My Reaction Amusing Ourselves to Death, by Neil Postman informs us on the evolution of communication. Neil's views are expressed clearly in the text through his opinions and views. I believe that you distinguish his standpoints strong passionate that he writes on his ideas. Along with his passion I sense his attitude, by coming forth in the beginning of the paperback and saying, ".as plainly as I can, this book is an inquiry into and a lamentation about the most significant American culture fact of the second half of the twentieth century: the decline of the Age of Typography and the ascendancy of the Age of Television"(p.8). I deem that this statement shows his straight views, how he says things the way that he really believes, and this is the case through the book. He takes us through the evolution of communication by talking of its birth in the New England Region of the United States and its growth from there. He discusses the meaning of epistemology and how it pertains to his written text, and his broad thoughts. From the epistemology, he moves on to the written word and how it developed in many diverse directions. At the birth of our nation there were no; emails, telephones, or printed material floating around. With these conveniences not in our reach the only tool for communication was found in between our chins and noses: our mouths. Using our mouths as the only implement for communication made things difficult. With this it took a long time for people to be informed on what was going on in the country. People heard everything by what was passed on from the person next to them. So, when there was breaking news about in the country how reliable and accurate do you think that it was? How different do you think that news was from when it started eventually until it ended? For instance with the tragedy on September 11, how long do you think that it would have taken for us Kansans to hear of this? How far from the truth do you think that this news would have been? After the truth passes trough a couple hundred thousand people, I think that it would have more than likely been very distorted and vague.
In Amusing Ourselves to Death Neil Postman declares "we are a people on the verge of amusing ourselves to death."" The decline of the Age of Typography and the ascendancy of the Age of Television have generated a great media metaphor shift in America, with the result that much of our public discour...
Amusing Ourselves to Death Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business Television has entered our homes at an alarming rate since its first conception. ... The result is that we are a people on the verge of amusing ourselves to death (3-4). 2 As the entertainment industry has now became a world dominated force, its shape and form has constantly changed over the years to get to where it has arrived to this day. ...
However, surely it is overly simplistic to claim, as Neil Postman does in his book, "Amusing Ourselves to Death," that these forms of communication, namely television and its predecessors, the telegraph and photograph, single-handedly brought about this decline in the quality of public discourse? ... It should be said that, despite Postman's failure to look at the big picture, and even though there are flaws in his argument, many aspects of "Amusing Ourselves to Death" are worthy of note. ...
During the reading of "Amusing Ourselves to Death," I found my self agreeing and disagreeing at the same time about many of the points Postman makes. The main point of the book the author is trying to convey is the effect of the development of television in our generation and how bad it is for us....
On Ellen's death bed, she is not longer able to repress her true emotions and, even though deep inside of her is something that pushes her to the true and almost permit her to wail her sorrow, she ends up denying all over again. ... It invites to identify ourselves with Granny Weatherall and to attend to aspects of the overall situation to which she herself is only dimly aware. What amuses me the most is the great capacity of denial that human beings can have. We can convince ourselves of something and, if it is practiced enough, we end up believing as a total, undeniable true what at th...
The Puppetry of Postman While reading the tenth chapter of Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death, the reader is manipulated. Television shows such as "Sesame Street," that are generally thought of as educational are portrayed as dentrimental to a child's conception of what is proper behavior...
Death and Emily Dickinson One of the great mysteries in life is death. ... Contrary to popular belief of death being a cold, heartless killer Dickinson personifies Death as a civil gentleman. ... One can infer that Dickinson was at ease and relaxed with Death as they rode in their carriage slowly traveling towards eternity. " The Carriage held but just Ourselves-- and Immortality."" ... In this poem death is not seen as a grave and solemn experience but from a comical and amusing view as demonstrated by the fly interposing on one's death. ... Death is the primary truth of life. ...
Sean Stockman Intercultural Communications December 4, 2002 Amusing Ourselves to Death I have just read Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death. Postman states that the age of typography has been replaced by the age of television. This has changed the way we look at the world and the way we think...
Not aware of it, many of us know someone, if not ourselves, who is an alcoholic. ... Other symptoms include forgetting things that happened while intoxicated, irritability, an unorganized personal or professional life, and seclusion from things that used to occupy time and amuse one's self. ... Deaths due to alcohol use and abuse are very common. Nearly 100,000 deaths annually are caused by alcohol. ...