[S. M. Hutchens](http://merecomments.typepad.com/merecomments/) on [Television](http://merecomments.typepad.com/merecomments/2005/03/the_other_catho.html):
> “If you are thinking that very, very few people do not watch television, you are right—that also has been our experience. But almost every household we have known that does not have a television is presided over by at least one Ph. D.—and invariably the doctorate is in a field that requires hard, skilled mental work in mastering languages other than one’s own, like the languages of math, physics, or ancient Mesopotamia. Not all doctor’s degrees are like this, you know.”
> “I have found that many people who have to maintain their minds at top form have an intuitive dislike of having them manipulated by the organs of the mass media, which they find not only stupid, but having a drug-like quality that does something they don’t like to the efficiency and quality of their own thinking. It’s hard to explain, but it’s an opinion I have found that people like us share.”
He also describes their decision not to have a TV in the house. Looks like [My mom](http://mingobird.blogspot.com) forgot to get the memo about the PhD. This guy just described my house growing up, motivations and reasoning included. Valerie and I will just have to make up the difference.
Hat tip: [TruePravda](http://www.jaredbridges.net/)
neumatikos 
amen.
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I didn’t go that far. When I grew up (with PhD in-house (dad)) my brother and I were allowed to watch an hour a week. That restriction didn’t include educational TV on PBS (which had to be vetted by a parent).
I’m a little more lax, but right now for example, my kids have to alternate the shows they want to watch with BBC Shakespeare productions (and read more than they watch).
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What’s television?
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