Amusing Ourselves to Death

Typically, there's something an author puts forth, something that he assumes is correct, that irks me--not the case with this book.

Briefly: Television, by its very nature and design, is meant to entertain. Therefore, important subjects like politics, schooling, and religion, when displayed on television, are no longer well-reasoned, important subjects, but merely are molded to become entertaining subjects. Television is good for trite shows, but bad when trying to display rational discourse.

Many people (as per the introduction) take this as a calling to throw out their TV's, set down their iPhones, and go for a walk to the park to go read on a bench. Bravo. However, Neil really just wants the world to recognize that no matter what is put on television, it will be inherently restricted, limiting its intellectual potential. For that reason, the written word remains supreme in all things regarding discourse, and television remains supreme for all things regarding entertainment.

The lack of the final star is due to his atrocious syntax, as I'm picky with what I read, and because of his odd penchant for thinking that a quote from Plato would be relevant on each page (I'm being hyperbolic... I know).

Postman's book offered me an opportunity to rethink my views on the medium of television along with the more modern medium of the internet computers and the cell phone. While I did not agree with every point I found the opportunity to Think Through these differences invaluable.

This is a book that has left a strong impression - filled with undeniable truths that can literally shake you to the core if you have not previously read books of this nature. I have gone back to the introduction many times, finding the truths presented there in a few words to be an excellent description for our times. I would recommend this book highly - you will not be disappointed. We really are amusing ourselves to death.

Postman describes his concerns about various forms of entertainment, notably television. He believes that TV prevents the viewers from having deep thoughts. I believe that TV can greatly enhance the viewers understanding of complex topics. This should be done in combination with reading books. One example is studying the causes of the Holocaust.
Another example is tutoring mathematics. Many great illustrations are available on YouYube.
Postman refers to books written by Marshall McLuhan, including “The Medium is the Message”, which was written in 1967. This book argues that people who view TV are less susceptible to propaganda (such as that provided by Hitler on radio) because the viewer is more connected to the images and can see the horrors of war.
Postman claims that we are in danger of being seduced by TV in that way that people in Aldous Huxley’s book, titled “Brave New World” (published in 1931) were controlled by the feel-good drug called “soma”.
He believes that this is a bigger danger for America than that described by George Orwell is his book titled “Animal Farm”, published in 1945. This book describes an oppressive dictatorship, like that in Russia.
I much prefer historians like Ian Morris and Michael Mandelbaum.

This book is significant in that it explains why and how we Americans are losing our intelligence and ability to involve ourselves in original thinking to the culture of electronic media - especially to television and the internet. The author is particularly interested in attacking the television news programs and he makes a considerable amount of sense in the process. Its scary to think that the television and the internet have such power over us, but they do. This book is difficult to sum up in a paragraph - it needs to be read to understand the history and the problem(s).

Enlightening and ominous observations of how large media influences society. Seems to go over the top with some (not all) of the conslusions and predictions in the closing chapters of the book, though. This was written pre-high-volume: cable-TV, internet, blog, Google, MySpace, XM... Not sure if the author is still alive, but it would be interesting to read Postman's assessment of effects of these new media saturation "vectors" that were unforseen by him in the early 80s.

This is a sobering analysis of the direction our culture has taken away from thoughtful, intentional living. This was written in 1986 as an indictment of the contemporary trend of choosing entertainment as the careful thought and informed civic involvement. A simple analysis of the presidential races of the last 12 years would certainly be all that is necessary to validate the premises Postman lays out in his well-reasoned writing.

Postman'd argument is simple and sweet and yet oh so challenging: we used to be able to think about difficult questions on social life and spend some time reflecting on the goods and the bads. Now, television--and all that comes with it, including youtube--is so fast, so full of gloss, and so lacking in meaning, that our way of thinking has changed. We can no longer sit down and think our way through meaningful discourse. We lack the ability to become meaningful participants in our democracy--which means democracy has succumb to the image--the golden idol that Moses cast down before the Israelites as they camped at the foot of Mount Sinai. This book is a must read for everyone and should be taught in high school and college.

Neil Postman offers great questions to consider. Has television changed the way we look at the world? The way we look at ourselves? Postman gives strong arguments that show that it has, and like a frog swimming in a saucepan we haven't noticed that the temperature is rising.

I especially liked his contrast of Orwell's 1984 with Huxley's Brave New World. Anyone interested in life (religion, politics, education) needs to read this book. It will inform your world view!

Postman delivers a stirring perspective of the effects technology plays on society today, both politically and socially. The book was clearly before its time and almost all scenarios could be applied to today's technologies. It's a must read for anyone looking to better understand how technology has shaped their life and ideals as well as for anyone who is concerned about the origins of current public discourse.

While a critique of the medium of television, this book is thought provoking and easily translates to our digital world. Will change the way you view television and technology and likely have you questioning how you consume information.

Postman is able to conglomerate his views and focus the on the issue of how we are responding to media and how we are not effectively evaluating the impact of media on our society. The most poignant statements deal with the challenge to think about these things and not assume that a medium or media is amoral or neutral.