Scan barcode
A review by mattgoldberg
Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil Postman
3.0
About to start reading Amusing Ourselves to Death with equal parts excitement and dread. I live and breathe entertainment, and this book may tell me that I've been wasting my life. Or it may give me a new perspective that provides me with a more thoughtful and present approach to my personal and professional activities. I feel like I already agree with Postman to some extent, and after reading the forward by his son, Andrew (Neil Postman passed away in 2003), my current thinking is that while I will respect some of Postman's points, I will also disagree with some on the grounds that entertainment is only mindless if we refuse to be mindful. That is to say that we can be thoughtless consumers, or we can thoughtfully approach what we're consuming no matter how simple it may appear.
However, I'm already on edge for two reasons. First, the forward mentions that Sesame Street is bad for us, and to me and millions of others, Sesame Street is sacrosanct. It was entertainment but it was also an invaluable teaching tool. It helped kids learn words, numbers, and also compassion and manners. One of my Spanish teachers told us that Sesame Street helped to teach her English. That may sound a little silly, but there is good in that show, and I hope that the book doesn't dismiss outright.
Secondly, because the book was published in 1985, and even the forward was written in 2006, neither Postman nor his son could have predicted the rise of social networks. We now use EACH OTHER for our amusement. And that's what you're reading right now, and then you'll move on to the next thing. Furthermore, we're set to amuse other without even knowing it. We're what overheard and tweeted. We're what's shot with a camera phone and uploaded to YouTube. That's possibly more terrifying than anything Postman might write in his book.
---
Now that I've finished, I'll say that I had lots to say about the book, and thank goodness for Kindle annotations. I can't remember the last time I engaged so heavily with a book even though I disagreed strongly with the author numerous times throughout the text. It makes me wish I was back in a classroom setting where this book and others like it could be discussed. As it stands, I write into the void of the Internet where this record is more for me than it is for anyone else.
However, I'm already on edge for two reasons. First, the forward mentions that Sesame Street is bad for us, and to me and millions of others, Sesame Street is sacrosanct. It was entertainment but it was also an invaluable teaching tool. It helped kids learn words, numbers, and also compassion and manners. One of my Spanish teachers told us that Sesame Street helped to teach her English. That may sound a little silly, but there is good in that show, and I hope that the book doesn't dismiss outright.
Secondly, because the book was published in 1985, and even the forward was written in 2006, neither Postman nor his son could have predicted the rise of social networks. We now use EACH OTHER for our amusement. And that's what you're reading right now, and then you'll move on to the next thing. Furthermore, we're set to amuse other without even knowing it. We're what overheard and tweeted. We're what's shot with a camera phone and uploaded to YouTube. That's possibly more terrifying than anything Postman might write in his book.
---
Now that I've finished, I'll say that I had lots to say about the book, and thank goodness for Kindle annotations. I can't remember the last time I engaged so heavily with a book even though I disagreed strongly with the author numerous times throughout the text. It makes me wish I was back in a classroom setting where this book and others like it could be discussed. As it stands, I write into the void of the Internet where this record is more for me than it is for anyone else.