Are You Losing Your Life To Television? Few people realize the number of issues that television causes in our life.
你是不是把生活浪费在看电视上吗？很少有人会意识到看电视给生活带来的种种弊端。

While many people will argue that a little bit of TV never hurt anyone, the amount of a “little bit” is constantly in debate. A Neilson report found that the average American watches more than 34 hours of television each week.
很多人会反驳说看小会儿电视无伤大雅，但关于“一小会儿”是多久存在争议。尼尔森报告指出，美国人平均每周看电视的时间超过34个小时。

If that number doesn’t shock you I don’t know what will. If you’re now thinking “Those people are crazy—I’d never watch that much” then I invite you to do your own maths. Simply write down all the shows you watched this week and how long they were (including commercials if it was live) plus movies, YouTube videos, etc. and work out roughly how much time you spent in front of the screen.
如果这个数字没有让你感到震惊，我不知道还有什么能让你惊呆。如果你现在在想“这些人太疯狂了，我可不要看那么久”，那么我请你自己算算。写下这周你看过的电视剧，你看了多久（包括直播的广告时间），还可以算上看过的电影、YouTube视频等等，然后大概计算出你在电视前驻留了多久。

That number is how many hours you’re losing each week to television. This is time that could be spent with your family, friends or relaxing in other ways. Today we’ll look at some more reasons why you should stop watching television, and how it will improve your life.
那个数值就是你每周浪费在看电视上的时间。你可以把这些时间用在陪伴家人、朋友，以及进行其它方式的放松。今天，我们会说说其它更多不看电视的理由，以及不看电视可以如何提升你的生活质量。

1. Wasting Time
浪费时间

It’s pretty obvious that when you’re watching TV you’re not doing anything else. Time spent watching television is similar to being asleep. The question is whether you want to spend even more time in your precious day asleep.
很显然，当你在看电视时，你就做不了任何其它事。花时间看电视，类似于把时间用在睡觉上。问题在于，你是否想把更多的宝贵时间花在睡觉上。

2. Missing Out on Social Interaction
错失社交活动

Every hour you spend in front of the TV is another hour you’re not making the most of your life. You could be playing with your family, hanging out with friends or doing an activity you enjoy. Connection is one of the basic human needs we all have and it will never be fulfilled by your television set.
你花在看电视上的每一个小时就是你没能活出精彩生活的另一个小时。你可以和家人一起玩耍，和朋友一起出门闲逛，或是做你喜欢做的事。联系，是我们拥有的一个基本的人类需求，而看电视是无法满足的。

3. Programming Yourself with Negativity
给自己灌输了负面情绪

Just about every television show, from comedies to drama to reality TV and the news, is negative. If you look at almost any TV show there is a complete lack of positive redeeming messages. While there are exceptions to this rule they are few and far between, so choose carefully what you decide to spend your time watching.
每一档电视节目都带有负面因素，从喜剧和戏剧，到真人秀节目和新闻。如果你把每一档节目都看遍，你会发现电视节目里完全缺失了正面积极的讯息。虽然也存在例外，但例外是少之又少，因此，请慎重选择你决定要花时间观看的节目。

4. TV Poisons Your Belief Systems
电视毒害了你的信念

In comedies, we laugh at the stupid/overweight/socially awkward/different people. The news is filled with stories of pain/suffering/disaster/death, and arguing and drama has to be about problems in order to create the drama. All of this is affecting your outlook on life and the way you see the world.
在喜剧里，我们嘲笑那些愚蠢的、肥胖的、有社交障碍的、以及各色人群。故事里充满了苦痛、灾难和死亡，为了创造戏剧效果，争论和剧情都是围绕这些问题开展的。所有的这一切都在影响你的人生观，以及你看待世界的方式。

5. It Creates Unrealistic Expectation
它萌发了不切实际的期望

Television distorts our understanding of reality. It’s filled with beautiful people doing amazing things and having great adventures every show. Ask any TV or movie star with half a brain and they’ll tell you that the images you see of them on the screen and magazine covers are completely fake.
电视节目扭曲了我们对现实的理解。在每一部电视剧里，都有帅哥靓女，他们做着令人惊喜的事情，经历着伟大的冒险之旅。问问任何一位电视或电影明星，只要他们头脑还算清醒，他们会告诉你，你在屏幕上和杂志封面看到的形象完全是假的。

