Today we are in the midst of a second, digital revolution that is laying the groundwork for an international and interactive information infrastructure in which once separate media are already converging. A classic example of this convergence is the medium of television. Television blends mostly sound and print to produce a new medium that may influence public discourse. Neil Postman believes that the nature of knowledge created by television does not allow for intelligent reasoned discourse. Postman aligns himself between several factions of sociologists, cognitive psychologists, philosophers and anthropologists that believe in the power of television to influence thought patterns and its power to determine intelligence among different generations and cohorts. . He has made three counterclaims to arguments that may arise from his discussion, not "assault", on discourse and the modern media.
There have been many that have argued that changes in the media affect the thought process. Although Postman gives credence to the theories that have been laid down by these philosophers, he stresses the importance to look past these notions so as to narrow down his thesis. The human mind has the capacity not only for concrete and abstract thinking, but also for deductive reasoning. The discussion at hand emphasizes that structures may be altered but the problem that lies within media advances is the way in which people choose to use these capacities. Elitists have long argued that the manifest content of television should be changed to lead the country in a more serious direction. Postman balks at this idea! Television is an emotionally based form of communication that appeals to our concrete nature of images mixed in with blurbs of sound. Television projects its use as an art form of electronic theater rather than a credible source of public discourse. As Postman states, it would be absurd to consider electronic media leading the way in proper intellectual deliverance of information.
