idiot box

[perlmonger]

yonmei mentioned the kind of TV you can watch while doing something else, which is a concept that I find baffling.

So. A quiz.
[Poll #401858]

Comments

[rainbowskye.livejournal.com]

It's easier to comment! I don't watch tv much, but I get twitchy *just* watching tv, because it feels like a waste of time. So on the fairly rare occasion that there's something I want to watch on, it's more likely I'll have the ironing board out too. It's rare that I'm not jumping up when the adverts come on to put washing on the radiators or whatever too! Mostly if the tv's on it's because someone else wants to watch it; I can happily fiddle about on the computer or suchlike while that's happening but I wouldn't be able to do work that needed concentration like writing a report or something while there was tv or music in the background; for that I need silence.

[sheepthief.livejournal.com]

Good point - my attention span is such that I can sit and watch without fidgeting.

[sheepthief.livejournal.com]

I have a TV card in the computer, and I spend most of my life in front of the computer, so, yeah, I have it on in the background, and mostly it's not a problem. Mind you, given most TV programs it's not as though a great deal of attention is required. The only time that background TV is a problem for me is when there's direct real-time conversation with a human happening - then the small amount of interference is irritating, not to say impolite.

[hirez.livejournal.com]

I cannot function if the bloody telly's on. I am significantly happier if the damn box is off (in the unplugged sense; I can still hear the flyback transformer at my semi-advanced age) and I can concentrate on doing something useful.

[easterbunny.livejournal.com]

I really like watching television. (Shock! Horror!) My mom says that I used to be fascinated by the flashing lights of game shows when I was little. I can't, however, watch television and do nothing else - I grew up sewing, drawing, doing craft projects, jumping on a mini-trampoline, and doing homework with the television on (preferably the weather channel). This transferred to programming and doing certain types of physics / engineering coursework by the gentle lull of TV during uni, although some things I prefer the radio for - housework, DIY, cooking, non-calculus maths, and writing papers. I like to read if I'm in the bathtub, the bed, eating, or on public transport, and I like to paint or draw if I'm sitting outside or at a concert.

It sounds weird, but I'm not too worried about stunted creativity - it helps me a lot to be able to shut my right brain off. I ususally take DVDs to work to listen to during the afternoon when I get into serious programming mode; they helps me concentrate. I realize that I'm a freak.

[easterbunny.livejournal.com]

s/helps/help

[perlmonger.livejournal.com]

preciouss...

But, yes, you are odd :) - or at any rate at the far end of a spectrum from me. I find it virtually impossible to do anything if there's a television on in the same room: it's not the sound (speech radio is generally fine, as is most music from whatever source), it's just something about the Dyson-like power of the moving image. It can be an irritating shortcoming; for example, it means that I can't sit and read in the same room while ramtops watches TV.

People are odd: all of us, I think...