is OK, but really...no. The joke about the writers of Lost having absolutely no idea where the show was going are not based on nothing. In fact, it is pretty much a statement of fact.
Then again, if you like an hour of Totally Random Shit happening with no real direction at all, then go for it. But if you are looking for a plot that goes somewhere, don't waste your time.
The show definitely had this problems through season two and parts of season three, I think they've fixed it for the most part. Season's four and five are much more focused, and not much time is wasted on things that don't affect the plot or characters. I think this turnaround had a lot to do with the writers finalizing an end date for the show two years ago.
Some gaming, however, requires high levels of engagement, tactical thinking, reaction, and so forth. There is a reason I play NS, for example, but eschew Team Fortress 2 or WoW.
But you can agree that they are on a base level better than the mindless drivel pumped into us by the media companies, From what I played of WOW (1.5 years on and off) I formed social bonds and participated in forums, listened to podcasts and learned about human interaction,
From the however many year of my life I have spent watching (mindless) TV, I have gained nil apart from a resentment for it.
I think that television as a medium can be wonderful, informing and thought provoking, (try watching any BBC poltical show) but as you hint Rym there is somthing fundimentally wrong with the medium, just as Twitter is prone to mindless jabbering about useless crap, TV is suited to passive mindless consumption, I would however suggest that all mutiplayer games are leaps and bounds above the mindlessnes of television because of the fact that it forces interaction that TV does not.
Is Lost a legitimate show to spend my time on? My roommates and I may or may not have decided moments ago to watch all 5 seasons by the time the new one starts.
Watch Twin Peaks instead. Unlike Lost, it doesn't pretend to know where it's going, and the surrealism is increased ten fold thanks to Lynch.
just like Fibromyalgia is not some made-up disease that doesn't exist
I am not convinced that there is a real disease or underlying cause of Fibromyalgia. There is no evidence of a causal agent whatsoever, strong evidence of a psychosomatic link, and no way to "diagnose" it. There is no test for it (other than subjective differential diagnosis), and no examination of any sufferer has ever provided any differentiating factor or abmormality at all. The only way to be diagnosed with is is if you have these very general symptoms, no measurable abnormality, and no diagnosis of any other condition with similar symptoms. There is no treatment other than general, low-level supportive ones with no measurable efficacy. The most effective "treatments" are simply anti-depressants, further strengthening the psycho-somatic link. What little actual there is is entirely subjective, and is mostly simply good lifestyle advice (aerobic exercise, better nutrition, etc...)
At best, it appears to be a psychological disorder, and many doctors treat it as such. Many doctors don't believe it exists at all. It can't be differentiated from other diseases. I've following the investigation of this syndrome for many years out of interest, and I have seen no convincing evidence that it actually exists. Feel free to prove me wrong, but I am inclined to stand with the medical establishment on this one.
I'm pretty sure that fibromyalgia is considered a condition and not so much a specific disease, since there is no etiological agent yet identified. It's sort of the same way that autism is a spectrum disorder, and has numerous underlying causal factors.
RE Lost: I'm not willing to wade through 2 seasons of crap because "it gets better." If you suck for two seasons, I'm not watching your show. I stopped watching Heroes, too.
RE Fibro: Rym, how do you think most things are diagnosed? It's usually based on the symptoms. A lot of conditions now have tests we can do for them, but they ALL started out as a group of symptoms that we searched for the causal agent for. Just because we haven't found one for every variant yet doesn't mean one doesn't exist. There's no definitive test for every kind of gluten-intolerance, either. Sure, there are tests that might come up positive to show a definitive yes for a specific variation (Celiac's disease), but those tests are finicky and there is no such thing as a definitive no. Does that mean the general condition of gluten-intolerance doesn't exist?
Fibro is not like God. We actually have evidence that this set of symptoms exists. The fact that some people are misdiagnosed with fibro and end up having something else is not sufficient to establish nonexistence. That happens with other diseases all the time. The fact that it might be psychiatric is also insufficient to invalidate its existence.
There's a difference between psychological and psychiatric. Fibromyalgia, when we can find a cause, is often caused by things that are related to chemical processes in the brain. That means it is psychiatric, NOT psychological. I have known people with extreme fibro that was caused by their brain not turning off during sleep. The doctors figured out how to fix that problem, and his fibro went away. So no, I don't think that it's valid to say there is no evidence of causal agents. Sure, there is no definitive cause for all manifestations of fibromyalgia. We don't have definitive causes for all manifestations of cancer, either. We have causal evidence for SOME cases of cancer and some cases of fibro. Just because something is a condition caused primarily by a brain malfunction doesn't mean it's psychological or non-medical. Diseases and conditions are not categorized solely by causal agents. Different kinds of cancers can have completely different causes, but they manifest in a certain cell behavior that is labeled "cancer." Likewise, with fibromyalgia the condition is a certain kind of nerve behavior, regardless of the cause.
I have two MDs in my family and 4 friends/relatives with varying manifestations of fibromyalgia. I'm going to take their word over yours. When you go to medical school and become intimately familiar with the chemical processes of the brain, then I will accept you as an authority on equal standing with the MDs. Personally, I would not trust Wikipedia as a medical authority.
