Book Report "Amusing Ourselves to Death"

AMUSING OURSELVES TO DEATH
Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business
By: Neil Postman

Professor Postman wrote his book in 1985, often referencing George Orwell’s book “1984” and the free world’s fear that, “Big Brother” would be watching us through television and controlling all information that society would be able to read and watch. He warns that this should not be society’s greatest fear but rather closer to Aldous Huxley’s, “Brave New World,” where society’s every need is taken care of. Where humans are genetically engineered and thinking is no longer necessary. If you have a problem, just take a “happy” (soma) pill. It’s ironic that I wasn’t familiar with the book “Brave New World,” but I now can Google it and do in a few minutes what other generations might have had to invest days to do. This is exactly what Neil Postman was prophesying for our future, he warns, “. . . our own tribe is undergoing a vast and trembling shift from the magic of writing to the magic of electronics.” He includes in that, the desire to read and gain knowledge, as well as the desire to carry on meaningful conversations.

In Media as Epistemology, he warns that we are moving from the age of knowledge and the desire to seek knowledge to the age of wanting to be continuously entertained. He would not be surprised to know that we now get our news through entertainers such as, Steve Colbert and Jon Stewart. Information, as he warns is not interesting unless embedded in an entertainment format. Unlike eras of the past where verbal communication was so much a part of how we gathered knowledge, we no longer have the time for that. We all want our information in sound bites. Wouldn’t he have been blown away by cell phones and text messaging? Television is the enemy of conversation according to Professor Postman. The art of conversation has guided people throughout history. Societies have used oral history and the lessons that are passed down from generation to generation, long before the alphabet was created. He tells us; that is how parents teach their children the rules of life, is through mnemonic devices, formulaic expressions and parables. We have become passive watchers of other people speaking or storytelling. We are great devourers of visual input and visual stimulation, but we don’t want to have to think or formulate ideas.

In Typographic America I was surprised to find out how literate Colonial America was. I knew from early American history classes that our founding fathers were prolific writers, but didn’t understand what an impact that has had on learning in America. Books, reading, and having writing skills are what have made America great. In some of the colonies, education was required and part of their religious beliefs, “From public schools shall general knowledge flow. For ‘tis the people’s sacred right to know.” Books were an important part of religious education and practicing religious and politic freedom. There was a higher literacy rate in the New World than in England. Education was the great equalizer in the New World, everyone who knew how to read and write could have a part in the political and social process of the day. Knowledge was no longer reserved for the elite; it was available for even the commonest of men. Authors were idolized like “rock stars” of today and books sold like “blockbuster movies.” Professor Postman tells his readers that religion in early America and specifically minister’s sermons played a large part in values and education.

The Typographic Mind, made me realize how captivated Americans used to be by the spoken word. I couldn’t believe anyone would listen to a debate for seven hours. We want our information today in seven minutes and the rest is commercial time. I never lived in an age without television but I always wondered what people did before television and how they got their information. Newspapers have never been a part of my life, but I do realize that there was a time when newspapers were the most important way for information to be circulated to the general public. It’s inconceivable that one man’s words could have such an impact on our nation without television being involved. It was humorous to me when Professor Postman talked about a fat person couldn’t get elected to public office today. Television has made politics all about how you look, not about the content of the message.

The Peek-a-Boo World is what we embarked on when electricity was harnessed. Neil Postman suggests that was the end of real discourse between people. Telegraphy, like cell phone text messaging, was the breakdown of meaningful conversation. We became a “context free” America. This is the age when speed of information began to creep into our culture. We suddenly could know what was happening all over the world, that day. The most compelling part of his argument in this chapter is when he points out that; “For the first time in human history, people were faced with the problem of information glut, which means that simultaneously they were faced with the problem of diminished social and political potency.” I think this means we decided we wanted the Cliff Notes version for everything. We have become a culture of only being in the moment. We don’t need to have a frame of reference or store information in memory or think too deeply. We are in the age of instant information.

The Age of Show Business, is where my generation has gotten all of its information and in some cases earliest education. The purpose of the book was to warn about what television was going to do to our society. What he must have known before his death in 2003 was that, television has taken over our lives. Its culture defines who we are and how we make choices in our lives. We have become the consumer of all things show business. Our idols and our icons are spoon fed to us by television executives and television personalities. American television, as the author points out, is all over the world. Everyone wants to emulate our Western ways. Even Sesame Street that seems so benign in content is on Professor Postman’s hit list. He basically, says it was the beginning of the end for teaching with substance. Even educators who encouraged the watching of Sesame Street would become the victims of a generation that expected to be entertained and visually stimulated at the same level that television had to offer. How flat and mundane the classroom became. Professor Postman scoffs at the “new classroom” and references the millions of dollars that were poured into the, “Voyage of the Mimi” program. His question being . . . “What is television good for?, not, What is education for?.

I found it interesting that the book doesn’t really address computers and what computer technology is doing to our society, except in the last chapter, where he talks about ‘Americans accorded it their customary mindless inattention.’ The sequel to this book, if ever written, would be how computers and microchip technology have taken over our lives. His final prophesy that I feel is so moving, ends with these thoughts. “ Until, years from now, when it will be noticed that the massive collection and speed-of-light retrieval of data have been of great value to large-scale organizations but have solved very little of importance to most people and have created at least as many problems for them as they may have solved.” I thought about my grandfather’s frequent lament that he is no longer driving the train, he is now a passenger. It seems that Neil Postman was warning us that society is heading toward being willing passengers on the “information highway,” no longer caring what we are losing along the way.

