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Originally Posted by Paperbackstash
Interesting discussion. I'm glad the majority here didn't use this article as a chance to mindlessly bash any TV watching. I've seen countless articles about reading where TV is mentioned and the comments just fill with people acting like all TV is mindless or that they are superior because they don't watch it.
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I think there can be a tendency for projection, an assumption of an attitude of superiority that doesn't exist. I never watch television because I don't like watching television. That's neutral, not judgmental. And as for the "white noise" comments, the kind of electronic noise a television makes is torture. I could watch TV for an hour or so if it were something I was actively engaged in, but as background noise it drives me crazy.
The anecdotal evidence in this thread about aging parents who still watch television even as they've had to abandon reading tends to support the notion that reading engages more of the brain. So while grownups can pick their own poison, so to speak, I do think reading is "better" for you, cognitively speaking, than television.
Vegetables are better for you than ice cream, but it doesn't mean you can't enjoy ice cream.