3 ways civilisation could collapse because of TVs

Ask a group of people whether they think TV is a good thing, and most of them would say yes. Since its invention, television has enriched our lives in ways too numerous to mention. However, believe it or not, there are people out there who think that TV will be the end of us. Loudly spouting their proclamations of doom to anyone who will listen, this fevered minority believe that television could bring down civilisation as we know it. So how do they think this might happen, and is there any truth in what they say?

1) The destruction of moral values

In the eyes of some, TV is the devil incarnate – a spreader of lies and a corrupter of souls. Television, they say, is responsible for the breakdown of moral values in western society. It encourages greed, lust, envy, sloth, and maybe a touch of wrath, gluttony and pride as well. It’s true that there is more sexual content on TV than ever before, even if it’s still confined to the post-watershed hours. Television features a lot of advertising, which encourages us to want more than we have and envy those that have it. TV is also a passive pursuit, that some would argue is a colossal waste of time. But ultimately, TV content is reflective of society – networks only broadcast what people want to see. In that case, perhaps the doom-mongers should be looking at why people want to see programmes about sex, power and money in the first place?

2) TV encourages violence

There’s no denying the fact that there is a lot of violence on TV. The limits of acceptability have broadened over the years, and some people think that it has encouraged violence within society. However, human civilisation has been obsessed with violence, murder and war for quite some time. Throughout much of the first two millennia A.D., human life was very cheap. From Rome right through to the British Empire, history was always written by the bloodied hands of the conquerors. Since the two World Wars of the early 20th century, the world has actually been a relatively peaceful place. People live longer, are generally safer, and are not as exposed to violence as they once were. Perhaps it is inevitable that as society becomes less violent, people’s fascination with fictional violence grows. Look at it this way – if people were getting murdered in your street every few weeks, you probably wouldn’t want to watch stories about cops and killers!

3) Rampant self-determination

People are too selfish nowadays, or so we’re told. Local communities are a thing of the past, most marriages end in divorce, and it’s all because people only care about ‘Me Me Me’. Naturally, TV’s to blame for all this. We sit in front of our sets every day, and don’t bond with other people. We watch what we want, do what we want, and don’t give two hoots about anybody else. This is true in part, but it has more to do with mobility than anything else. Many people move from town to town, don’t settle in one place for a long period of time, and the strength of local communities naturally suffers. And if we really are all so selfish and isolated, how does that explain the staggering popularity of social networking websites? Perhaps communities do still exist – just in a different form to those of the past.

With all this in mind, perhaps the end of civilisation has been called a little early. We’re not going to hell in a handcart – things are just different to how they used to be, and some people struggle to appreciate the full picture. Change always results in the death of old ideas, and those who want to hold on to the past will look for something to blame. Unfortunately, poor old TV is often the first target!


This article was contributed by Jake Reacher, a writer and comedian. Jake recently joined the 3D TV revolution, and got himself a TX-P50VT20, Panasonic’s ground-breaking 3D television.