Rob Paterson writes (emphasis mine):
Humans did not dominate the globe by being picky eaters. We did, however, get very used to eating stuff that we could hunt, gather, and/or dig up. We got used to working for our dinners. We somehow forgot to invent TV right away, so we ended up getting riptshizzled by climbing trees, running from tigers, hauling logs, playing (more than you’d think) and trying not to die.
Made me laugh!
It’s an amusing line of thought. :) And yet I also don’t think it was only a coincidence that I was finally able to change my eating habits (to eat less, in general, etc) at about the same time I quit watching T.V. At a friend’s house recently, I noticed how irritable I quickly felt with the sound of her T.V. going, as background noise, especially the (blah blah blah, buy this, blah blah!) commercials. I wonder if T.V. watching (well, for some of us) does more than supply unwanted eating prompts. I wonder if it induces a state of mind(lessness) that makes eating for escape seem more desirable?