television: opiate of the masses
by Wes Moore
(alephegeis@disinfo.net) -
http://www.disinfo.com/archive/pages/article/id1149/pg2/index.html
T.V.
It satellite links
Our United States of Unconsciousness
Apathetic therapeutic and extremely addictive
The methadone metronome pumping out
150 channels 24 hours a day
You can flip through all of them
And still there's nothing worth watching.
~~ Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy,
Television, Drug of a Nation
Momma's gonna make all of your nightmares
come true
Momma's gonna put all of her fears into you
Momma's gonna keep you right here under her wing
She won't let you fly but she might let you sing
Momma's gonna keep baby cozy
and warm.
~~ Pink Floyd,
Mother
The nearest analogy to
the addictive power of television and the transformation of values that is wrought in the life of the heavy user is probably heroin.
~~ Terence McKenna, Food of the Gods
There's a tumor
in the TV mouth
Burn it out before it grows.
~~ Marilyn Manson, Little Horn
Aright junkies, I know
you don't like staring at long strands of motionless
text, and I know it's a struggle for you to analyze
and comprehend the meaning of complex sequences of words. But
if you give me just a few minutes, I will let you in on a little secret that
marketers and governments have been relying on for decades. That television you
watch every day, your secret best friend, is an addictive opiate, and not only
that, it's one of the most potent mind control devices ever produced. And I'm not just basing this on intuition. I have the neurological
evidence to prove it.
Although the definitions
are vague and somewhat misleading, the word "addiction" usually
refers to a psychological or physical dependence on a particular experience
that must be repeated in order for a person to be
comfortable. Usually, we think about this in terms of chemical addiction, which
occurs when the addict's chemical of choice reorganizes the nervous system so
that it requires the presence of that chemical to operate smoothly.
Of course, not all
addictions are chemical. Any behavior that leads to a
pleasurable experience will be repeated,
especially if that behavior requires little work.
Psychologists call this pattern "positive reinforcement". This is what
we mean, technically speaking, by addiction. In this sense, television
certainly fits into the category of an addictive agent.
When you watch TV, brain
activity switches from the left to the right hemisphere. In fact, experiments
conducted by researcher Herbert Krugman showed that
while viewers are watching television, the right hemisphere is twice as active
as the left, a neurological anomaly. The crossover from left to right releases
a surge of the body's natural opiates: endorphins, which include
beta-endorphins and enkephalins. Endorphins are structurally
identical to opium and its derivatives (morphine, codeine, heroin, etc.).
Activities that release endorphins (also called opioid peptides) are usually
habit-forming (we rarely call them addictive). These include cracking knuckles,
strenuous exercise, and orgasm. External opiates act on the same receptor sites
(opioid receptors) as endorphins, so there is little difference between the
two.
In fact, strenuous
exercise, which produces the nominal "runner's high"- a release of
endorphins that flood the system, can be highly addictive, to the point where
"addicts" who abruptly stop exercising experience opiate-withdrawal
symptoms, namely migraine headaches. These migraines are
caused by a dysfunction in opioid receptors, which are accustomed to the
steady influx of endorphins.
Indeed, even casual television
viewers experience such opiate-withdrawal symptoms if they stop watching TV for
a prolonged period of time. An article from
The signs of addiction
are all around us. The average American watches over four hours of television
every day, and 49% of those continue to watch despite admitting to doing it excessively.
These are the classic indicators of an addict in denial: addicts know they're doing harm to themselves, but continue to use the
drug regardless. http://www.disinfo.com/archive/pages/article/id1149/pg2/index.html
Recent studies on
laboratory rats show that opioid-receptor stimulants induce addictive behaviors. The evidence is conclusive: all opioids are addictive! Even the ones your body produces
naturally. The television set works as a high-tech drug delivery system, and we
all feel its effects. The question is, can an
addiction to television be destructive? The answer we receive from modern
science is a resounding "Yes!"
First
of all,
when you're watching television the higher brain regions (like the midbrain and
the neo-cortex) are shut down, and most activity shifts to the lower brain regions
(like the limbic system). The neurological processes that take place in these
regions cannot accurately be called
"cognitive." The lower or reptile brain simply stands poised to react
to the environment using deeply embedded "fight or flight" response
programs. Moreover, these lower brain regions cannot distinguish reality from
fabricated images (a job performed by the neo-cortex), so they react to
television content as though it were real, releasing appropriate hormones and
so on. Studies have proven that, in the long run, too
much activity in the lower brain leads to atrophy in the higher brain regions.
