Peolpe like to fill the space between life and themselves with just about anything. I don't necessarily think that entertainment is the issue. I think it's the avoidance of self which is at the heart of the imbalance. As a society, we would rather develop something besides our selves. Our true nature is miraculous and boundless. We have all sorts of psychic gifts we could be developing. But, instead of telepathy we chose cell phones, instead of astral projection, we chose cars. Instead of developing our minds we choose to make machines like calculators and computers.

Quoted from money and the LOA

As you move through your day, look for more reasons to laugh and more reasons to have fun. When you want to feel good and you do not take things so seriously, and when you are not taking things so seriously, you’re not as likely to notice the lack of things wanted, and when you’re not focused upon the lack of what you desire, you just feel better. And when you feel better, you attract more of what you do want., and your life just gets better and better and better.

Fun =entertainment. . . think its more of a preoccupation than an addiction and with the right mind set it is even a good thing.Story telling has been with us a very long time so movie night is just the modern version of that

If we use the entertainment to fill a void or to avoid being with ourself, then just like any other dysfunctional habit we use for avoidance, it becomes an addiction or a way of escape. The entertainment itself is harmless and can be enjoyable - as with anything it is how and why we use it that matters. Having a glass of wine is harmless for one person but for an alcoholic it is an addiction because he is using it as a crutch to help him feel good.

Society as a whole spends a lot of time with entertainment because most people are living an unconscious life and are seeking something to fill the void that can really only be filled by self realization. The more people begin to wake up to their own true nature - the greater the benefit for humanity as a whole.

I personally do not find anything wrong with amusements. There are many things I enjoy such as watching stand up comedy on TV, going out to restaurants, going out for drinks and occasionally a night out amongst other things.

To me, these are things I feel happy doing and a way for me to express the joy of living life. I think what you are referring to in your question are people who fill their lives with entertainment to avoid looking at other parts of their lives they are not happy about, like people who use amusements as a way to forget how miserable their lives are. In that case, that is probably not the ideal thing to do as the dominant unhappiness is still there.

I believe that they did extensive studies on how the pleasure center is stimulated when one is under the influence of an addictive drug. I believe that they have figured out electronically how to create the same pleasure response, and much of what we are exposed to as media has this effect upon our consciousness intertwined within the medium.

I think the masses are hungry for entertainment and too tired to think, so without questioning what they are being fed by the media they just munch away at what is served...perhaps even kidding themselves that they are in touch with what is going on around them.

The lousy diet so to speak, makes them tired (brain weary) so it is much easier to remain feasting on the entertainment.

I am not a historian but this I guess has always been the way... I am more hopeful today though, the internet is the platform for like minded thinkers to share thoughts and vision as a form of edutainment perhaps.....

To answer your question, yes.

When we are children (and often as adults) we think that we will be satisfied if only we could get a certain toy.

When we are adults, we think that we will be satisfied if only we could get a certain job.

Certain others think that they will be satisfied if they attain to a certain spiritual level or develop certain spiritual powers.

All of these things can be classified as entertainment or amusements, and I think it is reasonable to say that this has been with us since the beginning and is more or less natural behavior. And yes, I think that this sort of behavior often hinders us because it keeps us focused on the imagery of the mind instead of what is actually going on.