“Television tells a story in a way that requires no imagination; the picture on the screen and the sound provide all we need to know—there is nothing to fill in. Television watching should more properly be called television staring; it engages eye and ear simultaneously in a relentless and persistent way and leaves no room for daydreaming. This is what makes watching such an inferior form of leisure—not that it’s passive, but that it offers so little opportunity for reflection and contemplation. At the beach—or reading a book, or listening to Vivaldi—our attention shifts from sight to smell to sound at will. The mind wanders in and out of the scene. The physical sensations stimulate thoughts, memories and reflections. These interruptions are an integral part of the experience of relaxing. Watching television, on the other hand, is focused, structured, and scheduled.”
– Witold Rybczynski (b. 1943), Scottish–born Canadian architect, educator. “Pastimes,” Waiting for the Weekend, Viking (1991)