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A review by orangefan65
Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil Postman
4.0
Postman's now-famous thesis on the epistemology of television. That we have become a patently Huxleyan scenario instead of an Orwellian. It isn't - as he says - that all the things we've considered important (such as religion, education and politics) have been made into entertainment; it's that entertainment is now the only thing that's important. Here's a quote:
"America is. in fact, the leading case in point of what may be thought of as the third great crisis in Western education. The first occurred in the fifth century b.c., when Athens underwent a change from an oral culture to an alphabet- writing culture. To understand what this meant, we must read Plato. The second occurred in the sixteenth century, when Europe underwent a radical transformation as a result of the printing press. To understand what this meant, we must read John Locke. The third is happening now, in America, as a result of the electronic revolution, particularly the invention of television. To understand what this means, we must read Marshall McLuhan." (Or Neil Postman, for that matter).
Unfortunately, modern evangelicalism has bought the lie that the gospel must be made "relevant" by being presented as entertainment and story-telling. The dumbing-down of American culture is fully upon us.
"America is. in fact, the leading case in point of what may be thought of as the third great crisis in Western education. The first occurred in the fifth century b.c., when Athens underwent a change from an oral culture to an alphabet- writing culture. To understand what this meant, we must read Plato. The second occurred in the sixteenth century, when Europe underwent a radical transformation as a result of the printing press. To understand what this meant, we must read John Locke. The third is happening now, in America, as a result of the electronic revolution, particularly the invention of television. To understand what this means, we must read Marshall McLuhan." (Or Neil Postman, for that matter).
Unfortunately, modern evangelicalism has bought the lie that the gospel must be made "relevant" by being presented as entertainment and story-telling. The dumbing-down of American culture is fully upon us.