Personally, I would not trust Wikipedia as a medical authority.
Neither do I.
From the Mayo Clinic, however, I can find only one set of diagnosis criteria:
The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) guidelines for diagnosing fibromyalgia require widespread pain throughout your body for at least three months. "Widespread" is defined as pain on both sides of your body, as well as above and below your waist... In addition, the ACR guidelines direct doctors to test 18 points on your body for tenderness. ACR criteria state that pain at 11 of the points may indicate fibromyalgia.
That appears to be it. So, anyone who experiences generalized pain, where there is no other illness present in differential diagnosis, basically falls into this bit bucket at the bottom of the if/then chain. At best, it is a uselessly generic term for ill-defined problems that may even be unique to individuals and require unique treatment.
It's co-morbid with clinical depression. It has almost identical symptoms to numerous other diagnosable diseases, such as Lyme Disease. I am skeptical primarily because so is a large portion of the medical establishment. Many doctors don't believe it exists at all. Different treatments work on some people and not others, and there's no way to really measure their efficacy in many cases. Interestingly and scarily, one of the more prescribed treatments is acupuncture...
To further complicate things, it is one of the more common diseases for patients to claim having when visiting doctors. It's a hot topic in alternative medicine, and there are whole industries based on providing various fake medicines to combat peoples' fibromyalgias.
I don't doubt that many people experience symptoms like this. Some of them may be legitimate, and some of them are not. But without a clearer differential diagnosis, and without clear efficacious treatments, I stand with the more skeptical doctors on most cases of it.
But I suppose you're going say, "but that's not on TV!" Still, Baccano will kick Lost's ass up and down the TV screen.
yea but after 6 hours your done with that :-p
Our university has a pretty robust collection of foreign films and anime, as well as good TV. Today I discovered the entire set of MST3K DVDs, some Hanzo the Razor, all of Babylon 5, and the complete set of Bubblegum Crisis DVDs, among others.
It has almost identical symptoms to numerous other diagnosable diseases, such as Lyme Disease.
Well, actually, according to the CDC, which classifies it as a form of arthritis, the condition revolves mostly around pain processing and other widespread neurological symptoms. It's clearly a condition that grossly affects the nervous system, so of course you'll find psychological conditions accompanying it. It should be noted that the requirements for a diagnosis of fibromyalgia are actually pretty strict; the definition of "widespread" pain requires at least 50% of your body to be experiencing pain, and it has to be a chronic condition (at least 3 months). There are few, if any, infections that present symptoms for 3 months.
Lyme disease presents a very different set of symptoms. The fact that they have "fatigue" as a crossover is pretty meaningless. Nearly every infectious disease produces fatigue and some degree of muscle pain. The "fibromyalgia" diagnosis specifically revolves around widespread chronic pain and pain processing issues that are otherwise unexplained.
I'll agree that it's the subject of much quackery, as are many medical conditions. I've seen plenty of ads from lawyers looking to sue using "fibromyalgia" as the reason. That doesn't mean there isn't actually a condition. The unknown etiology isn't that uncommon; for example, according to the CDC, roughly 75% of cases of food poisoning have an unknown etiology. The issue is that the unknown etiology makes it an easy target for crap medicine, like acupuncture or chiropractic.
Of course, the fact that there's an unknown etiology means that there really isn't an effective treatment. The best you can do is exercise long-term pain management strategies. It does sound like a bit of a catch-all diagnosis, but do remember that there are pretty specific requirements for what is and is not fibromyalgia.
I've not seen The Wire, but I'd like to throw Californication into the ring as a contender nonetheless. I raced through the entire first season on Netflix and really connected with it. Showtime is spoiling me on network shows; I can't think of a single fall premier show I care to watch.
I've not seen The Wire, but I'd like to throw Californication into the ring as a contender nonetheless.
I'll check it out. I'm a bit skeptical, though, only because the wire is so damn good. Last time I made this statement, someone countered with "Band of Brothers". I watched it, and it was really, really good. But not as good as The Wire.
I've not seen The Wire, but I'd like to throw Californication into the ring as a contender nonetheless.
I'll check it out. I'm a bit skeptical, though, only because the wire isso damn good. Last time I made this statement, someone countered with "Band of Brothers". I watched it, and it was really, really good. But not as good as The Wire.
I've seen both. Californication doesn't even step up to the plate when compared to The Wire. Jason just likes the show because it appeals to the life that he will never achieve.
I've seen both. Californication doesn't even step up to the plate when compared to The Wire. Jason just likes the show because it appeals to the life that he will never achieve.
I can't relate personally to "triple-crossing drug dealer cops in a world of high intrigue on the streets of Baltimore," but I can relate to "failed writer turns to libido for comfort when his family falls apart with a cool soundtrack."
Comments
But it's like you said, number without context suck.
Then again, if you like an hour of Totally Random Shit happening with no real direction at all, then go for it. But if you are looking for a plot that goes somewhere, don't waste your time.
From the however many year of my life I have spent watching (mindless) TV, I have gained nil apart from a resentment for it.
