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soupcocoon's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
Extremely readable and relevant. I'm always interested in how media shape messages especially with the shitshow social media has been lately and I found the arguments very compelling. Unfortunately in my experience Postman was right that education about being media conscious can only go so far; I think we all know the dangers of digital media but for most of us that doesn't change our actions too much. I also liked how Huxley was brought in.
kcrouth's review against another edition
4.0
Amusing Ourselves to Death is an excellent overview of how the US has moved away from being a nation of readers and rational thinkers, and become a society whose primary mode of communication is entertainment via sound bites and images. The specific focus is on television (published in 1985) but the parallels in other media are unmistakable. This book gives a chilling reality to the predictions of Aldous Huxley in Brave New World, which I read in the last year. There are no sure solutions offered, but some suggestions are given. Most frightening to me is that there may be no way out of our soma induced bliss. The present reality of Trump is clearly a symptom of the dysfunctional state of our national "thought", communication and collective intelligence. We are an Idiocracy!
jackiesobota's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
equleart's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
3.75
while very informative in a historical and even philosophical sense and ultimately coming to the correct conclusions in many respects, the hardheaded and unexamined insistence that technological factors first and foremost, and not social, cultural and economic ones, are the main driver of the supposed dumbing down of our society comes across as very narrow-minded.
Many assumptions rest on very shaky ground and anecdotes often do not support Postman's argument if you even partially reject his hypothesis and so read as snarky or overly malicious. Likewise, the possibility that other factors could be at work is repeatedly dismissed out of hand.
Postman proved that he knows what the issues are and where they will lead us. The attempt to convince me of his view of what the causes are was mostly unsuccessful, but that isn't to say the book is without merit. It's not a unique examination of our media consumption anymore but I am pretty sure that it was the genesis of many that followed, as I've previously come across parts of his analysis almost verbatim.
Many assumptions rest on very shaky ground and anecdotes often do not support Postman's argument if you even partially reject his hypothesis and so read as snarky or overly malicious. Likewise, the possibility that other factors could be at work is repeatedly dismissed out of hand.
Postman proved that he knows what the issues are and where they will lead us. The attempt to convince me of his view of what the causes are was mostly unsuccessful, but that isn't to say the book is without merit. It's not a unique examination of our media consumption anymore but I am pretty sure that it was the genesis of many that followed, as I've previously come across parts of his analysis almost verbatim.
natshelf's review against another edition
4.0
terrifyingly accurate to the current media landscape; especially to short-form content, filled with sentiments one would be surprised were written in 1985.
strategineer's review against another edition
5.0
Amusing Ourselves to Death is a book about the corrosive effects of television on our politics and public discourse. Now, with television joined by more sophisticated electronic media--from the Internet to cell phones to DVDs-- it's more relevant than ever.
Despite being published in the 80s, this was a great read.
The Internet is the "new" technology that's accelerated us on a path we've been put on by TV initially, many years ago, and ever since then, the way public discourse happens has changed drastically, and not for the better.
The people who get elected today aren't well spoken orators who can reason about the tough societal issues we're faced with, they're Twitter trolls.
This didn't just happen over night and for no good reason. Neil Postman believes that TV (and if he was alive, he would be pointing the finger at the big tech companies I'm sure) is in part to blame for this and through his words he convinced me of this as well.
TV and the Internet are here to stay. The question is: what can we do to stop it from helping bad faith actors from getting and retaining power and ruining things for the rest of us?
Despite being published in the 80s, this was a great read.
The Internet is the "new" technology that's accelerated us on a path we've been put on by TV initially, many years ago, and ever since then, the way public discourse happens has changed drastically, and not for the better.
The people who get elected today aren't well spoken orators who can reason about the tough societal issues we're faced with, they're Twitter trolls.
This didn't just happen over night and for no good reason. Neil Postman believes that TV (and if he was alive, he would be pointing the finger at the big tech companies I'm sure) is in part to blame for this and through his words he convinced me of this as well.
TV and the Internet are here to stay. The question is: what can we do to stop it from helping bad faith actors from getting and retaining power and ruining things for the rest of us?