books 26 - Wednesday, August 22, 1990 ~ North Shore News Book accuses TV of brainwashing RITICISM OF television is, you may be surprised to discover, nothing new. The first scientific studies of TV's effect on viewers were conducted in the mid- 1950s. The controversy surrounding the so-called ‘‘idiot- box’’ has never abated. Since the first TV images ap- peared in the 1920s, apponents have reacted with alarm to the blind acceptance by audiences ot a medium which, it has been repeatedly said, both dulls the mind and dupes the watcher. But are these criticisms valid? Are we, and especially our children, unthreatened viewers — or victims? According to the author of The Evil Eye — The Unacceptable Face of Television (Jonathan Cape/Random House; 190 pp.). we are most certainly victims, and children may be the biggest losers of ail. Guy Lyon Playfaic claims that “educational TV” is an ox- ymoron, that television meets ma- jor criteria as a brainwashing tool and that kids who watch even an “average” amount of programm- ing tag far behind those who in- dulge (or are indulged} in less. Playfair, who threw out his own TV set in 1980, cites study after study into the behavior modifica- tions associated with television viewing and the physical impact of this international pastime on the human brain. In particular he notes the dramatic changes in the brain- wave patterns when TV is watch- ed, changes which can occur in as little as 15 to 30 seconds after viewing commences. Those waves indicative of interaction with the world around us (theta, beta) decrease markedly while those symptomatic of a passive state (alpha) rapidly dominate. “Now, if a waking brain finds itself in the slow (alpha) state while MIKE STEELE 4g. , book review at the same time being bombarded with imagery, it cannot function normally. Evolution has not prepared it for any experience like this. So what does it do?”’ Research at the Australian Na- tional University found that “when we look at something in our normal waking state we are in fact looking at in two ways. The right side of the brain absorbs whatever images come in and whatever emotional associations these may have, but it is the left side that provides the Jogical anal- ysis and integration necessary if we are to make any sense out of the images and put them to prac- tical use. “The right brain, on the other hand, just soaks up images like a sponge. “it now appears that the lett brain can be fulled into a sense of security by a regularly repeated stimulus, especially a flickering light. It then ... stops processing the incoming stimulus because it does not seem important enough to put fo any use. “This means that TV goes straight thraugh ‘customs and Passport control’, as it were, and most of it disappears irom con- sciousness altogether.” tn effect, the author tells us, this information is received passively by the brain. The norma! routine of critical appraisal is suspended, rendering much of what is ac- quired unusable or, more disturb- ing yet, able to influence an indi- vidual’s actions and attitudes in ways not possible had the usual scrutiny of that information taken place. Playfair notes that this ts precise- ly why bypnotists are able to ma- nipulate their subjects, causing them to act upon silly or demean- ing orders even though such commands would be dismissed if received in a non-hypnotic state. The Australian researcher study- ing children and the alpha-wave phenomenon reached similar conclusions: ‘’...children may be spending a huge amount of time learning how to be inattentive.” That children exposed to televi- sion are not learning as previously believed and that they are merely entering what has been compared with a walking trance state are not the only hazards of television as a Canadian study of the early 1970s appears to have shown. A psychologist at the University of British Columbia was able to locate a town which did not then Capilano Mall August 22 to August 26 MALL DISPLAY St. Jonn Ambulance will give course information and sell first aid kits Emergency Health Service personnel will provide disaster preparedness information and answer public questions and concerns. TIMES: 9:30-5:30 — August 22 9:30-9:00 —— August 23 & 24 9:30-5:30 — August 25 12:00-5:30 —- August 26 ST. JOHN AMBULANCE NORTH SHORE HRANCII have television. For study pur- poses she called it ‘‘Notel.” The psychologist studied both adults and children in Notel, as well as in two area towns that did have television (“Mulltitel’’ and “Unitel’’), Notel adults “...were a good dea} brighter than those of the other two towns. They were much better at creative problem-solving tests..." As for Notel’s children, they scored significantly higher than those of Multitel and Unitel in their ability to ‘...form ideas and mental images.’’ They were also found to be far less aggressive than their counterparts in Unitel and Multitel. Two years later, by which time Notel residents had had TV for a year, the psychologist returned for another battery of tests. The dif- ferences were staggering. “The first thing she noticed was a drop in community par- ticipation. People were not going to public dances, parties and sup- pers, club meetings, concerts ... This applied to all levels (ages).”’ As for the children, ‘She was startled to find that instead of be- ing bottom of the league they were now top ... in both verbal and physical aggression.” “Their reading skills had suf- fered, too ... acquisition rates of reading skills in Notel had slowed down...” She concluded from this rigor- ous testing, the only such case- study of its scope, that “‘the net effects of North American televi- sion on regular viewers, especially children, are negative.” Playfair’s The Evil Eye is bound to provoke controversy and not a fev. denials from television’s pro- ponents, but his arguments cannot and should not be dismissed out of hand. The stakes are simply too great to ignore even the slightest possi- bility that Playfair’s concerns are justified and that TV may be the modern day equivalent of the Tro- jan horse. Brunch Becomes Something Savoury Something Sweet edna 445 13th St., W. Van. 926-8922 PREPARE FOR DISASTER! Find out how at the St. Jonn Ambulance Disaster Preparedness display at FREE SAVE A LIFE COURSES Register at the mall display for a free course to be held in the Capilano Community Room. Course is 1% hours. First come / first serve. 20 students per session maximum. TIMES: August 23 — 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. August 24 — 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. August 25 — 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. August 26 — 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. COURSE CONTENT Introduction, multiple casualty video, practical —- Breathing, unconsciousness, bleeding, etc. SUNDAY + THE VOICE OF NORTH AND WEST VANCOUVER WEDNESDAY - Fiipay