Amusing Ourselves To Death Analysis
Amusing Ourselves to Death
Jordan Ammon
2027489
#2036
10/19/14
In today’s society, we are fed breaking news in a matter of seconds. We are limited to 140 characters on social media networks and we can literally listen to books instead of reading them. In Neil Postman’s book, “Amusing Ourselves to Death,” Postman recognizes the potential harm of today’s electronic society. The main idea of Postman’s thinking is that the image-based media affect’s the quality of information we receive. Postman states that the form in which we receive our information has a direct relationship to the quality of that information. There are two types of cultures Postman identifies: the print, “or typographic” culture, and the television culture. Postman’s idea that image-based media lessens the quality of information relates to these to these cultures because the television culture is the culture that these images are coming from. The typographic culture relates to his idea because this is what he believes is the most effective way to present information; one must be able to sit down and read the information for it to be truly …show more content…
In the 1770’s, reading was beginning to be an everyday activity. The printing press allowed for the first form of media, newspapers, to be widely distributed. This meant everyone could have the opportunity to read, it was not limited to the wealthy or high-class. The printing press was the way that society could carry conversations with one another. Since the typographic culture encouraged using one’s rational mind and interpreting the written information for themselves, it was normal for someone to be able to listen to seven hour lectures. The people were able to speak, write, and comprehend complex sentences. This was because the typographic culture created a disciplined mind, which is very rare in today’s
Jordan Ammon
2027489
#2036
10/19/14
In today’s society, we are fed breaking news in a matter of seconds. We are limited to 140 characters on social media networks and we can literally listen to books instead of reading them. In Neil Postman’s book, “Amusing Ourselves to Death,” Postman recognizes the potential harm of today’s electronic society. The main idea of Postman’s thinking is that the image-based media affect’s the quality of information we receive. Postman states that the form in which we receive our information has a direct relationship to the quality of that information. There are two types of cultures Postman identifies: the print, “or typographic” culture, and the television culture. Postman’s idea that image-based media lessens the quality of information relates to these to these cultures because the television culture is the culture that these images are coming from. The typographic culture relates to his idea because this is what he believes is the most effective way to present information; one must be able to sit down and read the information for it to be truly …show more content…
In the 1770’s, reading was beginning to be an everyday activity. The printing press allowed for the first form of media, newspapers, to be widely distributed. This meant everyone could have the opportunity to read, it was not limited to the wealthy or high-class. The printing press was the way that society could carry conversations with one another. Since the typographic culture encouraged using one’s rational mind and interpreting the written information for themselves, it was normal for someone to be able to listen to seven hour lectures. The people were able to speak, write, and comprehend complex sentences. This was because the typographic culture created a disciplined mind, which is very rare in today’s