Inner Monologue Squasher

You know that voice inside your head that tells you what you need to be doing at a given moment and provides you with motivation to do it? I'm not talking about the voice that dictates large moral decisions, reminding you not to cheat on your wife or that puppies are not appropriate for making into stew. I mean the voice (or level of consciousness or line of thought, call it what you will) that tells you not to eat six more cookies, or that it would be a good idea to take five minutes and respond to that e-mail your mother sent you a week ago, or that yes, the emotional benefit you'll receive from finally grading that stack of papers far outweighs the actual hassle of grading them. It's the voice that turns a moment back in a civil direction, ("Don't be an a-hole right now, okay?"), that gets you going ("Get up and clean out the gutters already.") and that pushes a little further ("Come on, do one more mile").

This is a good voice, one of simplicity and truth. This is not a nag ("Sure, you vacuumed, but you didn't dust the bookshelves.") or a martyr ("Your sacrifices are amazing but nobody appreciates them!") or a glutton ("You deserve six more cookies, come on."). It is a voice that knows, crystal clearly, what the obvious, healthy, correct choice is for the next moment.

It is my belief that television silences and suffocates that voice more effectively than any other non-addictive substance in the known universe. Television is designed to do one thing: make you want to watch more television. This is not to say that the TV is evil, because it isn't. You need that release, that brainmelt, or you'll go crazy. The voice knows this, and because it is a good voice, it will not condemn you for turning on the TV. What it will do, however, is whisper quietly that at some point soon, that TV should probably get turned off because there are better things to do. Thus, television must silence the voice or face an existence punctuated by long, lonely silences inside the cabinet. The TV does not want moderation or thoughtfulness or simplicity or truth. It wants attention.

So how to have them both? Can you heed the voice and enjoy the television? I say yes, but I've just outlined a debate that is going on between an inanimate object and a voice inside my head, so maybe you'll want to consult other authorities. My answer, as with nearly everything except breathing, lies in moderation. Listen to the voice when it tells you to get off your ass and go find life.