Scan barcode
A review by equleart
Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil Postman
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.