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What have you been watching lately? There's a good chance (whether you admit to it or not) that you've been watching some reality TV. The "Reality TV" genre is mega popular, a massive cultural force, even though it's not really "reality". Contrived situations and manipulated scenarios make these shows entertainment rather than documentation, but they still feature real people who are willing to have their lives recorded. As a culture, we've become accustomed to watching people, but how does that affect our ideas about BEING WATCHED, especially given the recent NSA controversies? Check out the episode and find out!
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Music:
"Europe" by Roglok ( )
"Carry on Carillon" by Roglok ( )
Level 5: Room for the Homeless
"Bouncy Castle" by Roglok ( )
":P" by Roglok ( )
Binaerpilot "Geeks"
"Squarehead" by Roglok ( )
Chiptune – Kenzalol
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Bradley Davis
I can’t believe I refreshed minutes after it was uploaded!
Katie Behrens
“Versimilitude”? Â Did you not run your spell check? Â You’re missing an i: verisimilitude.
Still, my love for Idea Channel cannot be described. Â Love you all!
garfocusalternate
“Wrestling isn’t about wrestling, it’s about wrestling.” — PBS Idea Channel
Mat Hanley
Is it bad that your hair is really thinning and receding but I still find you really attractive.Â
FloppyDriveMaestro
but it wasn’t funny just lame and uncalled for.
Broshmosh
@weirdstuffanimation7
Sounds like sarcasm in general.
Grant
touchy touchy. every MANÂ will lose there hair eventually. lets all collectively get over it huh?
Broshmosh
@Grant Rigby Incorrect. Male pattern baldness follows along the father’s line in the family. Some men never lose their hair.
Grant
yea, so what….he isn’t one of them. many men are in the same boat. all im saying is true men don’t care if another man says.. hey dude your losing your hair… just saying
GusCraft460
This is why I only watch cartoons.
Orko
The only thing Reality TV affected in my live is that i sold my TV in 2002
26CLT
I think if you asked most people whether they would mind whether they were constantly followed by a man with a camera without monetary incentive then they would be uncomfortable. We all like our privacy but we are willing to temporarily give it up based on certain conditions. For example: we don’t mind being watched by a camera in a shop because that camera is there to catch criminals. However I also think that we all need private space, somewhere entirely our own, a sanctuary of sorts. I believe this is how we tend to treat our homes- private sanctuaries.
JukaDominator
Funny you should mention that, because in Ancient Greece their houses were basically wide open, I think only the bedroom being truly private somewhat. It appears we might head back onto that direction one day.
Krombopulos Michael
Yeah but if you asked most people to flip burgers without monetary incentive they would refuse that too. On topic though I think the problem with the guy following you with the camera is that you’re the only one with this problem and you’ve become a centre of a attention so you feel compelled to do something about it. Point the camera at everyone and you start caring a lot less.
Helix
I don’t watch reality TV, for obvious reasons.
Savaniel
Not even from a miniature couch?
Helix
I don’t get the reference.
Goatlord
I believe he already covered this in the video. I’m paraphrasing but he said: ‘regardless of any of the reality show’s ratings – their cultural influence is undeniable.’
JĂŒrgen Geuter
Applying Wittgensteins concept to the term “privacy” is not bad because it kind of helps to merge all the weird ideas floating around together somewhat even though I do feel that – considering that we want to use the term to base our laws on – we do need somewhat of a consensus here (probably chopping off some of the “extremer” (not a moral judgement) positions.
To the actual topic: I guess that reality shows do have an impact but not so much because of the “reality” part. Look at what kind of carefully scripted shows get viewers: “Person of Interest”, “Homeland”, “CSI $whatever” and many more show us how useful surveillance is. And this is not some weird government conspiracy but just authors and creators picking up on a social narrative of control as something that “we” desire (and in order to control the world, you need to perceive it). Our cultural artifacts display surveillance as an extension of the perception of (usually good) people.
Reality shows just kind of blend in with that sort of thing: Surveillance is displayed as _normal_. It can have downsides (bad people can use it, it can make someone’s emotional breakdown visible, etc) but all in all it’s not bad per se.
Which fits into the whole idea of the medium TV: TV shows have always had this weird feeling of being somewhat “surveilly”. You saw private things that characters shared without them perceiving you. You, the watcher, are the all-seeing-eye when it comes to the worlds on that screen.
