Entertainment Vs. Knowledge

   After a quick review of which posts are being viewed the most and after some general observations I have concluded that the average person would rather be entertained than taught. Yes this rant has been spurred on by a certain ginger falling asleep in my comments, although I know that ginger does not fit this rant, but she made me think. Most of us prefer mind-numbing television to a thought provoking book. Why do we do this? Are we simply to lazy to make the effort to learn, or are our attentions spans too short, or do we just not care enough to make the effort? I like to think that this blog attracts an intellectual group of nerds, but face it most of you or at least your friends would rather relax in front of a television instead of stimulating their minds in a lecture.
   In my opinion this interest in television is mostly due to laziness, which I am just as guilty of as the next person. Today life is made supposedly easier by technology. We get to many things handed to us today, which makes us lose what it feels like to actually work for something. When I get home I usually fall into the trap of the television before I get any work done. Honestly I am more productive at my dad's house because he does not have a television. It's not that books are not entertaining it's just that T.V is like a cookie jar only slightly out of a child's reach, eventually someone is going to get a chair and grab a cookie.
   I think another problem with today's lack of interest in reading and learning is peer pressure. When you talk to teenagers about school chances are that if they bother to reply it's not going to be a cheery guess what I learned, it will be about how bored they were. They may not have even been bored at first, but constantly hearing others say how bored they were all day they may start to say it after a while as well and maybe even start believing it. Also the books that are popular to teens today are silly vampire drivel with no educational value what so ever. I absolutely hated Twilight. Most teens just assume the classics are boring so they don't bother with those, and the books their friends are reading are absolute torture. Without reading any good books it's no wonder they aren't interested in reading.
   I have been told by some people that the reason that they don't read a book is because they can't sit down in silence for that long. It seems that a lot of people fear being alone, and when it's silent that is when a person most feels alone. Guess what if you sit in front of the T.V with someone else and neither of you talk you might as well be alone. If silence bugs you that much put on some background music, read out loud, or read outside. Besides in a city how quiet is your house really? I'm fairly certain there is some sort of noise.
   Even when people watch television I bet there are more people watching drama and comedy shows than educational. Now I can't completely bash drama shows, because Law & Order actually helped me on a test question in Social Studies class. I completely forgot what the book said, but I remembered what the show said on the topic. There are certain tid bits you can learn from drama and comedy, but just like the Internet you have to filter it from the piles of false information.
   When it comes down to it a book may be more mentally draining as plopping in front of a television, but it is far more worth while. There are so many types of books out there, so don't just read one and say you don't like books. Keep trying there's a book out there for everyone. My personal favourite is the Secret Garden.

Business

I have noticed that I have been getting readers from other parts of the world. I would just like to say that most of my posts are culturally relevant to Canada, and while what I'm writing about may be acceptable in my culture it may not be in yours, if this is the case I am sorry if I have offended anyone. Also while reading my blog please keep in mind that in Canada we spell a couple things differently, so not all of my spelling mistakes are actually mistakes.

Doctor Who Quote

A quote from the second doctor that goes well with my post.

Sergeant Benton: What are we going to do now?

The Second Doctor: Keep it confused, feed it with useless information--I wonder if I have a television set handy?