Effects of Television on Our Society
INTRODUCTION
Plato once, prophetically, posed a question that hints at the very core of this project. In philosophizing on the issue of entertainment and its various, sometimes questionable, sources he asked his fellow citizens to consider the following
“Shall we just carelessly allow our children to hear casual tales which may be devised by casual persons, and to receive into their minds ideas for the most part the very opposite of those which we should wish them to have when they are grown up?”
Shall we indeed? It is an ongoing debate. Plato obviously recognized the power stories have to shape who and what we are, and although some may be reluctant to admit to how much influence TV has on their character and behaviors, the evidence is difficult to refute.
First we must all acknowledge that what we, as members of a society, choose to watch on TV affects us, as we are not simply passive receivers of the messages we encounter on our TV screens; television viewing is not simply a spectator sport. We may feel like mindless drones as we sink ever deeper into our couches and let ourselves be entertained by sitcoms, but when we finally pull ourselves up and off the couch, we do not simply leave the images and messages behind. They are now a part of us; all that we have seen and heard becomes a part of our memories and shapes our perceptions of reality, to what extent is arguable. We are constantly interpreting what we see and hear, even subconsciously, and the sitcoms that have steadily infiltrated our daily lives contribute to a shared version of reality. A culture is based upon these shared meanings, and provides us with a lens for understanding the world we live in.
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Strictly entertainment in its finest sense, Plato would be appalled to find the number of ‘reality’ TV shows that draw millions of viewers and experience almost cult-like followings. Watching a show that depicts a glamorous lifestyle with little or no regard for rules is identical to those prisoners who were chained to observe the shadows upon the wall believing them to be real. Even the name, ‘reality’ television, is indistinguishable from the shadows viewed by the cave dwellers. “Then in every way such prisoners would deem reality to be nothing else than the shadows of the artificial objects.” (paragraph 13)
...was not the biggest concern of the Nazi Party because male homosexuals would not be reproducing.
Whaling has been a practice that has been around for thousands of years. Whaling has cultural significance for several cultures in the North Atlantic and North Pacific, and there is evidence of whaling since 3000 BCE (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2016).
The quest to gain international agreement on ethical and legal norms for regulation of whaling has had a long and troubled history. The modern phase of global concern over whaling ethics and conservationist management originated in 1946, when the International Convention on Regulation of Whaling was signed. Thus the International Whaling Commission was created. The International Whaling Commission was designed to control and mandate the whaling industry. From it’s beginning as simply a whalers club with scientific guidance, to the current day conservationist body; the IWC has undergone many revisions and transformations since the start. In 1982 the IWC voted to implement a “pause” on commercial whaling (which is still in effect today). Which major whaling nations, Japan, Norway, Peru, and the Soviet Union (later replaced by Russia) lodged formal objections, due to the fact that the moratorium was not based on advice from the Scientific Committee. One major disappointment of this regulation was due the fact that the moratorium only applies to commercial whaling. Thus, whaling under scientific-research and aboriginal-subsistence is still allowed. Japan and other countries have continued their hunt in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary under the “scientific research” loophole. However, environmental activist groups openly dispute the claims and continue their rally to end the whaling industry for good.
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society "The Makah Whale Hunt" 02 Online. Internet 3 Febuary 2003. Available www:seashepherd.org/media_info/asp.
The Makah’s seemingly domestic issue of whaling has and is taking on a larger international problem. The United States plays a large part in policing the hunting of whales, one of the most recent examples being the U.S.’s ...
Not only educational shows accomplish these goals, but fictional television programs can often incorporate information that requires viewers to grapple with a topic using logical reasoning and a global consciousness. In addition, not to diminish the importance of reading, television reaches those who may never pick up a book or who might struggle with reading problems, enabling a broader spectrum of people to interact with cognitive topics. Veith has committed the error of making generalizations about two forms of media when, in truth, the situation varies depending on quality and content. However, what follows these statements is not just fallacious, but
There are very few countries currently participating in whaling. The countries that are still involved in large scale whaling are Iceland, Norway, and Japan; however, Iceland and Japan claim that their whaling is specifically for research purposes. There is a low level of official international participation, but most of the whaling that is taking place is illegal. Even though whaling appears to be a relatively long lasting tradition, commercial whaling has only been a major industry since the 1800’s. Because this is a comparatively recent market, it should not be very hard to steer people away from it and towards a more profitable area.
