you exercise total control of how long you want to view any particular content

"any particular" is, as they say, doing a lot of work.

ANY.

I don't find this to be particularly true, with notable exceptions. I'd say 80% of my TV time is multitasking. And even the stuff that's more demanding of attention is pauseable.

Maybe that's the key, that videos are semi-background noise and your control of your attention is to take it entirely off the screen. Novel idea, so 2018.

Those ensnared in samsara both watch and listen to the screen.

Those on the path to enlightenment watch but do not listen or listen but do not watch.

With deep understanding of the screen, neither picture nor sound are necessary. Others prefer dead channels.

I think lw just called me a stable genius.

The Hell dude's got you covered.

I like the posts's explicit treatment of control of attention as something to think about-- both specifically in one's own life and generally.

Hopefully it's not tendentious to say that these styles of thinking about attention (here and now and also generally) underlie meditation and that a lot of Buddhist writing touches on attention.

Here is an excellent internet exploration of attention.

Relevant.

I hate to be prosaic, but:

Wait, which one is Axios?

Dunno - who is Axios? (it's a website) Y'mean Atrios? (doesn't go on shows as far as I know)

Way to be axiomatic.

10: I was trying to figure that out too. But I never watch cable news.

Oh, ha, I had that confused when I was watching/writing the post. Some white guy with a British accent, that's who.

That's Hugh Laurie, at times.

Right, well, see, both Axios and Atrios are internet entities, doncha know, and I can see how wondering which one is Vox on TV would be pretty confusing.

15 to 11, 12.

13: Ah, yes! That white guy with a British accent is always so insightful!

5: Some prefer the Chiba City sky.

17: And the Rick Perry Smart Glasses.

I agree with Heebie (or at least, with what I think she's sayin'): TV is the devil. Esp. commercials. I'm a "TV virgin" (in that after mid-college, I basically stopped watching) and find that whenever a TV's on, I can't -not- watch it. I have to ask people to turn it off, or switch seats I can't see it, in order to have a civil conversation.

Recently found that the same was true of radio.

My family didn't have a tv when I was growing up and the brother after me has the TV Zombie problem for sure, where as a kid you'd have to get in his line of sight to distract him and as an adult he doesn't do much better. I have the opposite problem, sort of a furious aversion and unwillingness to put up with it. I've tried to learn and I can certainly filter it out or just sit there and knit/read/whatever, but I resent it very much and I'm much more judgmental than I should be. I even HAVE a tv!

I have this audio-only classical channel and have it on almost all the time. It's like radio but 10,000 times better because no hosts/ads/jingles. Also it relies heavily on public domain recordings that are audibly vinyl, which is amusing.

re: 21

xelA gets total TV Zombie. You have to get in front of him, and often mute the TV before he is even aware you are there.

I grew up in a house where the TV was on a fair bit, but where it wasn't necessarily a big focus -- I think that's a fairly common British working class pattern. So I'm pretty good at tuning it out. My wife used to get annoyed at finding me sitting with the TV on, but reading a book. I don't do that much any more because I'm quite out of the habit of turning it on these days. 90% of the time the TV is on now, xelA is watching it, and we maybe watch a couple of episodes of some TV show or a film once or twice a week, and it's otherwise off. In the past week, I've watched "Hail Caesar" and a couple of episodes of a comedy panel show, and that's literally it for TV.

That's not for value judgement reasons. I quite like TV. It's more a matter of habit, lack of time, work, and competing other things. I've been fairly obsessively playing guitar again for the first time in a while.

I have this audio-only classical channel and have it on almost all the time. It's like radio but 10,000 times better because no hosts/ads/jingles. Also it relies heavily on public domain recordings that are audibly vinyl, which is amusing.

You know music streaming is a thing, right?

I do. This is easier and comes bundled with the apartment.

9: Attention conservation notice: 2,000 words to express the observation that "If it's free, you're the product."

I tried to watch the new Star Trek series which is on CBS. Apparently we are streaming the cheap version of CBS, which has commercials. But I only made it through two episodes because it turns out I truly cannot stand to sit through commercials anymore.

Also, I never cared for stories involving Klingons. Worst TV aliens ever.

You're not missing much. It has its moments, but for the most part the plotting and characterisation is just dumb. I gave up at the mid-season hiatus.

26 isn't even a good shorter...!

Also relevant.

When I was a teenage member of the Klingon Language Institute I would have been thrilled at multiple extended scenes full of actual Klingon. But yeah, the Klingon bits are by far the worst part, and the rest is, well, I myself am still enjoying somewhat and have hopes but acknowledge the Stockholmish fan-pattern and there are many good reasons for people to turn off. (I haven't seen last Sunday's new post-break one yet.)

It's been growing on me enough that I'm actually enjoying it.

STD

Worst acronym for a TV show ever.

These days it's all about virality.

Seems like ripe time to finally have a Discovery thread, no?

Boom da yada.