The Internet Has Changed Things

Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman presents the effects upon a culture whose primary means of public discourse consist of a power outlet and an electronic screen. Postman illustrates the changes to public discourse brought about by the transition from a typographic medium to an electronic medium in a brilliant fashion. Dr. Postman goes on to predict what these changes can mean for the future of society. He saw the possibility of a "culture-death"(156) if society is consumed by triviality and entertainment. The rise of the internet has brought about an even greater change in public discourse since this book was published in 1985. Postman lived to see this new medium while it was still in it's infancy. The internet has now become the primary means of public discourse for a large chunk of the population of the world. The most significant concept that Dr. Postman presents is that Aldous Huxley's vision in Brave New World was coming startlingly true in 1985, and now that observation is more relevant than ever with the rise of the internet. This concept looms over the entirety of the book. The most critical points Postman uses to make this claim include the idea that typography is an inherently more rational means of public discourse and television is not, the conclusion that television has infected every aspect of our lives and turned entertainment into our primary standard of truth, and how the glut of information and entertainment around us has left us in a sea of irrelevance and inaction. These concepts are greatly accentuated by the internet. The internet has changed things.

The idea that typography is an inherently more rational form of public discourse than television is not is an idea that many will struggle to accept. I wager that many people will argue that television is actually making us more rational and even smarter than ever. When television is the primary means of comfort and entertainment for people, and they are confronted with the idea that this comfort could in fact be terrible for them; they move to the "ignore/deny" aspect of cognitive dissonance. People will ignore or deny any fact that they are presented that conflicts with their view of the world. I would argue that the internet is inherently more rational than television depending on the user. The internet has more freedom to provide for thoughtful response to the ideas that are presented to you.

Postman writes about the Lincoln-Douglas debates and how the audience was required to remain fully attentive for up to four hours listening to just one candidate present his arguments in print-like oratory. He contrasts this with our society today, and how many pe...

156 1800 19 1985 24 3 46 69 78 abil abject accentu accept accord acquaint action actual admir age ahh aldous allow almost alreadi also america among amount amus analysi anoth anymor appear argu argument around articl articul artifici aspect attent audienc author avail back backpack bar base basi becom bed begin behind behold belief believ bias bibl billion blog boo book brave break brilliant bring brought busi cabl call camera candid care cat caus cell center chang channel chapter children choic chunk circul claim click cognit combin come comfort command communic complain complet comprehend concept concern concert conclus conflict confront consid consist constant consum content context contrast convey couch could cours creat critic cult cultur culture-death cycl daili day death debat dedic defin definit deni depend detail devoid differ disavow discours discuss display disson distract doesn doublethink dougla downward dr drastic dread dupe easili educ effect electron emerg employ en end enough entertain entireti epistemolog etc even ever everi everyday everyth exalt exchang exist experienc expos extrem eye fact factor fake fals far fashion fast faster feel filter find fingertip first flame flow focus follow forc forev forgo forgotten form found four fourth freedom full fulli futur game gave generat get give given glut go goe goings-on got graviti great greater greatest guilti hand happen hashtag haven healthi hear help high higher hit home hour howev hundr huxley idea ignor ignore/deny illicit illustr imag import inact includ infanc infect inform inher insight instant instead intellectu interest interest-polit internet inventor iphon irrat irrelev kati keep languag larg last left len less life light lighter like limit lincoln lincoln-dougla listen liter literatur live lolol longer look loom lose lovin low low-qual main make mani mass matter may mean meant media medium messag metaphor mind minut modifi moment move much mundan music must n near neil netflix network new news next noth object observ on one onion onlin onto opinion oral oratori order other outlet paus peek peek-a-boo peopl perceiv perman perri person perspect phone photo photograph pick pictur piec place plain plain-languag planet pocket point polit popul possibl post postman poverti power predict pregnant present previous primari print print-lik prove provid public publish put qualiti question rather ratio ration reach read reason receiv recipi reflect relev religion remain replac requir respons right rise satir saw say scene school scienc screen sea second see seem seen serious seven shape share show sight signific sinc singl singular site six smart smarter social societi sole someon someth somewhat space speak speed spoken sport sports-that standard startl state statement status still stop stori stream struggl studi subject surf swept tablet take taken talk technolog telegraph televis terribl text therefor thing third thought thousand throughout tide time today tool topic transit trend tri trivial troubl true truth turn typograph typographi unchang understand unison unless updat upon us use useless user usual varieti various vers video view viewpoint vision wager want watch water wave way web websit well whether whole whose world would write xoxoxoxo yall year yet young