Remotely Controlled: How television is damaging our lives

(Paperback)

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A startling expose of our nation's growing addiction to television and why and how we should stop it The figures are frightening- Britons currently spend an average of four hours a day watching television - that's more than a 24-hour day per week. Television has become our national obsession- it is our main source of common experience; it affects the way we think and act and, according to psychologist and broadcaster Dr Aric Sigman, its hold over our lives is so significant that, in some families, the television has greater influence over children than parents do. In this insightful and shockingly perceptive assessment of our nation's relationship with the small screen, Dr Aric Sigman reveals for the first time the alarming reality of what television is actually doing to us physically, emotionally, intellectually and socially. He provides evidence as to how television contributes to the rising global obesity rate by actually slowing our metabolic rate, stunts our children's brain development, and is responsible for over half of all rapes and murders in the industrialised world. Yet Remotely Controlled is much more than an indictment of the dangers of watching television. Sigman aims to draw our awareness to the glaring imbalance in our lives and show us how we can re-establish control away from the remote control. This book is a compelling read which will cause us all to take a step back and reassess our viewing habits.

Reviews

...his argument is compelling...Sigman might inspire his own brand of TV dementia: sets thrown wildly from open bedroom windows, Aerosmith-style, smashing to smithereens while whole neighbourhoods applaud. Seriously, TV can ruin your life * Independent on Sunday *
At last, definitive and readable proof that TV can damage your health. Well done, Sigman! -- Oliver James
5* review: Compelling. Sigman might inspire his own brand of TV dementia: sets thrown wildly from ... windows, Aerosmith-style, while whole neighbourhoods applaud. * Independent on Sunday *
... the damage done to children, is forcefully pointed out. I found Sigman's critique most welcome. * Publishing News, Personal Choice *
This is a book after my own heart, and every press should do a feature on it * The Bookseller *

Author Bio

Dr Aric Sigman is an American psychologist, biologist, broadcaster and author who has lived in Britain for many years. He has been a columnist for Arena and Hello magazines and has written for the Independent. He won the Times Educational Supplement Best Information Book Award and was runner up in the Publisher's Awards as Best British Business Columnist. Dr Sigman has written, appeared in and presented a number of prime time radio and television documentary series. Dr Sigman travels abroad frequently to observe the influence of television on various cultures, including Bhutan, Tonga, Myanmar, Iran, Korea, Vietnam, Mali Bolivia and Burkina Faso.