Is it possible that too much TV makes the mind slower?

katieo I doubt that it makes our minds slower, but we just vegatate like a potato on a couch. So much junk on the television takes no brains at all so they just are not being used is all. also it slows down metabolism and makes us fat, or even obese. thats why they call it the boob tube because we act like boobs when we just veg out like that. some educational programs so actually make us use our brains so that is good.

It's a possibility, but I review shows to make extra money and my mind isn't slow, because I have to write down my opinions and I need to be at my best to write good reviews.

Is not tv that makes the mind slower it is not using the mind to solve problems that requires problem solving skills that causes the mind to be slower.

Allowing kids to spend too much time watching TV or playing video games is one of the worst things you can do. The more time they spend doing this, the lazier they get. My step-daughter is living proof of this fact. ALL she does is watch TV, play video games, and sleep. Well she does go to classes at the local community college, but that is only for a couple of hours per day. She spends the rest of her time in her room GLUED to that TV. She has been this way since my wife and I got married. I tried saying something to my wife about it when we first got married, but every time I mentioned it, my wife made excuses for her, so I finally just quit wasting my breath. I think a child should be limited to a total of 2-3 hours per day of combined TV, video game, and computer time. The rest of the day, they should spend doing other things. Television, computers, and video games are MAJOR causes of childhood obesity, and it is the responsibility of the parents to put a stop this from becoming a problem. It is important to make kids get off their butts and exercise, and most of them are not going to do it as long as they are allowed to play games and watch TV as much as they want. Video games, computers, and TV are also major reasons that a lot of parents can't get their kids to do any chores, or help out at all around the house. A lot of kids these days believe they don't need to do anything at all around the house to help out. This is another one of those areas where I learned early in my marriage to just stop wasting my breath. I used to try to make my kid do dishes and help with the laundry, but she soon figured out that if she screwed it up enough or took long enough doing it, her mom would go in there and finish it, or re-do it correctly. Finally, I just figured out that it was better to do it myself so that it was done right the first time. I remember things being a lot different when I was a kid, which wasn't that long ago, because I grew up in the 1980's. Early in my childhood, we didn't have video games, and there weren't many TV channels to choose from (I think we had 24 of them). We spent our time playing outside. We spent a lot of time riding our bicycles and playing baseball. We played baseball year-round, no matter how hot or cold it was. We lived and breathed baseball. I don't remember how old I was when we got an ATARI (I am sure some of you remember those), but even when we got it, my friends and I didn't spend all day sitting in front of the TV playing it. We usually played it after dark when our parents made us come inside. Later in life, my friends and I got the original NINTENDO system, but even then, we didn't spend our entire day playing it, although it was nice to have on a rainy day when we couldn't go out and do our normal activities. Unlike today, when childhood obesity runs rampant, most of us were not overweight, although some of us were a little heavier than others, and we were a lot stronger and healthier. We spent a lot of times out in the wooded areas close to our houses learning about nature. We would play baseball, ride our bikes, or go swimming. We got out of the house, we exercised, and we had a life. We actually knew what it was to work up a sweat, and we didn't have much trouble sleeping at night, because on most nights, we were worn out by the time we went to bed, because we actually got up and did something with our time. We most of us didn't have a lot of confidence issues or severe depression, because we worked off what little stress we had by staying active. Today is totally different. The percentage of kids who are over-weight is growing higher and higher. Kids spend way too much time in front of the TV. The hardest work a lot of them ever do is lifting a spoon. A lot of them get no exercise at all, they have a lot of confidence issues because they don't really know that they are good at anything other than video games, they have problems sleeping at night because they do not really do anything to tire themselves out, they have more health problems due to the fact they are over-weight and they get little or no activity. Their grades often suffer, because they spend more time in front of the TV than they spend concentrating on their school work. Adults can have the same issues as kids who spend too much time watching TV, playing video games, or on the computer. Obesity, health problems, lower rates of success at work, problems sleeping, and other issues can all be a result of spending it too much time in front of the TV. So, yes...too much TV makes your mind slower, makes you fatter, and more unhealthy...

Hello, Katie! Nice discussion. I believe that it's what you're watching that matters the most. If you watch documentaries and informative programs it's not the same as watching soap operas all day long. It's true that ones mind needs training, like any other part of the body. If you let your mind rest and not use it , it will most definatelly "atrofiate" . Not in the literal sense, but you normal mind processes can slow down significantly. And besides that, if you don't repeat certain knowledge you have, you might end up forgetting them. Might not sound very appealing as comparison, but it's like a footpath in a forest. You don't use it, weeds start to engulf it and in the end ...it dissapears . So my answer is : yes, if you watch useless things, it's like sitting around for nothing.

Definitely! It occupies your imagination and rubs you of creativity.

Hello KatieO, I have never heard of this,but one thing is clear. My ten yrs old son never misses an opportunity to watch TV. Early morning when he is supposed to get ready for school, he rushes to watch TV and his excuse is I am wearing my socks/shoes while watching. The result of too much TV was before my eyes when I received his mark sheet. Now even I have started wondering whether he is becoming dull with watching so much TV.

Hi katie, too much TV watching will have detrimental effect on eye sight. It is also true that when you watch too much TV ability of your brain to think, think differently reduces. Happy Mylotting

Hi katie! NO! I don't think so. I would still come back to the wise old saying "If you don't use it, you loose it". I don't think television has much to do with losing it. Unless of course one doesn't use much of thinking when viewing the tv for just too long a time.