I haven't owned a tv for most of my adult life... I think I had one for a couple years after high school, and, there was usually one around in places I lived, but it was just used for the occasional movie. I don't understand how people can just turn a TV on and leave it going from one thing to the next, with all the commercials, and yakking newscasters... it's horrifying. 6.25 years? Fuck that. Combine that with time spent in the car and it starts to get really depressing.
According to a study done by the Harvard Health Watch, an average American spends 101 minutes per day driving. That means that in a lifetime, an average Joe spends a whopping 37,935 hours driving a car (assuming that s/he starts driving at 17 and drives until 78.7 years old).
http://blog.tempo.io/2013/7-time-consuming-things-an-average-joe-spends-in-a-lifetime/
So that's 4.33 years of driving as well. Anyway, we're talking about a good decade right there alone... then there's surfing the web, and so on... yeesh. No thanks.
Appreciate the post @thefinanceguy. You tried to be somewhat even handed, but the animated gif says it all. ;) Watch your movies here and there, and let yourself get sucked in to the occasional next big 'Game of Thrones' or whatever, but think of it as dessert, not a lifestyle. They call it TV 'programming' for a reason.
Thanks for the comment and the info on driving hours. At least driving accomplishes something more than mere entertainment, and the best way to hack that driving time is to listen to good audio books and learn while you drive. Feed the brain some good information while driving to turn it into a rather productive act. You know, that topic just might be my next blog post, so thanks for helping spawn it, @lovejoy!