
Commuting down the interstate often has us locked in the monotonous predictability of life's slate and modern edge, which is what makes the palette of entertainment essential to our creativity and leisure. Nestling in bed with a mystery and cup of tea, sharing popcorn with friends at a movie premiere, or running to an electric playlist are just some of the colors that make life enjoyable. Yet I often do not consider how much entertainment shapes my judgement. Without thinking I can be watching the exact opposite of what I believe is right, listening to what I know is wrong, and reading things I would dare not say aloud.
What's worse, rather than wrestling why entertainment essentially divides me into two different people, I tend to imagine it is irrelevant to my spirituality.
In light of a new year with less stress and a clear mind, let us think seriously about entertainment and consider the scientific connection between the brain and screen. I noted three main facets of my entertainment: screen (both picture and film), sound (instrumental and lyrical), and the page (books and digital text) of which we will discuss in future articles.
Long before science confirmed the brain’s connection to imagery, Jesus blatantly explained how the eye determines the actions of the body: “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.”1 That verse is often read too abstractly for us to consider it related to the media we see every day on our phone, but there's science to prove it.
If you have ever wondered if a mindless scroll affects you, consider the observations of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America: “Humans have a remarkable ability to remember pictures…people can remember more than 2,000 pictures with at least 90% accuracy in recognition tests over a period of seven days, even with short presentation times during learning,”2
If the brain is wired to “see and do” and the brain is shown evil, science insists there will be a chain reaction.
Doubt the connection?
Ask the parents of teenager Devin Moore, sentenced to death in 2005 after the domino effects of entertainment. While being held in a police station after stealing a car, he, “grabbed an officer’s .40 caliber Glock automatic and – with great precision – killed three men, all with shots in the head. Then he stole a squad car.” Experts were convinced it was no wonder the tragedy occurred: Moore simply implemented what he had rehearsed for hours upon end while playing Grand Theft Auto.3
Yet it is not just violent media that stimulates the brain. All imagery – be it a movie, social media picture, or video game – has the power to desensitize people into believing external entertainment is beyond their moral objection – which, alarmingly, begins to form our worldviews entirely.
The US National Library of Medicine’s National Institute of Health supported the decline in moral judgement as a result of repetitive exposure: “…evidence surrounding the extent to which gross distortions, extremist views and readily falsifiable conspiracies…are being normalized as public idiom gives considerable cause for concern.”4
What’s scarier, media’s mental stimulus may well shut off the brain’s moral thinking patterns. Stanford University’s studies on the effects of imagery demonstrates “It is in the virtue of this intentionality that mental imagery may be (and usually is) regarded as a species of mental representation that can, and often does, play an important role in our thought process.”5
The average American teenager spends approximately 6:43 hours a day, or 2,363 hours a year consuming media.5 This is exceptionally dangerous given moral judgement is prone to be disengaged, or, at the very least, compromised from the moment your brain senses 'entertainment' and images promote habitual thinking. One can almost compare this to the scary sensation of losing control under while falling under anesthesia before surgery. You can't do anything to stop it.
In the book of Ephesians Paul warns of one’s lack of awareness in entertainment as “Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.”6
As sad as it can be to unfollow someone you've loved for years, it's time to think about the hard questions. This is about more than simply studying scripture to find your moral compass but actually taking it literally. This is about more than rationalizing what you have allowed into your life right now but discerning what really is edifying to truth, goodness, and beauty.
Imagine if what you allowed your eyes to see was played on screens in a big arena in front of everyone you know - parents and professors included. If nothing about that has you feeling the slightest bit of alarm (I certainly have cringed at the thought), your relationships themselves may need to be reconsidered.
Calculate the risk. Your convictions are either yours, or they are merely cultural adaptations. In light of eternity, why allow a five-minute Youtube video or social media reel to determine your moral compass? 2 Timothy 2:22 says to “Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts.”
When is the last time you RAN?
Keep in mind this is more than just an issue of willpower. We all have good intentions. We don't mean to rabbit trail. King University's staff writes “the ventral tegmental area (VTA) is one of the primary parts responsible for determining the rewards system in people’s bodies. When social media users receive positive feedback (likes), their brains fire off dopamine receptors, which is facilitated in part by the VTA.”7 Whether it's social media or the repetitive streaming of your favorite series, don't allow the natural human inclination to repeat habit out of pleasure to be your fall. Lead yourself. Learn when to look away or turn it off.
If you're like me, you may need to take extreme measures. I remember watching my parents throw away a movie in the kitchen trashcan after one of the main characters blasphemed God's name. As a child that action stuck with me. Now, although it is still hard, I have no regrets removing certain apps, unfollowing accounts, or even deciding to spend less time on social media in general. My brain lives in an all or nothing mindset, so if I know I am slipping, I act fast and drastically.
Compromising your spirituality over simply not thinking about your entertainment is truly scary and completely not worth it. Again, it's hard. But with the nature of habit, it gets easier.
In the end, it the mindlessness of it all we must guard. Don't go extreme and be weird about your entertainment, just be mindful. Enjoy that movie after a long work day! Let good entertainment it leverage you to become a sounder, truer version of yourself so you can have an undivided heart, clarified beliefs and confidence in enjoying edifying entertainment without playing the fool.
___
Matthew 6:22, NIV
Grady, Cheryl L., et al. “Neural Correlates of the Episodic Encoding of Pictures and Words.” PNAS, National Academy of Sciences, 3 Mar. 1998, Article. Web.
“Making Wise Entertainment Choices.” Focus on the Family, 23 June 2020. Web.
Arnsten, Amy, et al. “This Is Your Brain in Meltdown.” Scientific American, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Apr. 2012. Web.
Thomas, Nigel J.T. “Mental Imagery.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 12 Sept. 2014. Web.
Ephesians 4:19, NIV
“The Psychology of Social Media.” King University Online, 19 Sept. 2019. Web.
Contextual topics derived from ‘On the Basis of Entertainment’(Gibbons), Senior Thesis, Classical Conversations, Edmond. Presented on 20 April 2021. Unpublished.
Comments