Lost In Technopoly By Neil Postman



Lost in Technopoly

The book Technopoly (1992) by Neil Postman, published more than two decades ago, before social media as we know it today in the 21st century. Despite the passage of time, Postman’s critique of technology remains current and relevant, even though technology has made advances that he could not have been able to fathom. Whether the reader agrees or disagrees with Postman, what he is trying to accomplish is to raise a heightened awareness of ourselves, so that we can get back in touch with our non-technological culture and reconnect with being human; to wake up and reexamine the way we use technology and not allow technology to gain control of us.
Neil Postman argues: “Technopoly is a
He defines bureaucracy as “ simply a coordinated series of techniques for reducing the amount of information that requires processing.” (p.84). Paperwork goes through a series of approvals before the context of the information actually reaches its intended destination. Although some would consider this efficient some would also argue that these kinds of repetitive tasks, these robot like motions and procedures is what adds to creating a dull and unimaginative atmosphere, which reduces efficiency in fact. Postman argues that “ Bureaucracy has no intellectual, political, or moral theory, except for its implicit assumption that efficiency is the principal aim of all social institutions and that other goals are essentially less worthy, if not irrelevant.” (p.85) The examples he gives are mostly quotations and writings from historical figures and writer’s deceased from the past, Alexis de Tocqueville and John Stuart Mill never experienced modern-day technology. C.S Lewis and Vaclav Havel had had their own philosophical and moral agendas. Perhaps if these historical figures from the past had a chance to comment on Postman, they would critique him on how he interpreted their words and