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A review by sonofatreus
Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil Postman
5.0
I wouldn't say that this is a perfect book, but it is effective. First published in 1985, it still retains much of its persuasive power, and I'd even push some of Postman's ideas even further in the Age of the Internet.
Postman's argument is not, as I expected, that TV per se is bad for our brains. Instead, he argues that TV that is meant to be taken seriously (news shows, televised politics, "educational" TV like Sesame Street) is what's bad. "Junk" TV like Cheers or The A-Team, he says, is doing exactly what TV is good at and does no harm to the public discourse. He traces TV's rise, and the decay on public discourse, from the Age of Print — he is a little cursory getting up to the 18th century — before turning to the telegraph and photograph (his predecessors to the TV), then spends the second half of the book on TV proper. He has chapters on televised religion, politics, news, etc. Each chapter goes back to the early 20th century to see how different that sphere of public life has changed since TV became dominant. For Postman, the summation of all of these changes is like Huxley's Brave New World, where we've amused ourselves into a stupid-prison. He is pretty skeptical of the Orwellian fears of tyranny that he says are more apt for other parts of the world.
Again, it's not a perfect book but it's easy to read and his ideas seem to have borne fruit. In the age of Twitter and Facebook, our attentions are like gnats' and we are reaping what we sowed.
Postman's argument is not, as I expected, that TV per se is bad for our brains. Instead, he argues that TV that is meant to be taken seriously (news shows, televised politics, "educational" TV like Sesame Street) is what's bad. "Junk" TV like Cheers or The A-Team, he says, is doing exactly what TV is good at and does no harm to the public discourse. He traces TV's rise, and the decay on public discourse, from the Age of Print — he is a little cursory getting up to the 18th century — before turning to the telegraph and photograph (his predecessors to the TV), then spends the second half of the book on TV proper. He has chapters on televised religion, politics, news, etc. Each chapter goes back to the early 20th century to see how different that sphere of public life has changed since TV became dominant. For Postman, the summation of all of these changes is like Huxley's Brave New World, where we've amused ourselves into a stupid-prison. He is pretty skeptical of the Orwellian fears of tyranny that he says are more apt for other parts of the world.
Again, it's not a perfect book but it's easy to read and his ideas seem to have borne fruit. In the age of Twitter and Facebook, our attentions are like gnats' and we are reaping what we sowed.