You may not think so but consumption of media is a lot like eating food, but for you mind. In North America, and probably elsewhere I don't have enough experience abroad to say for sure, we have problem in our media consumption that is similar to our epidemic of obesity. There is an epidemic of people who uncritically consume media- they are completely caught up in a fake realty of pointless celebrity gossip and the latest items they should buy.
Similar to the obesity issue , a common soft news story, the causes of this problem include laziness on the consumers part, slick marketing and trusted names feeding us low quality goods. If all you eat is fast food then you will likely become fat or at the very least really unhealthy- likewise if all you watch is so called reality television you will become dumb or at the very least stop viewing things critical.
The point that I am trying to make is that people need to start challenging themselves and their media providers. Do not always take the quick and easy route. whats a more enjoyable experience going to a fast food place picking a combo number and eating what they give you or going to one of those hot pot type places where you get to cook your own really tasty food?
In case you do not know what hot pot is check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI6M7NJbaZ4 as for the fast food place I'm just going to assume you know. Oh while you are looking at that video do me a favor, look at the comments below look at trends there they will become important for later posts.
So why is it important to expand past reality TV and other fun programming and include things like news, documentary's or reading? well one of the awesome things about living in a democracy is your ability to participate, at some level, in running your country. Now obviously this is not going to change if you start watching the news but as a member in a free and open society you have the opportunity or really the obligation to pay attention to the world around you. How can you vote (which is officially the least you can do) if you do not know anything about the issues- that would be kind of like me voting for American Idol. the difference is that who wins American idol dose not affect what laws the government makes(which affect our way of life) .
As always Feel free to comment or question my thoughts as well as everyone else' s
Jonny B
oh here a link for some interesting documentaries- some I'm sure are boring but you might learn something interesting:
http://freedocumentaries.org/
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