Television has dramatic effects on the way that the mind functions. It literally entrains your brain into a passive absorbing state effectively disabling the filter mechanism of critical conscious thought. Once this filter is by passed it allows the information to go directly into the permanent memory where the effect of "source amnesia" allows it to mingle among real facts and life experiences. The information now having the same value as the rest of your acquired knowledge allows the lines between reality and fiction to be even further blurred.