The authors theorized that loneliness motivates individuals to seek out relationships, even if those relationships are not real. In a series of experiments, the authors demonstrated that participants were more likely to report watching a favorite TV show when they were feeling lonely and reported being less likely to feel lonely while watching. This preliminary evidence suggests that people spontaneously seek out social surrogates when real interactions are unavailable.

--Fionnuala Butler and Cynthia Pickett, Imaginary Friends, [via sexy sexy Jonah]

For the first month that I was here, the TV was on a lot. It was a little unusual for me, as I never really got used to watching television while growing up and have never lived in a house with cable. However, I'm happy to report that I'm back to my regular schedule of watching Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert online and haven't turned the TV on in quite some time.