So I do agree that reality shows do change the perception of surveillance but so do basically all TV shows. And with TV shows mirroring (and obviously influencing) a zeitgeist, looking at the TV schedule can tell you a lot about what a society believes the world is like or should be like.
Crissy Moss
The fact that many in “reality” TV are made fun of, and ridiculed for their actions, actions that are supposedly realistic, makes me want to guard my privacy even more. I don’t want someone recording my mistakes, or ignorance and portraying me as though that is all I am. A person isn’t one thing. We are complicated creatures, and sometimes our actions are influenced by things around us. We should be taken as a whole, not as snipits of “reality” laid out in a pre approved package for consumption.
Onisarius
“Dogue” is the real pronunciation, If I saw someone pronounce in any other manner I would question their knowledge of the English language and the internet.
Alex Bermann
It’s funny: nobody watches reality TV if you ask them and yet, the business model seems to be really attractive. owever, if you take a closer look at those shows, you see that they are not structured around witnessing the cracy fu lifes of other people, but to have a laugh at how much of wasted living tissue they are. I do not thin that people, after watching something to reaffirm that they are better than other people, mind less being watched in the same way.
Surveillance is accepted because we do not imagine someone watching it or caring about what they see. What we are uncomfortable with is beinng watched in the same judgemental way as people in reality TV are.
thechiliman500
You’re wrong about nobody watching reality TV. Many, many people watch reality TV. Many of the shows with the highest viewership are reality TV shows, so it’s obvious why it is such an attractive business model.Â
Alex Bermann
I said noone watches it IF YOU ASK THEM.
Krombopulos Michael
@Alex Bermann That’s pretty narrow anecdotal experience though. Many people I know were never ashamed to admit they watched Jersey Shore or The Xfactor or the Voice or whatever.
Alex Bermann
@Cian That’s a sound criticism. The next question would be where to draw differences. Many people here in the comment section felt the need to express that they don’t watch those formats. This leads me to the question if there are differences in terms of age, class and national culture which are significant. The next question would be: are the people who are not ashamed to admit to watch reality TV affected in the same way as those who claim not to?
I think all we can do in this context here is to express how it affects us and our direct enviroment – qualitative data. Finding out how reprsentative those impressions are would require a decent study – and I start to fancy doing this study eventually.
Krombopulos Michael
I would say that a video like this just has a broadly different target audience to the one who will watch reality TV so not many of the commenters will actually have watched much.
Tahroo
I look at it as the new Soap Opera’s. I also stand by my question I made on Twitter.. People still watch TV?Â
Kyli Rouge
The only reason I keep anything private is not because I’m afraid of what they might think, but because I’m afraid of offending them. If I know you’re okay with knowing something about me or hearing something from me, I’ve no reason to keep it private.
Sarah Vittrup
i feel kind of the same, and i think its a good way to feel about this đ
Sigmund Fraud
With the recent revelation of the NSA’s super scary internet inquisition I think a better related question might be does “reality tv” make us less scared or offended by the US government using surveillance to monitor its own people as well as the rest of the world. And could this desensitization put us at a greater risk of falling into a Orwellian dystopic society?  Â
Negil Leufeln
Well, our own Reality TV show is just our social media.
The Banana
Anyone here ever wondered what Mike’s IQ or SAT score is? If so, thumbs up so maybe Mike will shed some light to this mystery. xD
JeffFrits969
ru Some kind of detective or something haheh..
The Banana
@JeffFrits969Â Mike sounds really smart, so the question just popped into my question. No biggie.Â
Matthieu Rhéaume
also consider the fact that there’s a team of writers behind him so some credit should go to the peeps in the shadows too đ
shen
Talking fast from a script =/= being smart. As much as youtube wants to make you think otherwise.
wombatmike
what if the government watches us watch reality TV?
Jeff Gibbons
woah…
jode6543
On a related note:Â http://xkcd.com/1223/
swag master jeff
theyd get bored around the 1000th time i watch porn probablyÂ
Daseph J. Edwards
Interesting video… I have been wondering if taping reality made it less “real” for a while now.
Joey G
Shout out to anyone repping Library 10
Nikolas Osorio
You’re my hero rn
Tyler Marzonie
Hilarious.