"Yesbutwhatdidweusetodobeforetherewastelevision?"Howoftenwehearstatementslikethis!Televisionhasn'tbeenwithusallthatlongbutwearealreadybeginningtoforgetwhattheworldwaslikewithoutit.Beforewe

　　"Yesbutwhatdidweusetodobeforetherewastelevision?"Howoftenwehearstatementslikethis!Televisionhasn'tbeenwithusallthatlongbutwearealreadybeginningtoforgetwhattheworldwaslikewithoutit.Beforeweadmittheone-eyedmonsterintoourhomes weneverfounditdifficulttooccupyoursparetime.Weusedtoenjoycivilizedpleasures.Forinstanceweusedtohavehobbiesweusedtoentertainourfriendsandbeentertainedbythemweusedtogooutsideforouramusementstotheaterscinemasrestaurantsandsportingevents.Weevenusedtoreadbooksandlistentomusicandbroadcasttalkoccasionally.Allthatbelongstothepast.Nowallourfreetimeisregulatedbythe"goggle-box".Werushhomeorgulpdown（吞咽）ourmealstobeintimeforthisorthatprogram.Wehaveevengivenupsittingattableandhavingaleisurelyeveningmealexchangingthenewsoftheday.Asandwichandaglassofbeerwilldo-anythingprovidingitdoesn'tinterferewiththeprogram.Themonsterdemandsandobtainsabsolutesilenceandattention.Ifanymemberofthefamilydarestoopenhismouthduringaprogramheisquicklysilenced.

　　Thewholegenerationsaregrowingupaddictedtothetelly(television).Foodisleftuneatenhomeworkundoneandsleepislost.Thetellyisuniversalpacifier（抚慰者）．Itisnowstandardpracticeformothertokeepthechildrenquietbyputtingthemintheliving-roomandturningontheset.Itdoesn’tmatterthatthechildrenwillwatchrubbishycommercialsorviolence－solongastheyarequiet.

　　Thereislittlelimittotheamountofcreativetalentavailableintheworld.Televisionconsumesvastquantitiesofcreativework.Thatiswhymostofprogramsarebad: itisimpossibletokeeppacewiththedemandandmaintainhighstandardsaswell.Whenmillionswatchthesameprograms thewholeworldbecomesavillageandsocietyisreducedtotheconditionswhichobtaininpreliterate（无文字的）communities.Webecomecompletelydependentonthetwomostprimitivemediaofcommunication:picturesandthespokenword.

　　Televisionencouragespassiveenjoyment.Webecomecontentwithsecondhandexperiences.Itissoeasytositinourarmchairswatchingothersworking.Littlebylittletelevisioncutsusofffromtherealworld.Wegotsolazy;wechoosetospendafinedayi