A Critique of Chapter 11 in Neil Postman's Technopoly.
In chapter 11 ("The Loving Resistance Fighter") of the book Technopoly, published in 1992, Neil Postman focuses on a solution to the problems created by Technopoly. A "Technopoly" (a word postman capitalizes throughout the book) is a society that no longer merely uses technology as a support system but instead is shaped by it. Postman proposes that we become "loving resistance fighter(s)" who retain "the narratives and symbols that once made the United States the hope of the world"(p.182). He believes education is to lead the resistance against technology by changing the curriculum to help restore a sense of meaning and purpose lost to the Technopoly. This change in curriculum puts a large emphasis on humanity's historical development.
As an engaging cultural critic, professor at New York University, and author of numerous books on the themes of education and technology, Neil Postman is well positioned to comment on the relation of technology to culture. The relation as he sees it is one in which culture is subservient to and controlled by both invisible (I.Q. scores, statistics, polling techniques) and visible (television, computers, automobiles) technologies. Technology, Postman admits, is a friend but mostly it is a dangerous enemy that intrudes into a culture, changing everything, while destroying the vital sources of our humanity.
Neil Postman offers direction to those who want to defend themselves from the destructive effects of Technopoly. This direction is based on the idea of the loving resistance fighter. The loving resistance fighter is the perfect balance of admiration for the country and resistance to Technopoly. The resistance fighter is aware of the advantages and disadvantages associated with technology. Technology is therefore seen as unnatural, controlling, and dangerous. .
In chapter 11 Postman gives examples of people who resist the American Technopoly.