6. Feelings of Inadequacy
生活不满足感

Life is never going to be like a TV show and this can make people very disillusioned when they compare it with their real life. The messages within television imply on a regular basis that we’re not pretty/smart/funny enough. Our lives can feel quite empty when compared to the perfection of the TV world.
生活永远不会像一档电视节目一样，当人们把电视节目与他们的现实生活做过比较之后，他们的幻想就会破灭。电视里传达的讯息是基于常态之上的，它暗示着我们不够漂亮、不够聪明、不够风趣。跟电视世界里的完美相比，我们会感觉生活过得很空虚。

7. Subliminal Programming and Advertising
隐性暗示和隐性广告

Make no mistake that there is only one reason why television exists, and that is to sell products. Every single part of every single TV program is designed to keep you in front of the TV and prepped to buy the advertised products through traditional advertising or product placements.
毫无疑问，电视的存在只为一个原因，那就是销售产品。每一档电视节目的每一个环节都是为了让你驻留在电视机前，准备通过传统的广告方式或植入式广告让你购买广告中的产品。

Television is designed to make you feel bad so you will buy products that make you feel better. It’s the ultimate in mind control systems. Companies figured out how to get us to voluntarily brainwash ourselves for their benefit.
电视就是为了让你感觉不舒服，所以你就会购买让你感觉良好的产品。这是控制思想系统的最终原则。那些公司想出了如何让我们心甘情愿地为了他们的利益而对自己洗脑。

8. It Degrades Your Self Control and Discipline
它会减弱你的自制和自律

Thanks to the incredible psychological hooks that television uses, it’s very hard to stop watching it. We lose our self control and cannot turn off the television even though we may want to. As this continues, our self control and discipline decrease even further and the harder the battle becomes.
正是由于电视节目利用了难以置信的心理钩子，做到不继续观看是很难的。即使我们可能想要这样做，我们也会失去自制力，从而没能关掉电视。这样持续下去，我们的自制和自律会进一步减弱，这场战役也就变得更加艰难。

9. The Health Effects of Sitting Down
坐着对健康的影响

We now live a more sedentary life than ever before with most people having jobs behind a desk. We compound this problem when we go home and sit down in front of the TV as well, because the electrical activity in our muscles stops when we’re sitting. Research is showing even the most basic movement of walking or moving our bodies in subtle ways can make a big difference to our health.
比起从前，现在的我们坐得更久，因为我们大多数的工作都是坐在办公室的办公桌后完成的。当我们回家了，坐在电视机前，我们又在重复这一生活方式，因为当我们坐着的时候，我们肌肉里的脉冲活动会停止。研究显示，即使是最基本的走路或是轻微地移动我们的身体也能对我们的身体产生很大的影响。

10. We Teach Our Children These Habits
我们教会了我们的孩子这些习惯

Children are now being trained to watch TV and live a sedentary lifestyle. There is a lot of research showing the negative effects on a child’s development due to both inactivity and the influence of television. Your children will imitate your lifestyle. so any choice you make will be echoed in the generations that follow.
孩子们被你训练出接受看电视和久坐不动的生活方式。大量的研究显示，不运动和看电视带来的影响将对孩子的发展产生负面作用。你的孩子会模仿你的生活方式。所以你做的任何一个选择将会被下一代效仿。

11. Is It Really Relaxing?
这真的是放松吗？

My personal argument for watching TV is that it’s easy. You stop working for the day and get to relax and turn off your brain for a while, but the reality is that what is easy for us is hardly ever the best thing.
我个人关于看电视的观点是简单的。你停止工作，寻求放松，让你的大脑清闲一会儿，但现实是对我们来说容易的事几乎没有是最好的。

I also get to relax when I’m out at a kung fu or dance class. I get to relax when I’m hanging out with friends or spending time with my girlfriend. I also get to relax when reading a book, listening to uplifting audio or even watching uplifting videos (like TED talks or educational materials).
当我参加功夫或舞蹈课时我也可以放松。当我与朋友外出或者花时间陪我的女朋友时，我也可以放松。当我阅读书籍，听让人开心的音频文件甚至是看令人振奋的视频（像TED演讲或教育类题材时），我也可以放松。

We get one life to live and it’s up to us to make the most of it. Every hour of the day is an investment that pays off right now and in our future. Invest wisely and your life will actually be filled with truly beautiful people doing amazing things and having great adventures.
我们只活一次，让我们来充分把握它。一天中的每一个小时都是一份投资，它会在现在或是在将来给你回报。明智地投资，那么在你的生活里也会出现帅哥靓女，他们做着令人惊喜的事情，经历着伟大的冒险之旅。