[b112]

My parents used to have the TV on, blaring, all day long. The ads back then were loud too.

They liked the "background noise". They'd read with it on, have conversations shouting over it, and so on. Baffled me. I often wondered, why not just plop down a food blender and leave it on?

Why pay for cable?!

[copperx]

How did you stop this behavior?

[globular-toast]

My parents were never this bad, but I've experienced this with parents of friends and partners. A lot of people seem to crave structure. They don't want to have to think about what to do and have non-existent conversational ability. The TV gives them the structure they need. The schedule always provides a talking point or just something to zone out on when there's a lull.

Mindless scrolling is the modern version of this, but it's worse because there isn't even a shared experience that might spur a conversation.

People like you and me are quite the opposite: we hate external structure and long to be left to our own thoughts and devices. It's not too dissimilar to micromanagement in that respect. What's the point of having a brain (and the rest of the body, that matter) if you can't use it?