Com o semestre a chegar ao fim, decidi pegar num tema falado muito brevemente nas nossas primeiras aulas e partilhar convosco uma história de um casal que, tal como a professora, decidiram experimentar viver sem televisão. A ideia surgiu quando se deram conta, ao fim de uns quantos episódios de How I Met Your Mother, que durante três horas pouco mais de 10 palavras tinham dirigido um ao outro. É então que Trent se apercebe: "I realized I knew more about what Barney Stinson was thinking than what my loving fiancée was thinking. This thought hit me like a punch in the stomach: How much time do we spend watching TV, and is this healthy for us?". Terminados os 60 dias, com resultados surpreendentes, ambos decidiram voltar a ver a série juntos, pelo menos duas horas por dia; e aperceberam-se de que, quando a televisão voltou a fazer parte da sua vida, voltaram a comunicar e a ler menos e o cansaço e a preguiça tornaram-se maiores.
Deixo-vos então a história relatada pelo casal abaixo (meio cortada, pois não queria que ficasse muito grande):
"Generally speaking, couples who watch lots of TV tend to argue more often, have less sex, lead unhealthy lifestyles, and are less satisfied with life in general. (...) There is very little on the internet explaining how TV helps adults. There are a few articles around how educational programing can be good for children, but apparently after the kid learns to read, it’s better to get a book.
'Poor people have big TVs and small libraries; rich people have small TVs and big libraries.' I decided I would much rather fall into the latter category.
The first week was very tough for us. We had gotten so used to vegging out on the couch when we were home, there seemed little for us to do. To make matters worse, we were in the middle of the hot season in Antalya, Turkey, so traveling outside was out of the question. We walk EVERYWHERE in Antalya and did not really like doing that in 107 degree weather.
A funny thing happened after about five days: we started talking more. A lot more. I learned more about [my fiancée] in the next 60 days than I had in the last 6 months, and I loved it. She really is a fascinating person. On top of that, we both spent more time doing other activities we enjoyed. My reading time quadrupled and she spent a lot of time crafting. I now have a favorite winter hat thanks to this rekindled hobby of hers.
After the 60 days were up, we decided we wanted to keep watching How I Met Your Mother. We spent the next three days watching 2+ hours of that show. The normal American watches 32 hours a week of television, so we were still low on the consumption, comparatively. But, to me, I felt a sudden shift which I didn’t like.
I became moodier, less interested in listening to [my fiancée], less interested in my reading, and generally lazier than I had been. Similar reactions from her caused us to argue more and snap at each other over silly things."
Por fim, deixo uma lista de benefícios enumerados pelo casal após este desafio:
Deixo-vos então a história relatada pelo casal abaixo (meio cortada, pois não queria que ficasse muito grande):
"Generally speaking, couples who watch lots of TV tend to argue more often, have less sex, lead unhealthy lifestyles, and are less satisfied with life in general. (...) There is very little on the internet explaining how TV helps adults. There are a few articles around how educational programing can be good for children, but apparently after the kid learns to read, it’s better to get a book.
'Poor people have big TVs and small libraries; rich people have small TVs and big libraries.' I decided I would much rather fall into the latter category.
The first week was very tough for us. We had gotten so used to vegging out on the couch when we were home, there seemed little for us to do. To make matters worse, we were in the middle of the hot season in Antalya, Turkey, so traveling outside was out of the question. We walk EVERYWHERE in Antalya and did not really like doing that in 107 degree weather.
A funny thing happened after about five days: we started talking more. A lot more. I learned more about [my fiancée] in the next 60 days than I had in the last 6 months, and I loved it. She really is a fascinating person. On top of that, we both spent more time doing other activities we enjoyed. My reading time quadrupled and she spent a lot of time crafting. I now have a favorite winter hat thanks to this rekindled hobby of hers.
After the 60 days were up, we decided we wanted to keep watching How I Met Your Mother. We spent the next three days watching 2+ hours of that show. The normal American watches 32 hours a week of television, so we were still low on the consumption, comparatively. But, to me, I felt a sudden shift which I didn’t like.
I became moodier, less interested in listening to [my fiancée], less interested in my reading, and generally lazier than I had been. Similar reactions from her caused us to argue more and snap at each other over silly things."
Por fim, deixo uma lista de benefícios enumerados pelo casal após este desafio:
- "We get along much better. It’s rare that we argue and when we do, we listen to each other instead of trying to find distractions.
- Our cooking has gotten much better. (...) we don’t rush through the cooking process in order to plop down on the couch (...).
- Meal times are slow and peaceful. We really take a moment to enjoy what we prepared together.
- Our view on the future is brighter. Before, we didn’t talk too much about the future. A lot of our conversations revolved around TV shows we enjoyed. Now, we talk a lot about what will happen next in our lives, not what will happen next on Prison Break.
- My business is less stressful. (...)
- We are more interesting people. (...)
- Our social life has improved. When you don’t have anything to watch on TV you find things to do. (...) It’s a great way to keep things fresh and build relationships.
- We are much more active. We take walks all the time and love taking our dog to the park."
Artigo completo em: "Why Do I Live Without a TV?"
Quantos de vocês estariam dispostos a passarem 60 dias sem acesso a qualquer tipo de rede social ou meio de comunicação, ou tanto não seja, sem acesso a telemóveis ou televisão?
Catarina Pereira (145669)
Pois, eu já vivo sem televisão há... 7 anos e nem me passa pela cabeça voltar a instalar um aparelho cá em casa (isto apesar de ter TV no pacote de internet!). Para dizer a verdade, nem compreendo como as pessoas têm tempo para passar horas a fio hipnotizadas frente ao ecrã, ainda por cima quando, na vida contemporânea, parte do nosso trabalho já implica esta relação intensa com outros ecrãs. Talvez possam experimentar e ver os resultados...
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