TV Viewing Linked to Attention Problems

oDDmON oUT writes "While your mother may have told you that sitting too close to the TV was bad for your eyes, the folks over at New Scientist are reporting that too much television may be linked to a bad attention span 'The study is not proof that TV viewing causes attention problems, Landhuis notes, because it may be that children prone to attention problems may be drawn to watching television. "However, our results show that the net effect of television seems to be adverse."'"

Comments

Obligatory.

[Anonymous Coward]

> Nothing for you to see here. Please move along.

OK, this thread's done. Back to the firehose. When's the next article come out, guys?

I wholeheartedly disagree

[CaptainPatent]

I am an avid TV watcher and have no problems pa...

Oh look a bunny!

Re:I wholeheartedly disagree

[Bluesman]

I'm sure you all think you're very funny, but this is a serious problem. You shouldn't joke about it, even if Lindsay Lohan just bought a new house in Beverly Hills.

Re:I wholeheartedly disagree

[skeeto]

How many kids with ADD does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

Hey! Wanna go ride bikes?

Re:I wholeheartedly disagree

[Jorgandar]

As an avid bunny watcher i'm offended by your..

Oh look a TV!

No, really?

[SultanCemil]

Gosh, you mean watching Tv with 1/2 second shots changing quickly will shorten my attention span? What's next, water that gets you wet?

Re:No, really?

[LMacG]

Thank you for reading the summary.

You know...

[jmcwork]

The phrase 'Boob tube' was coined long before late night Cinemax was available.

Re:You know...

[Anonymous Coward]

Now it's called You tube. And you are the boob. Or at least you wish you were.

Re:Um.

[hatchet]

Maybe you should be sent to concentration camp... you know... to learn to concentrate.

People are not wearing enough hats.

[Mr. Flibble]

CHAIRMAN: ...Which brings us once again to the urgent realization of just how much there is still left to own. Item six on the agenda: the meaning of life. Now, uh, Harry, you've had some thoughts on this.
HARRY:
        That's right. Yeah, I've had a team working on this over the past few weeks, and, uh, what we've come up with can be reduced to two fundamental concepts. One: people are not wearing enough hats. Two: matter is energy. In the universe, there are many energy fields which we cannot normally perceive. Some energies have a spiritual source which act upon a person's soul. However, this soul does not exist ab initio, as orthodox Christianity teaches. It has to be brought into existence by a process of guided self-observation. However, this is rarely achieved, owing to man's unique ability to be distracted from spiritual matters by everyday trivia.
        [pause]
BERT:
        What was that about hats, again?
HARRY:
        Oh, uh, people aren't wearing enough.
CHAIRMAN:
        Is this true?

EDMUND:
        Certainly. Hat sales have increased, but not pari passu, as our research initially--
BERT:
        But when you say 'enough', enough for what purpose?
GUNTHER:
        Can I just ask, with reference to your second point, when you say souls don't develop because people become distracted,...
        [rumble] ...has anyone noticed that building there before?

I have no idea what you are talking about

[everphilski]

so here is a bunny with a pancake on its head

Obligatory Onion

[antifoidulus]

All programming to be broadcast in ADHDTV by 2007

Presentation style could be to blame.

[ayjay29]

Coming up in this post...
Views on TV and attention span

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You really need an attention deficiency problem to watch most TV these days.

Coming up next...
More views on TV and attention span

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Previously in this post
Views on TV and attention span

I've tried watching stuff like Myth Busters that I downloaded, and it seems like it's not designed to be watched as a program, but rather byte sized pieces.

Coming up next...
Even more views on TV and attention span

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Previously in this post
Other views on TV and attention span

Compare that presentation style with that of the BBC, where the documentary is actually intended to fill an hour time slot with no ad breaks. In some circumstanced this kind of TV will help kids to focus on one subject for a longer period of time.

Coming up in the next post...
Another view on TV and attention span

Re:Presentation style could be to blame.

[jsiren]

The purpose of the program is to get people to watch the advertising:

(TV guide says program should start now; 15 minutes of commercials follow)
(theme music)
In the previous post - Opinions on TV and attention span.
When we come back: a witty reply.

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Previously in this post - some opinions on TV and attention span.
We have a witty reply. Stay tuned.

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Buy Useless Stuff
Ask Your Doctor About This Condition We Invented For You.
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Next week on Slashdot: a witty reply to opinions on TV and attention span.

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Re:a short attention span is not necessarily bad

[Anonymous Coward]

Wow, nice application of christian logic. Now go drown yourself please.

Re:I Call BS

[mh1997]

I have an incredibly long attention span. I can sit and write code for hours.

Based on the timestamp of your post (2:27PM on a Wednesday) I would suggest that your boss may not agree with your ability to code for hours. Of course, looking at my timestamp black pots and kettles come to mind.

TV hasn't affected MY attention span, because...

[n6kuy]

Oh look, a butterfly!