Melinda Selmys (Slave of Two Masters) knows that TV-watching is “the classic example of ‘wasting time,’” but she doesn’t think there’s any reason why TV time is wasted time:
“A person could watch the same show over and over again and still choose to claim something new out of the experience on each occasion: They could analyze the dialogue in order to make a study of speech patterns. They could learn to imitate the different characters to amuse their friends at parties. They could observe how the emotional content of the show is altered by different commercials playing during the breaks. They could dissect the program to learn about the structure of narrative. They could take in the vision expressed through lighting and color choices and practice seeing the real world around them as though it had been shot in that way. The most banal material, introduced into the human mind, becomes a bit of media that can be molded by creativity and intelligence into a thousand different psychological, spiritual, and intellectual products. Or it can be allowed to wash over the mind as an indifferent haze, producing nothing.”
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
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If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
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