Here’s an unexpected development: I’ve more or less stopped watching television.
I’m talking here about TV watching I do on my own. Jennifer and I still watch TV together — one show in the evening after we’ve gotten into bed, and the news and weather in the morning while we’re getting dressed. But until a couple of weeks ago, I also watched at least one show or movie by myself — something I wanted to see and Jennifer didn’t — pretty much every day.
But as life has gotten more busy I find I get to the end of my day without having done all the reading I want to do, or without have written my daily allocation of postcards to voters, and I’ve been opting to finish those things rather than turning on the television. I didn’t make a resolution to watch less; it’s just been a day-to-day thing.
And I suspect it’s not just because I have other things to do; I have a hunch it’s also, ironically, because there’s so much TV to watch. I read a while ago about a study that looked at the relationship between the number of choices shoppers have and their inclination to buy something. The researchers set up a tasting display of jams and jellies in a supermarket. Shoppers could taste different flavors and then decided whether to buy one or more. They found that shoppers were more inclined to make a purchase if they had just two or three flavors to choose from than if there were ten or twelve.
I think that applies to TV these days, at least for those of us with access to multiple streaming services. (I’ve mentioned previously that we’re subscribed to seven of them!) With so much to choose from, some kind of apathy sets in, like it’s all just too much.
This is a good-news/bad-news thing. I have no question that I’m better off doing things other than sitting in front of the television, but for months now my exercise regimen has consisted of getting on my elliptical trainer for the first 25 minutes that I watch TV, so I haven’t done that for a few weeks either. (Come to think of it, that may be another reason I’ve gotten away from watching television.)
I’ve been watching less TV also. Talking heads seem to be …..talking endlessly and it all sort of blends together into a kind of overall buzzing hum. Like when the grownups are talking/mumbling in Peanuts movies.