# Does TV degenerate or develop the brain?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-tv-degenerate-or-develop-the-brain/233977>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [March 12, 2004, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-tv-degenerate-or-develop-the-brain/233977 "2004-03-12T22:44:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Optihut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/edb3f5/32.png) [@Optihut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Optihut)\
**Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-tv-degenerate-or-develop-the-brain/233977/21 "2004-03-18T13:06:37Z")

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> [@msmith537](#):
>
> Hell, I bet my life would look exciting if Aaron Spelling, Jerry Bruckheimer or Michael Mann produced a TV series about it and took the best 30 minutes out of each week.

I think I am going to note that down, it’s just a great line (insert obligatory imho, ymmv here)!

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**Author:** ![Wikstead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/edb3f5/32.png) [@Wikstead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wikstead)\
**Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-tv-degenerate-or-develop-the-brain/233977/22 "2004-03-19T08:40:32Z")

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WarlokElf,

My uneducated guess is that a moderate amount of time watching TV is good for your intellegence. However a great deal hinges on the actual content. As far as the pure physical process goes(i.e eye coordination, interpretation of signals etc.)  
I would believe that a few minutes would be enough. However, watching more would only be good for you if it offered you an opportunity to think.

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