Thought of the Day - The Nature of Entertainment

What is the nature of entertainment; what makes something entertaining, what value does entertainment provide and where is the line between something entertaining and something valuable?

This is a fairly key question for me, i won't deny it, i watch a lot of TV. I mean more than a lot, like a few hours every day, often more. But why? If you asked me now i would say because it is entertaining, i might not be able to define what 'entertaining' is but any other answers (i learn from it, it is relaxing etc) would be a bit feeble. Not to seem big-headed but i am a fairly bright guy, i would hope that it's not just a case of "turn on and tune out" but at this juncture i don't know how else to explain it. It seems like giving up TV should be a 30-day trial at some point, probably the summer so if i continue to watch tv afterwards i haven't built up a backlog of days.

I think even more strange is my desire to watch ice hockey, i have always said i don't understand people who watch football but then why do i watch ice hockey? I don't play and haven't for around 10 years, i don't have any real investment even in the team i 'support' and yet i enjoy watching it. I just don't know why.

Lastly what about fiction books? For some reason people equate TV with mindless entertainment and books of any sort with knowledge. Books are somehow seen as superior to TV, even though i would imagine a large majority of books are no more intellectually stimulating than TV.

Are some forms of entertainment better than others and what would life be like without entertainment? I suspect most people think there should be a balance between work, learning, entertainment and relaxation, but is entertainment really necessary?


Somewhat interestingly this idea arose from reading some information about Buddhism and one of the 8 precepts of living a good life is; "7. To refrain from dancing, using jewelry, going to shows, etc.". So it isn't explicitly entertainment but it is kind of implied. At the moment i'm not doing too badly with the precepts. The only one i suspect i would fail is not lying, but that is a bit of a grey area as the literal translation is "speaking truth always" and technically do that, i just tend to omit rather than say anything untrue.

NB This is an extension or possibly a branch from a previous post where i discussed TV and Social Surplus. However in that post i didn't really tackle why i watch so much tv, only that it was probably too much and wondered what i would do with the time instead.