Media worlds and their cultural significance

Amusing Ourselves With Information

In the early 1400's a new technology came into existence in the Western world that fundamentally altered the way information was transmitted. It was called the printing press, and it introduced the idea of literature in the form of books into Western culture. But the nature of the medium, the book, also fundamentally altered the way information was presented, allowing for a more sequenced, orderly, thoughtful, and reasoned means of organizing and transferring information. But five hundred years later a new technology came into existence that threatened to once again fundamentally change the way information is transferred; the television. Neil Postman, in his book Amusing Ourselves to Death discusses how this new technology has altered the medium by which information is transmitted, and the new nature of the medium forces the information being transmitted to be incomplete, un-sequential, lacking the ability to promote intellectual growth, and un-reasoned. Postman's book was originally published in 1985, a time when television was the main medium of information transmittance, however, several decades later the world is once again faced with a new technology that has fundamentally changed the way information is transmitted. The Internet, and all the technological apparatuses that link the individual to the world at large, have changed not only the way information is transmitted, but the nature of the information itself. Much like Postman asserted that television has reduced the intellectual effectiveness of the nature of the information transmitted through television, the Internet, smart phones, pads and pods, and all the other new information technology tools have turned information into even more of a segmented, isolated, non-integrated, bits of trivia that have no relevance to the world in general.

Postman's book Amusing Ourselves to Death, without summarizing it, deals with the nature of television and its impact on information and the way it is transmitted to the public. The basic assertion of Postman is that television has "dumbed-down" the nature of the information transmitted; it has turned news into entertainment and information as a means of self-gratification. Information is no longer being transmitted in a way that is logical, orderly, thoughtful, and allows for the individual to reflect, think, contemplate, and analyze the information being transmitted. However, with television, the nature of visual stimulation necessitates an ever increasing means of stimulation; "American television, in other words, is devoted entirely to supplying its audience with entertainment." (Postman, 1985, pp. 86-87) and the medium of this entertainment, the television and its production, requires that information transmitted through television be entertaining, which actually reduces the effectiveness of the information. In other words, television cannot transmit information as thoroughly as books can; the information becomes fragmented and the person receiving the information is left uninformed.

With the rise of the Internet and all the technology surround the it field it may seem that information is more accessible, widely distributed, and used more than ever before. People use their computers, pads, pods, smart phones, etc., to check directions, schedules, sales and events, as well as perform work related activities. Technology seems to be completely integrated into modern life, and people use the information within the "web" for a variety of purposes. But the question must be asked as to the nature of this medium of transmitting information, and the effectiveness of it. Is the information being transmitted through this new medium enhancing the individuals' intellectual capacity, or is it being used as a substitute for learning and growing.