Television: An Invention that Has Been Used to Condition People’s Mind

Damián Francis

At the beginning of the 20^th century more than 90% of the population around the world had no idea what a TV set was. The way people used to have fun was extremely different from now, families used to spend more time together. With the invention of the TV, individuals found a different way to spend their leisure time. The first electronic TV was designed by   Philo Taylor Farnsworth in 1927, but the first televised event was in 1939 when RCA Company paid for a license to use Farnsworth’s patent. The televised event was the New York world’s fair where the president of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt had a speech; it made him being the first president who appeared on TV. Only a few people were able to watch the event because the population did not have a TV set yet. When business people realized that TV would be a good way to get to people, they invested in it for them to sell their product. People could get in contact with the newest inventions through TV.

According to a survey done in the US during the 1990s, more than 98% of homes had at least a TV set and spent from 2 to 7 hours in front of it every day. It shows how successful TV has been. Since people watch too much TV, it has become a tool to condition their minds. The more people watch TV the better for business people and the government, a great deal of propaganda has been done to wash individuals’ brains. Currently, human beings do what they are asked to do by the TV. They want to buy the latest Smartphone, the most modern TV, the most advanced computer, the most luxury car. TV has conditioned women’s minds about beauty. In order to be beautiful, a woman needs big breasts and being slim, men can not be bald or chubby. The TV has made people believe they need a lot of things they do not really need.

When it comes to politicians, they have been using TV to persuade people.  A good example is political parties, They have many journalists with TV programs simulating they are independent, but they just get paid to do a persuasive political work. Politicians also have business people who sponsor them. When people watch the news to be informed, they get the information and also they are persuaded to believe what the backstage power wants them to believe. I remembered when Hugo Chavez was alive, I used to watch CNN, and Telesur as well. I noticed that the same news was oriented in a different way. These two different points of view were not innocent, they were planned to condition the audience.

The elite, not only use the TV to sell their products or sponsor the political party they are identified with, but also, they use it to blackmail the government with certain decisions it has to make.  In the Dominican Republic when a Minister wants to make a decision that affects powerful people, they  use their influence with the owners of the media, sometimes they have their own media and condition the perception of people against the official with a defamation campaign.

I recommend people not to believe all they hear from TV communicators, the real purpose of the information we get, is not to help human beings to be happier and better, the objective is to make individuals consume and do what the elite or the government want them to do. People have to be intelligent enough to not allow other individuals to control their lives. Human beings were born to be free and make their own decisions.