An Experiment, Updated

[ecosophia]

Earlier this month I posted a few words here about a curious effect I'd discovered -- that sharp points of iron or steel seem to have the same power to dispel addiction to television, the internet, and cell phones that they traditionally had on faery glamour.  I wasn't expecting anything like the passionate response I got -- that entry got more comments than anything else I've posted here, including the very lengthy debate over the inept attempt at anti-Trump sorcery I critiqued a month ago, and a great many people agreed to give it a try. 

At this point some of the results are in, and I've been able to draw some tentative conclusions and draft a hypothesis on which further experimentation can be based: 

1) The effect seems to be real, and not just a matter of the placebo effect. Quite a few readers have reported immediate effects, not only on themselves, but on people who had no idea that the experiment was being tried, and who suddenly lost interest in television. 

2) The effect isn't guaranteed. Not everyone noted effects. In particular, when someone else in the household was using television, the internet, or their phone as a drug to avoid dealing with personal problems, that person's addiction was pretty reliably not affected by the presence of sharp iron. 

3) The effect can generate opposition. In a significant minority of cases, people who weren't in on the experiment found the sharp iron objects and removed them, even when there was no obvious reason to do so. 

My hypothesis is as follows: we're dealing with a genuine effect here, but the glamour it appears to counter is only one of the factors in the phenomenon of television addiction. Some people watch television or use other electronic media obsessively for personal reasons unrelated to the glamour. There may also be other variables that influence whether a sharp iron point will decrease the hold electronic media has on people.

At this point, I'm going to propose a few changes to the experimental protocol. First, if you have housemates who aren't in on the experiment, use an X-acto knife blade or a steel pin taped to the underside of the television, internet router, or other object, rather than a knife -- the knives are too visible, and can get noticed and removed. Second, try to assess whether your housemates' addiction to electronic media may be a way they use to avoid major issues, and keep that in mind when assessing your options. Other than that, if you feel inspired to join the experiment, give it a shot and see what results you get. 

Comments

[amritarosa]

Hello there!

After just a little more than a week with an xacto blade under the television set, I've noticed the following results:

1) My partner's tv viewing habits have not shown signs of significant change. He prefers comic book inspired shows and a little sci-fi, never news or other kinds of programming. He'll often practice the guitar, or do other tasks like change strings or catch up on musician discussion forums while the tv plays. The only noticeable change is a slight increase in attention to the latter kinds of activities while the shows are on, that I've observed.

2) I've been getting sleepy early, sometimes up to an hour before I normally would before bedtime. I usually see about 1.5 to 2 hours of whatever he has on tv between the time I get home from work and bedtime. I almost always bring a book into bed and read it. I'm pretty good at blocking out the "noise" - like I can turn the distraction dial down in my head. Partly from living with a musician for nearly 30 years (he may need to actively listen to himself go through "In the Mood" or somesuch 500 times, but I certainly don't), partly from working backstage in theater (after seeing and hearing a show a dozen times one learns quickly to simply listen for the cues for the other 32 or so performances 6 nights a week, unless it's really, really good). I'm sure it seeps in at the edges, though. My sleepiness is a new thing since placing the blade.

FWIW, past habits around night time tv viewing (the only time it's turned on in our house) vary from night to night. A good one third of nights, he will be out on a gig until bedtime, so no tv. Unless there happens to be a good British mystery on PBS or something like that - that's aboout I'll watch of my own volition. Or a nature show featuring crows or insects- I'll turn the sound off and just watch those!

Now putting a blade on the router...I'm encountering some interesting internal resistance to that! Which probably means I should do it.

[ecosophia]

Many thanks for the data points!