It is interesting to
note that the lower/reptile/limbic brain correlates to the bio-survival circuit
of the Leary/Wilson 8 Circuit Model of Consciousness. This is
our primal circuit, the base "presence" that we normally associate
with consciousness. This is the circuit where we receive our first neurological
imprint (the oral imprint), which conditions us to advance toward anything
warm, pleasurable and/or protective in the environment. The bio-survival
circuit is our most infantile, our most primal way of dealing with reality.
A person obsessed with
the pursuit of physical pleasure is probably fixated on this circuit; in fact the Freudians believed an opium addiction was an
attempt to return to the womb. We could logically deduce that such addictions
occur when higher brain functions are anesthetized and
the newly dominant lower brain seeks out pleasure at any cost. Taking this into account, television is like a double edged sword: not only does it cause the
endocrine system to release the body's natural opiates (endorphins), but it
also concentrates neurological activity in the lower brain regions where we are
motivated by nothing but the pursuit of pleasure. Television produces highly
functional, mobile "bio-survival robots."
Herbert Krugman's research proved that watching
television numbs the left brain and leaves
the right brain to perform all cognitive duties. This has some harrowing
implications for the effects of television on brain development and health. For
one, the left hemisphere is the critical region for organizing, analyzing, and judging incoming data. The right brain
treats incoming data uncritically, and it does not decode or divide information
into its component parts.
The right brain
processes information in wholes, leading to emotional rather than intelligent
responses. We cannot rationally attend to the content presented on television
because that part of our brain is not in operation. It is therefore
unsurprising that people rarely comprehend what they see on television, as was
shown by a study conducted by researcher Jacob Jacoby. Jacoby found that, out
of 2,700 people tested, 90% misunderstood what they watched on television only
minutes before. As yet there is no explanation as to
why we switch to the right brain while viewing television, but we do know this
phenomenon is immune to content.
For
a brain to comprehend and communicate complex meaning, it must be in a state of
"chaotic disequilibrium." This means that there must be a dynamic
flow of communication between all of the regions of the brain, which
facilitates the comprehension of higher levels of order (breaking conceptual
thresholds), and leads to the formation of complex ideas. High levels of
chaotic brain activity are present during challenging tasks like reading,
writing, and working mathematical equations in your head. They are not present
while watching TV. Levels of brain activity are measured by
an electroencenograph (EEG) machine. While
watching television, the brain appears to slow to a halt, registering low alpha
wave readings on the EEG. This is caused by the radiant light
produced by cathode ray technology within the television set. Even if you're reading text on a television screen the brain
registers low levels of activity. Once again, regardless of the content being presented, television essentially turns off your
nervous system.
In addition to its
devastating neurological effects, television can be harmful to your sense of
self-worth, your perception of your environment, and your
physical health. Recent surveys have shown that 75% of American women think
they are overweight, likely the result of watching chronically thin actresses and models four hours a day.
Television has also spawned a "culture of fear" in the
Television is bad for
your body as well. Obesity, sleep deprivation, and stunted sensory development
are all common among television addicts.
So I hope we've firmly
established that television is an addictive drug, one that is no better than
opium, heroin, or any other opiate. Television is just as (and possibly even
more) harmful to the body-brain as every other drug. But
there's one big difference. All other drugs apparently pose a threat to the
established social order. Television, however, is a drug that is actually essential
to maintaining the social infrastructure. Why? Because it brainwashes consumers to throw money at the gaping void
of their meaningless, terror-filled lives. And
by brainwashed, I mean they've been
hypnotized using very subtle and established techniques which, when coupled
with television's natural effects on brain waves, make for the most ambitious
psychological engineering ruse ever concocted.
Psychophysiologist Thomas Mulholland
found that after just 30 seconds of watching television the brain begins to
produce alpha waves, which indicates torpid (almost
comatose) rates of activity. Alpha brain waves are associated with unfocused,
overly receptive states of consciousness. A high
frequency alpha waves does not occur normally when the eyes are open. In fact, Mulholland's research implies that watching television is
neurologically analogous to staring at a blank wall.
I should note that the
goal of hypnotists is to induce slow brain wave states. Alpha waves are present
during the "light hypnotic" state used by hypno-therapists
for suggestion therapy.
When Mulholland's research was published it greatly impacted the television industry, at least in the marketing and advertising sector. Realizing viewers automatically enter a trance state while watching television, marketers began designing commercials that produce unconscious emotional states or moods within the viewer. The aim of commercials is not to appeal to the rational or conscious mind (which usually dismisses advertisements) but rather to implant moods that the consumer will associate with the product when it is encountered in real life. When we see product displays at a store, for instance, those positive emotions are triggered
. Endorsements from beloved athletes and other celebrities evoke the same associations. If you've ever doubted the power of television advertising, bear this in mind: commercials work better if you're not paying attention to them!