I think that television as a medium can be wonderful, informing and thought provoking, (try watching any BBC poltical show) but as you hint Rym there is somthing fundimentally wrong with the medium, just as Twitter is prone to mindless jabbering about useless crap, TV is suited to passive mindless consumption, I would however suggest that all mutiplayer games are leaps and bounds above the mindlessnes of television because of the fact that it forces interaction that TV does not.
At best, it appears to be a psychological disorder, and many doctors treat it as such. Many doctors don't believe it exists at all. It can't be differentiated from other diseases. I've following the investigation of this syndrome for many years out of interest, and I have seen no convincing evidence that it actually exists. Feel free to prove me wrong, but I am inclined to stand with the medical establishment on this one.
RE Fibro: Rym, how do you think most things are diagnosed? It's usually based on the symptoms. A lot of conditions now have tests we can do for them, but they ALL started out as a group of symptoms that we searched for the causal agent for. Just because we haven't found one for every variant yet doesn't mean one doesn't exist. There's no definitive test for every kind of gluten-intolerance, either. Sure, there are tests that might come up positive to show a definitive yes for a specific variation (Celiac's disease), but those tests are finicky and there is no such thing as a definitive no. Does that mean the general condition of gluten-intolerance doesn't exist?
Fibro is not like God. We actually have evidence that this set of symptoms exists. The fact that some people are misdiagnosed with fibro and end up having something else is not sufficient to establish nonexistence. That happens with other diseases all the time. The fact that it might be psychiatric is also insufficient to invalidate its existence.
There's a difference between psychological and psychiatric. Fibromyalgia, when we can find a cause, is often caused by things that are related to chemical processes in the brain. That means it is psychiatric, NOT psychological. I have known people with extreme fibro that was caused by their brain not turning off during sleep. The doctors figured out how to fix that problem, and his fibro went away. So no, I don't think that it's valid to say there is no evidence of causal agents. Sure, there is no definitive cause for all manifestations of fibromyalgia. We don't have definitive causes for all manifestations of cancer, either. We have causal evidence for SOME cases of cancer and some cases of fibro. Just because something is a condition caused primarily by a brain malfunction doesn't mean it's psychological or non-medical. Diseases and conditions are not categorized solely by causal agents. Different kinds of cancers can have completely different causes, but they manifest in a certain cell behavior that is labeled "cancer." Likewise, with fibromyalgia the condition is a certain kind of nerve behavior, regardless of the cause.
I have two MDs in my family and 4 friends/relatives with varying manifestations of fibromyalgia. I'm going to take their word over yours. When you go to medical school and become intimately familiar with the chemical processes of the brain, then I will accept you as an authority on equal standing with the MDs. Personally, I would not trust Wikipedia as a medical authority.
But I suppose you're going say, "but that's not on TV!" Still, Baccano will kick Lost's ass up and down the TV screen.
But hey, I've only been watching TV all my life, what do I know. :P
From the Mayo Clinic, however, I can find only one set of diagnosis criteria: That appears to be it. So, anyone who experiences generalized pain, where there is no other illness present in differential diagnosis, basically falls into this bit bucket at the bottom of the if/then chain. At best, it is a uselessly generic term for ill-defined problems that may even be unique to individuals and require unique treatment.
It's co-morbid with clinical depression. It has almost identical symptoms to numerous other diagnosable diseases, such as Lyme Disease. I am skeptical primarily because so is a large portion of the medical establishment. Many doctors don't believe it exists at all. Different treatments work on some people and not others, and there's no way to really measure their efficacy in many cases. Interestingly and scarily, one of the more prescribed treatments is acupuncture...
To further complicate things, it is one of the more common diseases for patients to claim having when visiting doctors. It's a hot topic in alternative medicine, and there are whole industries based on providing various fake medicines to combat peoples' fibromyalgias.
I don't doubt that many people experience symptoms like this. Some of them may be legitimate, and some of them are not. But without a clearer differential diagnosis, and without clear efficacious treatments, I stand with the more skeptical doctors on most cases of it.
Also, LAGAAN!
Lyme disease presents a very different set of symptoms. The fact that they have "fatigue" as a crossover is pretty meaningless. Nearly every infectious disease produces fatigue and some degree of muscle pain. The "fibromyalgia" diagnosis specifically revolves around widespread chronic pain and pain processing issues that are otherwise unexplained.
I'll agree that it's the subject of much quackery, as are many medical conditions. I've seen plenty of ads from lawyers looking to sue using "fibromyalgia" as the reason. That doesn't mean there isn't actually a condition. The unknown etiology isn't that uncommon; for example, according to the CDC, roughly 75% of cases of food poisoning have an unknown etiology. The issue is that the unknown etiology makes it an easy target for crap medicine, like acupuncture or chiropractic.
Of course, the fact that there's an unknown etiology means that there really isn't an effective treatment. The best you can do is exercise long-term pain management strategies. It does sound like a bit of a catch-all diagnosis, but do remember that there are pretty specific requirements for what is and is not fibromyalgia.
Also, The Wire is just one of those things that white people like.
Yet another thing that Dave and Joel have gotten me interested in that I would have otherwise paid no attention to.