by Francis Harris

Created on: November 09, 2010

It is not surprising that for many people the TV has become a "friend" - a comfort and a companion that fills many hours and days. It is almost always available, generally free (apart from the license in some countries) and old and young alike are able to turn to the TV for many different reasons. But why has this "tool" come to take on such an important role in our lives?

1. It gives us a "presence" with other human beings. The TV gives us an insight into many different human worlds. It brings us into soap operas and quiz shows, places us up close to heroes and famous stars, we see into strange lands and witness other people cooking, rearing children, playing games, talking about their lives, weird animals, winning sports and much more. We are taken from our own world into another life and enabled to experience a "presence" with other human beings.

2. It performs a human "shaping"  role in our life. The TV is a tool just like a toaster but it performs much more than just a function in our lives.  It comes to play a role that educates us, informs us, entertains us etc. It actually shapes us as a person and so plays one of the most important human roles for us that we could find. We could get this stimulation from a book - or perhaps these days Internet resources - yet the TV fulfils its shaping role in a unique way playing a human like role.

3. While it is a "one-way" communication we often feel is addressed to us personally and increasingly the viewer can vote or engage with the show making it more "two-way" as a normal relationship would be. If we don't like the "one-way" monologue we can simply change channels or turn off the TV giving us control over the relationship in a way that we would not have with a real friend. So we tend not to mind the one-way bias; we can always just literally switch off!

4. It does not make any demands from us. The TV can be very comforting because it makes no demands from us. There is a saying (author unknown) that "The best kind of friend is the one you could sit on a porch with, never saying a word, and walk away feeling like that was the best conversation you've had". We tend to be able to do this with the TV - we just sit, relax, don't say a word, and come away feeling it was the best conversation we've ever had.

The TV has definitely won a place in the history of humanity. And we will probably never forget the influence this "friend" has had - for good and bad - upon millions of people across the globe, from all walks of life and all cultures. At some point we may come to realize that lurking behind every friend is a potential foe!

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