Comments on: What Television Does to Folk Culture

By: Vince

Vince — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 12:34:31 +0000

Similar to JP’s comment above, beware of correlation without causation.

If I recall correctly, John Paul II’s The Jewler’s Shop featured two single-child families. I don’t think he meant us to draw a message about family size from that.

By: Publius

Publius — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 21:08:12 +0000

Watch “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” on “TLC” and you will be thankful for the decline in fertility rates in the western world.

By: JP

JP — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 17:36:53 +0000

I think this study is a prime example of spurious correlations,or in terms of logic it is a post hoc fallacy. The drop in Brazilian birthrates mirrors a similar drop in fertility rates in Mexico, Indonesia, Algeria, Egypt, Russia, Japan,Thailand, and Italy. Globally, fertility rates have been falling rapidly for 40 years. To blame the cultural effects of TV on this unprecedented drop in fertility is a bit much. Bigger things are at play.

By: Fr Bill

Fr Bill — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 19:22:37 +0000

In the 1980s I read THREE ARGUMENTS AGAINST TELEVISION by Gerald Mander. Excellent. and so much so that i ditched TV then and there. Uh….We had 11 children.

By: pentamom

pentamom — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 18:43:35 +0000

What disturbs me is when I see anti-anti-TV people argue that to not have a television or to eschew watching it is to ostracize one’s children (or one’s self, but more particularly children) from normal cultural interaction.

I’m not anti-TV on principle, but in reality our TV is almost never operating sans DVD player unless there is a Steeler’s game or the Olympic games, and we don’t even take every opportunity for those things. What disturbs me is the idea that one is somehow failing to fully participate in the National Consciousness simply because we don’t much care for most of what’s on the tube.

By: Rachelle

Rachelle — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 09:57:13 +0000

Excellent article about how television shapes the culture in which we live, and how it can destroy the ground upon which we stand.

By: SATURDAY MORNING EDITION | Big Pulpit

SATURDAY MORNING EDITION | Big Pulpit — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 05:22:10 +0000

[...] What Television Does to Folk Culture – Matthew Cantirino, First Things/First Thoughts [...]

By: Joe Z

Joe Z — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 04:59:10 +0000

There’s also the more basic fact that TV crowds out other evening activities… I had a teacher who grew up in the Third World who maintained, in all seriousness, that the large families were in part attributable to the lack of other after-dark entertainment.

By: Mary

Mary — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 01:43:29 +0000

Of course, now we face evolution in action. Women and men who resist the TV effect and have more children have an enormous evolutionary advantage.

By: Emil

Emil — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 21:11:44 +0000

My wife and I do not watch TV. When we look at what is offered, we are not interested. Yeah, I would watch some sports and she would watch some old movies, but we are skipping it.

When I do watch a game with our son or someone’s Superbowl Party, I shut my eyes during many commercials. Our son shields his children from some ads. Some years ago, a friend called my attention to the idea of God “giving up” some people; I wonder about that regarding the USA. There is an interesting posting on TouchStone regarding culture: http://touchstonemag.com/merecomments/2012/08/what-was-josiah-thinking/