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During my sophomore year of college, my roommate Ted decided to transfer mid-semester.Fortunately he was he was a total jerk and a drug addict who didn’t respect my personal space, so that worked out well.Anyway, when I returned from class one day, he was gone. His clothes, his posters, everything was gone.Even his TV.Oh no, not the TV! I thought.Initially, I was scared.No TV? How will I watch Dawson’s Creek? This is terrible! (Shut up. It was a great show.)But after a while, I stopped missing it. I found other constructive ways to spend (er, invest) my time, namely, reading books.After a few TV-less month had gone by, I realized that I was more energetic, more productive, and in general, happier than I’d been all year! Not to mention all the cool stuff I’d learned from reading.As it turns out, I was onto something. A few weeks later one of my mass-com professors shared two sets of fascinating statistic with the class. The first set came from AC Neilson.• The average American watches more than 4 hours of TV each day. In a 65-year life, that person will have spent 9 years glued to the tube. • The number of murders seen on TV by the time an average child finishes elementary school is 8,000 • The number of violent acts seen on TV by age 18: 200,000 • The number of 30-second TV commercials seen in a year by an average child: 20,000 • The number of TV commercials seen by the average person by age 65: 2 million • Rutgers University psychologist and TV-Free America board member Robert Kubey explained that television that heavy TV viewers exhibited five dependency symptoms - two more than necessary to arrive at a clinical diagnosis of substance abuse. These included: 1) using TV as a sedative; 2) indiscriminate viewing; 3) feeling loss of control while viewing; 4) feeling angry with oneself for watching too much; 5) inability to stop watching; and 6) feeling miserable when kept from watching. Un-believable.The next set of stats came from Para Publishing:• One-third of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives. • 58% of the US adult population never reads another book after high school. • 42% of college graduates never read another book. • 80% of US families did not buy or read a book last year. • 70% of US adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years. • 57% of new books are not read to completion. Shocking.Now, you might be skeptical when reading such statistics. (As you should be. After all, 73% of all statistics are made up on the spot.)But whether or not the numbers are accurate, the lesson is obvious:MORE BOOKS, LESS TV.Me, I'm up to about three books a week. When you travel as much as I do, that's an easy task.Just remember: open a book and you will open your mind.Beats TV any day.LET ME ASK YA THIS How many books will you read in 2006?LET ME SUGGEST THIS Set a goal to read at least 12 books a year. Start your list today. If you'd like a list of 194 Great Books to Read in the Next Five Years, email me and I'll send it to ya.
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Scott Ginsberg, aka "The Nametag Guy," is the author of three books and a professional speaker who helps people maximize approachability, become unforgettable and make a name for themselves. To book Scott for your next association meeting, conference or corporate event, contact Front Porch Productions at 314/256-1800 or email scott@hellomynameisscott.com
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