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Postman lays out public discourse through out History explaining the epistemological effects that it has on a society. This is an excellent book. He then unpacks modern media (mostly T.V). Don't let the cover fool you. It's level runs much deeper than that of morals and values. and it's effects on our society. Wonderful and thought provoking, this is a must read.
Long Live Culture.*Neil Postman can almost come off as a Luddite by the end of Amusing Ourselves to Death, but his criticism should still be heeded. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture."*The Medium is the Metaphor*Part 1 of the book is a fascinating exposition of epistemology - how we come to know what we know. Our media are our metaphors. Media helps build the structures of thought, and thus thought communication. This is the power of television: to put the superficial and unimportant into the forefront.*Culture is Dead. Neither do our minds or our bodies or, more to the point of this book, our bodies politic.
On the contrary, he admits that as entertainment it is excellent and quite fun. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. I don't think he is even saying that no serious message can ever be conveyed through television or a movie (or else he would be throwing all theatre out the window as well). Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information.
The so-called "televangelist" movement certainly diminishes the depth of theological discourse throughout Christendom. Considering how much we as libertarians criticize the mainstream media for capitulating to the State at every turn - whether the left or the right - Postman helps us get behind the medium itself to understand the epistemology. It is not the entertainment value of television that concerns him so much as the elevation of television as a primary conveyor of what is considered "the truth." He was keenly aware of the power of the media to influence at a basic level how people think and feel about the world around them. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Moreover, this flows straight into the political arena. Most of the Christians I routinely interact with understand his criticism of religion distinctly well.
We can then see that while Orwell's 1984 is still of great concern, perhaps the even greater danger is the Huxleyan vision from Brave New World:"Orwell warns that we will be overcome by an externally imposed oppression. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. This was the state of America during the founding era and lasted, for all intents and purposes, until the late 20th century. We do not see nature or intelligence or human motivation or ideology as `it' but only as our languages are. This"*Television, as a different medium, changes the metaphor.
Originally posted at the LibertarianChristians Blog:Neil Postman is a cultural observer and critic, educator, and communications critic at New York University. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. It is presented primarily as entertainment, losing what makes religion a historic, profound, and sacred human activity. Postman says, "Television has achieved the status of `meta-medium' - an instrument that directs not only our knowledge of the world, but our knowledge of ways of knowing as well." It is no longer a pseudo-mystery but is in the background of everywhere we go and everything we see.And thus, we come to Postman's primary criticism of how television is used and what it affects negatively: in religion, in education, and in news and politics. Nature itself does not speak. It was the culture enriched by the likes of Jonathan Edwards, Thomas Paine, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain. And our languages are our media.
The media we use is an integral part of the equation. But in Huxley's vision, no Big Brother is required to deprive people of their autonomy, maturity, and history. Postman explains how widely available print media constructed the culture of America.*"And Now. In particular, Postman's main concern is the effect of television on public discourse. Instead of spiritual transcendence, the preacher is tops. Postman writes:"When Galileo remarked that the language of nature is written in mathematics, he meant it only as a metaphor.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough to those of you who observe culture with a watchful eye, and wish to respond accordingly to a trend that we intuitively understand to be negative in the long run. There was once a time when the President of the United States could walk down the street without people recognizing him, simply because no one knew what the president looked like. His well-known book Amusing Ourselves to Death gives us a chilling reminder of how much the media we use on a regular basis affect our thought patterns. "God comes out as second banana." (Given, this is not universally the case but it is certainly the right characterization).The educationists can be heard praising the television medium as "the future of education" just as often today as when Postman wrote initially in 1985. "We face the rapid dissolution of the assumptions of an education organized around the slow-moving printed word, and the equally rapid emergence of a new education based on the speed-of-light electronic image." Postman's harshest criticism is reserved for those who would dumb us down in deference to the lowest common denominator.I know of no libertarian that does not clearly see the vacuous nature of television news programs.
Proper use and expression of words becomes the norm. Nowhere is the difference more clearly seen than between typography and television.
In a culture characterized by print, thought processes will tend to organize themselves into a similar linear and logical order that is seen on the pages of books. As he saw it, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.What Orwell feared were those who would ban books.
It is not simply that Postman despises the very pixels of your new 42 inch LCD panel. Our conversations about nature and about ourselves are conducted in whatever `languages' we find it possible and convenient to employ.
Our metaphors create the content of our culture."The "bias" of a medium upon a culture is unseen yet deeply felt. Now, however, "looking presidential" is just as important, perhaps more important, as knowing the Constitution or having good ideology.
No, the main message is a warning that serious messages are easily lost within the medium, and there is great danger when matters of utmost seriousness are couched as mere entertainment.Amusing Ourselves to Death truly helped coalesce many disjointed thoughts in my own mind about the usefulness, or lack thereof, of the television medium.
I purchased this book for my husband and he is a true fan of this author. In fact, I was disturbed to find out he requested this book as a gift but, he couldn't wait to receive it and he purchased one while I was waiting for this one to arrive. He claims he will send one of the books to his brother.hmmmm.we'll see.
When Neil Postman wrote "Amusing Ourselves to Death" 25 years ago, who could have imagined he would be so accurate in his insights. He's certainly more Huxlian that Orwellian in his insights - and just as scary. This is one very interesting, worthwhile book.
I will make sure to check that the school they go to does not turn education into a show. It should not be assigned a serious job because if that happens then that serious job will be turned into mindless entertainment.
As usual, he warns us of something that has smacked us right between our eyes but, unfortunately, we have not managed to see it. This, in my opinion, is Neil Postman's most powerful book.
Television is a form of entertainment, nothing more. The author sets the stage by fluently describing the social and historical setting that both preceded and proceeded the invention of the television.
His main argument is simple yet of great consequence. I am glad that I read this book before my children had to go to school.
There is nothing wrong with entertainment as long as we realize that it is nothing but entertainment.
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