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A review by tptashnik
Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil Postman
Reads like a curmudgeon wringing his fists at the new world. Unfortunately, this grandpa was quite prescient.
In response to whether the thesis of the book (that television, through form and seduction, has turned information-disseminating disciplines and industries into a step and dance form of entertainment) applies to the Internet age, I defensively think first to podcasts and long-form journals but am quickly reminded of the sheer amount of shiny objects that exist in opposition—rabbit holes of recommended YouTube videos, a dozen well-stocked streaming services, the list goes on...
To borrow Mr. Postman’s analogy of the tension between visions of the great 20th century dystopian writers, there is an insidious irony in Americans looking at China or the USSR and shaking our heads at the big brother, Orwellian nightmare while unconsciously (or perhaps impassively) subjugating ourselves with Huxley’s “soma.”
It is important to qualify Mr. Postman’s assault on this medium. He views television as innocuous and best equipped to produce junk-entertainment, but incompatible with “serious modes of discourse” (e.g., news, politics, science, education, commerce, religion, etc.)
The section on facts and truth were especially unnerving in our age of "fake news" and another presidential election looming.
Thirty-four years later, a thought-provoking read if you can get past the sometimes priggish prose.
In response to whether the thesis of the book (that television, through form and seduction, has turned information-disseminating disciplines and industries into a step and dance form of entertainment) applies to the Internet age, I defensively think first to podcasts and long-form journals but am quickly reminded of the sheer amount of shiny objects that exist in opposition—rabbit holes of recommended YouTube videos, a dozen well-stocked streaming services, the list goes on...
To borrow Mr. Postman’s analogy of the tension between visions of the great 20th century dystopian writers, there is an insidious irony in Americans looking at China or the USSR and shaking our heads at the big brother, Orwellian nightmare while unconsciously (or perhaps impassively) subjugating ourselves with Huxley’s “soma.”
It is important to qualify Mr. Postman’s assault on this medium. He views television as innocuous and best equipped to produce junk-entertainment, but incompatible with “serious modes of discourse” (e.g., news, politics, science, education, commerce, religion, etc.)
The section on facts and truth were especially unnerving in our age of "fake news" and another presidential election looming.
Thirty-four years later, a thought-provoking read if you can get past the sometimes priggish prose.