TV Watching Is Bad for Your Brain
Sure, I occasionally enjoy some television programming, especially of the PBS Masterpiece Theatre or Mystery variety. I like to watch documentaries from time to time, or cooking shows. I sometimes catch up on alternative news bites or fellow herbalists' techniques with youtube videos. I'm not suggesting that any amount of TV indulgence will destroy all your brain cells. But regular TV consumption does have a deleterious effect on the brain, especially on the developing brains of children.
Of course I make no apologies for being an avid lover of good books...educational non-fiction and good literature, much of it classic literature. We all have different personal definitions of twaddle for both books and electronic programming. Good books, not twaddle, have a positive effect on the brain. Reading uses multiple brain processes, and brain activity during reading is heightened, whereas it diminishes during television viewing, which is a passive and "hypnotic" activity.
I think it is fair to agree with our grandparents that we are a culture of "dumbed down" people compared to generations past, and it wasn't book reading that got us here. A daily dose of TV watching creates less active brains and less thinking people. To cogitate more on this issue, read:
Brain Wave Studies: TV vs. Reading
Effect of Stimulus Rate and Duration on Brain Activitiy During Reading
Getting "Lost" in a Book Means Heightened Brain Activity