QOTD: Television

Tele­vi­sion’s per­fect. You turn a few knobs, a few of those mechan­i­cal adjust­ments at which the high­er apes are so pro­fi­cient, and lean back and drain your mind of all thought. And there you are watch­ing the bub­bles in the primeval ooze. You don’t have to con­cen­trate. You don’t have to react. You don’t have to remem­ber. You don’t miss your brain because you don’t need it. Your heart and liv­er and lungs con­tin­ue to func­tion nor­mal­ly. Apart from that, all is peace and qui­et. You are in the man’s nir­vana. And if some poor nasty mind­ed per­son comes along and says you look like a fly on a can of garbage, pay him no mind. He prob­a­bly has­n’t got the price of a tele­vi­sion set.
–Ray­mond Thorn­ton Chan­dler, writer (1888–1959)