I check my email far too often, and so as a feeble attempt to validate this I look over the news headlines on the Yahoo homepage when I do so. A few days ago one of the headlines said that one in four Americans didn't read a single book last year. I looked into the article, shocked by what I had seen in the headline. Basically, it said very few people read anymore. Here's the article for those interested:
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=070822_1_C10_spanc30513
It certainly explained a lot to me. We claim to be a free people, and yet we refuse to exercise our freedom of thought. Instead of reading a story, forcing our minds to be active (oh no, what torture!) we turn to television, or in the case of Richard Bustos of Dallas, "would rather spend time in his backyard pool." And then we wonder why everyone is stupid, why simple things (such as, for example, electing someone into office) become such a huge fiasco.
I have no problem with watching television from time to time. But if it completely overrides other leisure activities, such as READING, then it is a big problem. Your brain is more active when you are asleep than it is while you watch television, even educational shows. Nevermind that sectioning a show off into 10-15 minute sections with commercial intermissions in between conditions us for shorter attention spans. And sitting in the pool, I'd imagine, opens your mind about as much as watching the tube, although in that situation the mind is completely disregarded, not even allowing what little thought would be stimulated by PSAs or a political campaign commercial, or even more dreaded, an educational program.
How do people expect to retain their freedom of thought when they don't exercise it in any way? Do the people that rely completely upon television and films realize that the creative force behind them couldn't have been limited to dips in the pool or staring at the programs created by others? Some of the most popular films coming out are based on books!
With all of this in mind, I'm going to leave this post as it is. I am now going to stimulate my mind and read Tarzan of the Apes.
Go read a book people. It's better than what you're reading from me, I can guarantee.
I wouldn't be able to live without books. When I was little, I never played outside - I stayed in my room and read. I read my first chapter book (one of the Little House series) when I was five or six.