Amusing Ourselves To Death
By Neil PostmanPostman: Rant or Reason?
In his novel, "Amusing Ourselves to Death", author Neil Postman describes to the reader, in detail, the immediate and future dangers of television. The arguement starts out in a logical manner, explaining first the differences between today's media–driven society, and yesterday's "typographic America". Postman goes on to discuss in the second half of his book the effects of today's media, politics on television, religion on television, and finally televised educational programs. All, he says, are making a detrimental imprint on our society, its values, and its standards. Postman explains that the media consists of "fragment[s] of news" (100), and politics are merely a fashion show. Although Postman's arguments...show more content...
Each one flings bring colors at us for 45 seconds before the subject switches to a new topic. A society raised on such a format simply cannot endure lengthy debates or speeches. They seem neither exciting nor entertaining to us. Postman also explains that in response to this switch in desired format, politicians and presidents have adjusted their means of communication as well. "It is hard to imagine the present occupant of the White House being capable of constructing such clauses in similar circumstances." (Postman addressing a very lengthy and inticrate live rebuttal made by Lincoln in response to one of Douglas' statements, 46) Today's politicians know that in order to reach audiences, their statements need to be "short and sweet". Unfortunately this sort of information shortening is not the only weakness which plagues television's functionality as a means of communication.
To sum up Postman's views about news media on television, one can simply call it "a joke". The "now this" format of news media works in an identical fashion to the previously described commercials. "Viewers are rarely required to carry over any thought or feeling from one parcel of time to another." (100) Here again, Postman is right on the money when he describes the shortcomings of today's television news. The news show begins with exciting music and professional–looking visuals which set the mood for the show. One can't help but feel a boost of importance. It is as though the Get more content
Throughout the span of the past few weeks I have traversed the globe, visiting several countries and regions, only to realize that although new methods develop, language as a way of expressing ones self has remained the most effective. Despite this fact, language still has its pitfalls. Neil Postman, in his essay “Defending Against the Indefensible,'; outlines seven concepts that can be used to aid a student in better understanding the language as a means of communication. He describes how modern teaching methods leave a student vulnerable to the “prejudices of their elders';, further stating that a good teacher must always be skeptical. He urges teachers of all subjects to break free from traditional teachings as...show more content...
How you phrase a question makes all the difference in the world. A query asked in two separate ways can result in two completely different answers. “A question is the most important tool we have'; states Postman. Take scientists for example. Their entire career is based on asking questions, stating a hypothesis, and furthermore, answering them by conducting experiments. Postman calls for the art of question asking to be infused with the current school curriculum, because to often students do not ask questions. When a student arrives at school on the first day they often notice many changes. Although welcome, these changes sometimes make a student wonder why he or she was not asked if they would prefer them. This is the perfect example of how one phrases a question wrong. Although a student might voice their opinion by saying, “I would like a better school'; they don’t imply in which way they would like to achieve that.
Although it was a noteworthy concept, I found it to have many flaws. Postman believes that this concept be put on high priority. He never examines how teachers are to teach this radical way of thinking. There are other factors in a student’s high school career, and his ideas are not the only ones that need to be considered.
Yet again I find that Postman’s third concept is Get more content
Next is Antonio Skarmeta. He was the author of the novel The Postman. He published many novels, plays and stories, and created a text with Neruda as a character. Allende's rise and fall is the historical background and he tells the story of the son of a fisherman, Mario Jimenez, who loves poetry and Neruda's poems. The story tells Mario Jimenez, a fictional postman, who befriends the real life poet Pablo Neruda. The story begins in 1969, in the little village of Isla Negra, off the coast of Chile. The Postman was published in 1985. In 1970, Salvador Allendewas the world's first democrat and Marxist president. He progressed the extensive program of nationalization and radical social reform. He reigned only for three years and was...show more content...
Next is Roberto Bolano, a homosexual writer and photographer. He was born in Chile in 1955 but moved to Mexico with his family at the age of 15. He dropped out of school and decided he would be a poet. In 1973, he was inspired by Salvador Allende's victory in Chile, so he decided to return to Chile. He ended up arrested and imprisoned for several days, and released only because two guards remembered him as a former schoolmate and sneaked him out. Then he only stayed in Chile for a few months and left Chile for the rest of his life. He made his home in Mexico, Spain and Europe. His work is inseparable between the relationship of life and literature. He intertwines the danger of life and literature. For example, in the story of "Mauricio ("The Eye") Silva, "Mauricio Silva, also known as "The Eye," always tried to avoid violence, even at the risk of being considered a coward, but violence, real violence, is unaboidable..." (106); and the story ended with saying that "The Eye" was so upset and weeping uncontrollably. The "Eye" probably signifies someone who "sees" things in life. Throughout the story, it depicts Mauricio going through a lot trials and tribulation. He witnesses and observes sufferings everywhere he trods, from Chile to Mexico to India to the brothel and Berlin. Injustice and violence seem to be twisted in all direction and at every turn. For instance, on a trip to India The Eye rescued two young boys, Get more content
In the passage, Neil Postman argues that Huxley's vision of contemporary society is more relevant to current events in society than Orwell's is. Huxley believes, that as a society, humans choose to utilize technology to the maximum in place of their extraordinary human capabilities such as free–thinking and critical thinking. One could relate Huxley's ideas to current events in history, such as how excessive internet usage affects learning, what today's youth focuses on in technology, and how the creation of television and social media have influenced the world in a major way, to demonstrate the accuracy of Huxley's vision. One can describe how the excessive usage of the internet has greatly affected the way that humans learn, which...show more content...
For example, the television programs offered today are filled with less educational value and distract from the concepts children should be learning at a young age in order to be successful in the future. In the past, television programs such as "Disney Channel" and "Nickelodeon" have developed programs that taught society beneficial concepts and ideas that children could utilize in the future to improve themselves and learn from their mistakes. However, they are now able to recognize that those shows do not appeal to this generation of children's tastes; this has caused the producers to televise shows that represent unnecessary topics and the utmost unintelligence. In addition, social media distracts from real life, and focuses on the unimportant values society that are irrelevant to an individual's intelligence. One objective many "social media fanatics" focus on are the amount of 'likes' or 'retweets' that an individual is able to obtain. Social media influences society to value insignificant topics, such as unreasonable humor, sexual innuendos, and a plethora of unethical behavior and language. All in all, television programs and social media have had an extreme impact on the way children learn, due to the fact that they can turn a well–kept society into a trivial group of
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