Neil Postman's 'Amusing Ourselves to Death': A Review

The introduction of television casted a wave of change in the lives of the American public. In Gary Edgerton’s The Columbia History of American Television, he described the uprising of television, “involved the most extensive and ballyhooed series of public relations events ever staged around any mass medium in American history. “ (Edgerton, p.1) The first presentation of television played a pivotal role on how the American public adopted the new medium of technology and communication. I will explore the grand manner of how television was presented to the American public during the early years by the direction of David Sarnoff, and televised special of the 1939 World’s fair. In addition, how this presentation of television generated the acceptation

Postman uses an example of Aldous Huxley to demonstrate that our society has been molded into one where the people are too distracted by the media to examine their lives closer and understand that they are virtually powerless. "Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us"(2nd page of Foreword). We, as a society, love television. We watch it when we are bored, when we are tired, and even keep it on when conversations are being had as background noise. Needless to say we love it. Postman uses this quote to show that television, something that we love, is distracting

In Amusing Ourselves to Death, Postman uses an abundant amount of logos to argue his claim. The more that is read, the more difficult it is to dismiss his information. This is because of the consistent use of evidence presented in the form of logos. The entire book is incorporated with facts, statistics, dates, and general logical arguments. In chapter six, Postman stresses how television does not allow for the processing of thoughts. He states, “I should like to illustrate this point by offering the case of the eighty-minute discussion provided by the ABC network on November 20, 1983, following its controversial movie The Day After” (88). The discussion was broadcasted on television with intentions to have valued informational content, but failed miserably according to Postman. He argued this in a logical manner. The discussion lacked deep conversation and the speakers spoke in generalities, as the show did not allow an adequate amount of time. This is a great use of logos because it

Ray Bradbury, the author of the well-known science fiction novel Fahrenheit 451, was alarmed by how much time he felt the public devoted to watching television in the 1950’s. “If this [trend of television watching] goes on…” he wrote, “nobody will read books anymore” (XIII). This thought of a television-obsessed future public frightened Bradbury. He was particularly fearful of how technology might prevent people from forming relationships with each other and connecting with the world around them, which would make them unable to develop human consciousness. He used the format of literature to describe his fears in the futuristic science fiction novel Fahrenheit

In Ray Bradbury’s, Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag, the protagonist in the book, lives in a period of time where television is imperative while literature is on the verge of eradicating. Bradbury portrays a society where entertainment is not only a distraction, but it becomes a dominant aspect in the way individuals function in society. Furthermore, Montag’s ideal world is a world that sees a concept in books rather than television. We live in a world full of advanced technology, however there are drawbacks in the midst of the benefits. Fahrenheit 451 is an example that depicts the disadvantages that comes with the overuse of technology.

    The form of communication created by the television is not only a part of how our modern society communicates, but is has changed public discourse to the point that it has completely redefined it, argued Neil Postman in his convincing book Amusing Ourselves to Death. He viewed this as very harmful, and additionally so because our society is ignorant of it as they quickly becomes engulfed in its epistemology. When faced with the question about whether the television shapes or reflects culture, Postman pointed out that it is no longer applicable because "television has gradually become our culture" (79). What kind of culture is this? Postman warned that it is one in which we

“Fahrenheit 415” is a novel centred on the censorship of literature and art and what impact television and forms of media have on the appreciation of literature and social stimulation. The TV Parlours are what the government have used to not have people think for themselves the only aspect of social stimulation left was the artificial kind created through the panels on the walls where a person could only vocally interact. Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit not long after the Second World War where a common way of initiating fear was to publically burn books because a lot of people lived by what they had learnt in books and found great pleasure in reading. By censoring out all forms of literature the Government eliminates all possible ways of gaining

Today, when almost everyone carries a smartphone, information about everything is instantly right at our fingertips. In today’s society that may seem like a significant advantage over the past, however, in Neil Postman’s book, Amusing Ourselves to Death, he presents a different view. Written some twenty years before widespread use of the internet, Postman builds a case for the liabilities of the endless amounts of information. In the fifth chapter, “The Peek-A-Boo World.” He explores the impact on the public discourse of two mid-nineteenth century inventions, the telegraph, and the photograph. The author views the telegraph changed the public discourse by making information and news irrelevant, impotent and incoherent.

Huxley’s Brave New World is a perfect depiction of twenty first century’s societal conditioning. Although Huxley envisioned his theory coming to fruition more than five decades forward, we can identify many areas in our society that Huxley speaks about. In today’s society media is the most important role in conditioning our society. How can one keep their individuality secure in a world that doesn’t allow for one express their individuality? Huxley’s extreme use of satire helps develop the idea that, Society has some how adopted this false illusion of psychological happiness through media and propaganda.

In the modern day society, books are frowned upon; however, interactive media such as television and seashell radios are highly encouraged. In Fahrenheit 451, Professor Faber fears the aftermath of the world without literature and is portrayed as too cowardly to take action, a “Queen bee, safe in the hive” (87). Through Faber’s lecture to Montag, Ray Bradbury aggrandizes his pessimistic view on society by using characterization, diction, and the selection of detail to present the idea that society relies upon pleasure and happiness so much that literature and common knowledge are rapidly disappearing.

Neil Postman is deeply worried about what technology can do to a culture or, more importantly, what technology can undo in a culture.  In the case of television, Postman believes that, by happily surrendering ourselves to it, Americans are losing the ability to conduct and participate in meaningful, rational public discourse and public affairs.  Or, to put it another way, TV is undoing public discourse and, as the title of his book Amusing Ourselves to Death suggests, we are willing accomplices.

Part one is concerned mostly with background and historical analysis. In Chapter one, "The Medium is the Metaphor," Postman introduces the concept of the media-metaphor. He suggests that an oral culture will speak of the world differently than one that has printed language. It is all an introduction for his basic examination, which aims to show how the television age is undergoing a rapid transformation in the wake of the relatively new media of television. In Chapter two, "Media as Epistemology," Postman examines how any civilization's media will determine the way in which it defines truth.

In Amusing Ourselves To Death, Neil Postman explains identifying qualities for those who lived in the “Age of Exposition.” (63) He believes that between the eighteenth and the nineteenth century American’s had a “Typographic Mind.” (44) Qualities such as attention span and listening ability are just a few examples of the deep understanding they had of the world around them. Neil Postman proves his point through examples of law, advertising, and religion.

Thought: the very basis of the human race. Ideas, opinions, and views, these are what make humanity grow and change as a society. Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 shows the reader a dystopic future of what might happen to a country if people stopped thinking and instead solely let the controllers of mass media exploit their desire for pleasure. This future also shows the end of culture; no original ideas or stories are being made, and all art that still exists is abstract, without “even people or words, anything that would make a person think before they could enjoy it” (McGiveron, “Trick”). The mass exploitation by media in Fahrenheit 451, along with the loss of culture and decline of thought, shows that any society that loses itself can only end in the destruction of its’ people’s minds.

“What is television? What kinds of conversations does it permit? What are intellectual tendencies it encourages? What sort of culture does it produce?” (84) are a few of the questions Postman tries to address throughout the remainder of the book. He wants us to think of television as a medium rather than technology. Postman points out that we do not use television as a communication device, but as an entertainment device. The message of the material has been lost and the entrainment value has become what’s important. Because television is about visuals, it must be rapidly stimulating compared to a book where rational thought is being strategically laid