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Last week I traded a shiny and functional LED TV for 10 used cardboard boxes.

Why would I do that?

Why would I snub a whole summer of test cricket for a stack of rat-snacked cardboard?

Moving house, that’s why.

It makes you crazy. You do irrational things to free up an extra inch of space. To compact your trash. To palm off, purge, prune.

I’d also been reading a bunch of blogs on minimalism. All that white space went to my head like helium.

So when a stranger offered to swap ten moving boxes for my teevs, I said yes.

I’d run out. And driving to Kennards Storage in the next suburb was totally out of the question.

The next day I met with Linda, made the exchange and was left standing in a patch of dust shucked of all entertainment where the TV used to be.

Had I done the right thing?

Would I ever be happy again?

In a trough of remorse, I drew pictures on the packing boxes in texta, strapped them to my dog and called it a documentary.

But it wasn’t the same.

Here are 7 reasons why TV is better than cardboard boxes.

And don’t you forget it.

1. Unbeatable bonding time with your significant other.

Getting lost in the latest HBO epic with your partner is a first world pleasure. Game of Thrones, The Wire, Breaking Bad, True Detective = relationship velcro. Just don’t go transferring your Mad Men fetish onto your next love interest. TV show monogamy is real.

2. Makes you smarter.

David Attenborough. ‘Buff said.

3. Plonk your offspring in front of it.

Got kids? Gosh, sorry.

Luckily for you, they’d eat just about anything out of the idiot box.

The brighter and more bizarre, the better. Stuck for ideas? Here’s some kid-friendly cuisine we prepared earlier.

4. It’s art. Der.

Art is defined as “the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination”. (Hat tip, Google).

What’s television if not imaginative? Have you seen an episode of Ace of Cakes? They aren’t just baking towering flour monstrosities, they’re making art. And filming it. With a cherry on top.

5. Speak in tongues.

Learn Japanese by running Samurai Champloo in the background, minus the dubbing.

6. Chances of winning at trivia, increased.

Watch more TV to accumulate killer general knowledge, political savvy and Simpsons quotes. Then claim that coveted beer bucket at pub trivia.

7. Vital fodder for small-talk.

The year I ceded my disdain for reality TV and embraced the Aussie Bachelor was the year my friend count exploded. Those smiling, peripheral, girl-acquaintances became fast friends over scandal and simmering sexism.

What are your favourite TV justifications? How has the idiot box changed your life for the better? What’s your favourite show? Go on, tell us in the comments.