Mass Media and Society Final

The Medium is the Message
Marshall McLuhan believed that “the medium is the message.” When most people study mediums and their affect on society they tend to focus more on the content within the medium. This is where McLuhan felt there was a discrepancy. He believed that when wanting to research the affects of a medium on society that regardless of its content the medium would still have the same affects. It is what people do when engaging with a particular medium that must be researched and analyzed. There are certain expectations that are associated with a medium that regardless of its content this expectation will still occur. A medium affects our lifestyle as a society. Whether enhancing it by making things easier or taking away from it by reducing the amount of physical activity we get. So when McLuhan says “the medium is the message” he means take away the content and look specifically at the medium and how it affects our lives. It is what we do as a consequence of the medium’s presence that socially affects us.

Movies and the Web
The message of a movie can be interpreted as many things. One message could be the act of silence that is instilled in us once a movie begins. The fact is that most of us consider a movie a date but hardly any verbal interaction occurs. It is a way to avoid awkward moments between you and another person. A movie is viewed in its entirety and is understood by images and sound. In order to review it, you must watch the entire movie again. Most people watch movies as a form of entertainment because it’s a medium that allows people to tell stories. The web on the other hand has the capability to show a movie but can also do much more than just that. It allows people to have instant access to review anything they wish. The web inspires competition by its ability to post mass amounts of information about different products. It is personal in the aspect that the user controls the content. Reality is that the web is a medium with multiple mediums embedded. We get movies, news feeds, books, newspapers, journals but the message of each medium is entirely different. Which means the web’s message is entirely different than any single medium. The web causes us to expect instant and accurate results. This leads many of us to procrastination because we rely on the instantaneous results from searching online.

Kindle and IPod
The Kindle and IPod are very similar in the fact that they both are portable devices that you download entertainment to. The IPod has been around for a while and most people know that you can download music and videos to this device. Where as, the Kindle, is fairly new but you are able to download full issues of books to the device. These two devices both portray a message of portable entertainment. It is customizable to contain exactly what you would like to hear or read. With these devices you are able to have on demand entertainment that allows you to escape your busy lifestyle. These inventions were created because people have become so mobilized that they want everything to be compacted into one device. Overall these two devices are about personalization and instant purchases. Society has become an “I want what I want, when I want it, and where I want to have it” society and these two devices definitely fit these desires.

Email and Social Networking
Email has become a widespread form of communication in today’s society. The message of email is to be able to communicate with someone with out having to physically see or talk to someone. It eliminates the need for interaction. It allows us to review what we want to say to someone before we send it. I believe that it has caused people to avoid interacting face to face because they fear instant reactions. During a face to face encounter or even via phone you must react instantly to questions or accusations. Where as via email you can read the message on your own time and carefully think of how to respond to someone’s message. Although email is known for being an instant transfer of data, it is not as instant as face to face interaction and therefore allows people to reply to others at their own convenience. The medium has created a less personal but more convenient way of communicating. Social networking can be considered to have similar affects of email. Social networking also eliminates that need for face to face interaction; you can now find your soul mate without ever having to meet them. It may be a place where we reveal more information about ourselves but you are able to hide behind a screen. We can present ourselves in the most desirabe way possible when posting information about ourselves on social sites. It is a form of communication that is both instant and delayed. It again is associated with convenience and when you’re in the mood to socialize. A social networking site is a way for you to inform people about yourself and a way to keep in touch with people.

Newspaper
If I owned a newspaper in today’s current market my priority would be to create a website. Not just make PDF’s of the newspaper and post it online but create an interactive website. I would cater my information toward 40 year old people and younger. The website would have an area for them to write comments to the journalist and editors. I would hire young journalist to report on current news and have several different perspectives for the same issue. I would encourage my staff to add a blog to the website so they can capture an audience. The website would contain live video stream from on site investigation gathered by journalist. I would focus on creating a following and capture people because they liked the style of our reporting. One thing I would like my “newspaper” to report is more stories on local citizens. Whether it was an entrepreneur or a kid doing charity work, I would like everyday for there to be a new story. Once the site became more established I could ask followers to submit suggestions for our local citizen reports. My goal for the website would be to make our customers feel engaged with our product. As for tackling the 40 and up readers, I would lower the price of the newspaper and continue to sell printed copies until the readers have dropped down to 25%. The lower price might also encourage more people to pick up the paper. I would advertise the website in the newspaper telling readers if they would like updated information or if in the future they would like to print a copy of the paper off the website they could. I would be directing all of my readers to the website instead of completely losing them. If advertisers bought ads in the paper I would post their advertisement for free on our website. My goal would be to satisfy my customers and I know the answer currently is not to eliminate the printing press. Eventually I will turn my printing press warehouse into an office space and rent out the building. Most of my staff once we go online will be working from home and therefore an office would not be necessary. Obviously I would keep some space with the proper editing, video, and computer equipment to keep our online website in business.