Amusing Ourselves To Death Postman Analysis

Is a “Fox News Alert” a piece of vital information that must be adhered to immediately or just a metaphor for another piece of trivia, useless information? Before the invention of the telegraph in the mid-nineteenth century, not only would a minor news alert be impossible but also “the news of the day”. America, in colonial times and then on through to the middle twentieth century, when television would come to dominate the as the preferred medium of information, America was submerged in a culture dominated by the influence of the printed word. As Neil Postman writes in Amusing Ourselves to Death, in the chapters “Typographic America” and “The Typographic Mind”, he explores the influence of a print-based culture in the realms of education, religion, and politics. First, look at the importance Postman places at school and the literacy levels of Colonial America. Over time, the printing press had allowed the ordinary man to become literate. What was once a luxury only the aristocratic class,
In the early days of colonization, community ministers were funded to start religious libraries. While of course the bible was central reading in all households, it was supplemented by other printed material. The “Bay Psalm Book” printed in 1640 is often referred to America’s first best seller. Just as on leture circuit where print style oratory dominated in behind the pulpit aslo. Sermons consisted of written speeches, quite stately , cold and distinguished, with an impersonal tone. Even with the rise of Great Awakening, that arose in opposition to the cold antylical Diest movement, their oratoiry could easily transform into the printed word. In fact, after attending a Great Awakening, superstar, George Whitefield extravaganza, Ben Franklin secured publishing rights for the popular