Amusing Ourselves to Death
Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business was published in 1985. Postman goes to great detail in his book about the development of public discourse (verbal and written communication) over the centuries. He explains how the development and evolution of communication over mankind's history has changed at critical points. These critical points include the development of the alphabet, the printing press invention, the progress of the telegraph and the creation of the television. Postman argues that American society in particular is in grave danger due to its unending reliance on television. The theme that flows from his work is that the oral and printed methods of communication tend to be held in higher prestige because they take more "brain power" to learn and perfect. If a person wants to learn in an oral or printed communication based culture, he or she must learn the language, memorize customs, learn to read, write, etc. Postman even goes so far as to say that print communication controls the physical body as well - that one's body must remain at least semi-mobile in order to pay attention to the meaning of the words. In chapter four, Postman details how the development and su
Huxley sees a world where civilization willingly fades into the dark night where people would be entertained out of their personal freedoms and rights. In chapter eight, he refers to the numerous television programs dedicated to converting the "lost sheep" of this world and turning them toward Christianity. Postman ardently attacks "Sesame Street" stating that it undermines the principal of schooling. It encourages them to love television. He points out that an athlete's reputation rises and falls according to his or her propinquity to a standard of excellence known by all athletes. Presidential debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. "If politics were like a sporting event, there would be several virtues to attach to its name: clarity, honesty and excellence," he states. On these shows, the preacher is tops. It is always interesting to read a book that examines such a large part of society, be it television, music or computers. Orwell prophesizes that government forces will take over civilization and conquer personal freedoms and rights. Postman argues that there is an inherent danger in this: with important topics such as politics, religion and education pared down to fifteen second sound bites on the evening news, Americans only hear a negligible amount of information that may in fact be very opinionated and completely false. The entire debate itself lasts only an hour at most, including commercial breaks. Another topic in Postman's book is the idea that George Orwell is incorrect in describing society in his novel 1984.
Common topics in this essay:
Stephen Douglas,
Age Business,
Brave World,
Sesame Street,
Typographic Mind,
George Orwell,
sesame street,
postman argues,
Street Postman,
children love school,
personal freedoms rights,
freedoms rights postman,
love school school,
rights postman,
clarity honesty,
personal freedoms,
love television,
reliance television,
oral printed,
chapter postman,
school school,
|
Acceptance Essays
