Ok, so I have to admit that I was too chicken to post a blog before any other students, so now that you have I'm posting a blog. Yeah!
I've started reading Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business and it has really caught my interest. In part one he is explaining all about typography and how it changed America, and now I can see how technology is changing America. Everyday someone says something and I am so excited to tell them about this book. Anyways, what I'm trying to say is look around, notice all of the stuff Postman is talking about, I can almost guarantee that you'll hear or see something that applies to his logic. For example, have you ever noticed that shows on TV that are trying to be serious have commercials that blow what the show is actually going to be about way out of proportion? Television has never really been my thing, but I'm definitely forming many opinions about American society today. Today's society is about "knowing lots of things, not knowing about them. "(postman, 70) Just look for evidence today of what Postman is portraying about television, you are guaranteed to find some.
-rachel fisher
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2 comments:
I love Postman. I'll admit it. I'm glad he's got your attention.
Today's society is about "knowing lots of things, not knowing about them. "(postman, 70)
We can see examples of this all the time on television. And ergo, in our lives. Oh, how many times one is led to buy something simply because it has had air time. The eager scientist that values himself in knowing different theories, but cannot jump deep into them. The philosopher that rants about the human emotions, but cannot describe them. The McDonalds ad that involved kids having fun and smiling rather than displaying information about what they are eating...
We don't know what we're buying or consuming, we just know it was on the television for 30 seconds in between a session of The Office.
Oh, soon enough we are victims of propaganda. And propaganda is a tool of Totalitarianism.
...hey, wait a minute, didn't that book "Brave New World" consist of a totalitarianism society...
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