Television has long been a part of American culture. From its conception until today there have been people who believe that television is a waste of time and energy and there have been those in the opposite camp who believe that television should be a part of every American life. There is also a middle ground of people who watch television to keep informed on what’s happening in the world as well as entertained by the latest sitcom, or more popularly today, reality show.
However, John Humphrey, a Canadian professor of law and the UN Secretariat’s Human Rights Director, authored its first draft . Also instrumental in the drafting of the UDHR were Eleanor Roosevelt; Chang Peng-chun, a Chinese playwright, philosopher, and diplomat; and Charles Habib Malik, a Lebanese philosopher and diplomat. (Andreopoulos, 2006) When drafting the declaration there were a series of debates on a range of issues, including the meaning of human dignity, the importance of contextual factors in the determination of the content and range of rights, the relationship of the individual to the state and to society, the potential challenges to the sovereign prerogatives of member states, the connection between rights and responsibilities, and the role of spiritual values in individual and societal
On December 10th in 1948, the general assembly adopted a Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This declaration, although not legally binding, created “a common standard of achievement of all people and all nations…to promote respect for those rights and freedoms” (Goodhart, 379). However, many cultures assert that the human rights policies outlined in the declaration undermine cultural beliefs and practices. This assertion makes the search for universal human rights very difficult to achieve. I would like to focus on articles 3, 14 and 25 to address how these articles could be modified to incorporate cultural differences, without completely undermining the search for human rights practices.
Tourism can be divided in many ways, such as ecotourism, rural tourism, virtual tourism, industrial tourism, space tourism, Geo tourism etc. Ecotourism describe supplying the tourism needs and wants of the visitors without harming to the natural environment. Ecotourism development attaches with various subsets because many other sectors in the economy get covered from the ecotourism products such as hotel services involving providing suitable lodging for the visitors, logistics services involving to provide easy accessibility and the right information technology involving providing right information to the tourist to give an idea about the culture, places, history, and the food they are going to have. So people have to concern about these components when they going to build an ecotourism area. (Wordpresscom,
Travel and tourism makes up a large aspect of the modern economy, especially in first-world countries like the United States - it sets the cornerstone for the service industry and is a huge creator of wealth, both internationally and domestically. Much of the tourism industry is based on unsustainable practices which often have a huge impact on the local environment. With the increase of environmental awareness and activism within the last few decades, this unsustainability has lead to the emergence of an “alternative” form of tourism based on sustainable and eco-friendly practices, also referred to as “green” tourism or ecotourism. (Obenaus 21). Thanks to this new form of travel, tourists can experience nature and wildlife without creating unnecessary strain on the ecosystems they visit an important concern in a modern age driven by environmental consciousness. Beyond just visiting exotic locations sustainably, these ecotourists also engage with their environment and learn about preservation of nature and its importance. Ecotourism lets tourists interact with local communities and people. As a result, ecotourists both see the benefits of preserving natural beauty and the urgency of the situations in communities affected by climate change. While traveling and enjoying nature and leisure, these tourists learn about the modern world and the necessity of the same eco-friendly practices they are participating
Gaddis, I., & Klasen, S. (2014). Economic development, structural change, and women's labor force participation:. Journal Of Population Economics, 27(3), 639-681. doi:10.1007/s00148-013-0488-2
Second, green tourism claims can be used to signal that tourism operations taking place in that area do not harm the environment (Font and Tribe, 2001). Green tourism is a dynamically growing world trend. Also cities see a possible path of development in building a tourist offer based on sustainable, environmentally friendly and responsible tourism. They are increasingly aware of the great potential lying in the relationship between tourism and the natural environment in cities. Urban green tourism is also a response to the need, emphasized by the participants of the 3rd Global Summit on City Tourism, to make a city enjoyable to all citizens, tourists and investors and to spread the benefits of urban tourism to its surroundings, thus reinforcing its impact and managing congestion. Applied to a city, the general principles of ecotourism, i.e. nature conservation, education, economic benefits for local communities, relevance of cultural resources, minimum environmental impact and maximum environmental sustainability (Maćkiewicz Konecka-Szydłowska,