Neil Postman in View of

While others, will see little to no effect until much later on. his is the point that there is a transformation in who is able to gain from any kind of advancements that are occurring. ("Neil Postman," 2000)

he ecological transformations are when major changes are impacting the environment and everything surrounding it. his leads to massive adjustments in daily life and the way everyone is interacting with each other. In some cases, this means that select parties who could control these mediums. While at other times, these actions are limited by increasing amounts of competition and regulations. According to Postman, this is preventing a single party from controlling these areas. When this happens, it will ensure that these changes benefit stakeholders fairly. ("Neil Postman," 2000)

echnology becoming mythic is when these transformations are so large. hey are resulting in false assumptions about: particular products, services, organizations and industries. As…… [Read More]

Neil Postman's Viewpoint Neil Postman

Societal pressures not to attend four-year institutions may increase from family members, or at very least, it may become more expected that workers take a 'virtual' route to education, unless they are very wealthy.

One of the dangers of technology is that the opportunity to use technology creates different social norms. Today, everyone has a cell phone because it is expected, and to function in society people assume they can contact you 24/7. Society is structured around people with access to a fast-paced car, access to information through television, and a computer. Once technology becomes ubiquitous, it is hard to ignore it, unless you strive to become part of a parallel society like the Amish, governed on different values. If technology and distance education becomes the accepted way education is disseminated, a close faculty and student relationship, sitting at the student union and chatting with friends about important issues will…… [Read More]

Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business

Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to death:

Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business

The age of television began in the 1950's when the majority of Americans were finally able to have power brought directly to their houses and have a television set installed. Television, as is discussed in the book by Neil Postman, is not something that, by virtue of the technology, has a specific use or destination in the American life (83), but it does have a central place because of its use as a medium. Postman makes several arguments about how the medium is used, and how it has changed how people think and act. He also makes the case that this may not be the best course for Americans because it takes away their ability to have a true public discourse. In this paper, Chapter Six, in which Postman talks about television as a medium in…… [Read More]

Neil Postman Five Things We Need to Know About Technological Change

Technology

eflecting Upon Postman's Ideas Concerning Technological Change

Overall, I agree with the presentation and argumentation of Postman's ideas. Each one of his ideas is correct and manifests in the 21st century. There is evidence of each one of his ideas as part of mainstream global culture and certainly mainstream American culture.

His first idea leads smoothly into his second idea, which is a further clarification or example for the first idea. His second idea is that technology hurts some and helps others. This is part of the cost of technology. The Internet is immensely useful to most global users. It is also useful to crackers (criminal versions of hackers) who make people victims of identity theft and various other kinds of crimes and scams. Consider the people whose lives have been ruined by Twitter, FaceBook, and Youtube. The technology often makes the crime possible and facilitates the execution of…… [Read More]

Disappearance of Childhood by Neil Postman How

Disappearance of Childhood by Neil Postman [...] how social literacy created what we call childhood, and why is childhood threatened today? Author Postman believes childhood is threatened today because children do not have a chance to be children. Modern developments like television and other media are rapidly what the author calls "disappearing" childhood because they alter the way children and families experience early life, and pressure children into becoming "little adults" at a very early age.

Neil Postman begins his book with the poignant statement, "Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see" (Postman xi). Unfortunately, as the book consistently notes, childhood is rapidly disappearing around the world. Postman often notes children are no longer allowed to be "children," they are products of a society based more and more on the media, and the media presents an adult world of aggression, violence, sex, and…… [Read More]

Postman Amusing Ourselves to Death

Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death

Neil Postman was a special type of a man and considered that he was not an expert on anything, and yet he was ready to express his opinion on every subject under the sun. The person's mind was continuously working at jokes, headlines and different ideas. This infected an individual when he met Mr. Postman and that could be responded to only with humor, and even that was likely to bring out more ideas. There were a lot of people who knew him -- in excess of a hundred thousand or so -- had first met his humor. This was also reflected in the books that he wrote. Each of these is also a source of propaganda for his views and written like an essay. The first was "The Disappearance of Childhood" in 1982, and this was on the infantile nature of American culture. The…… [Read More]

Education Postman's Viewpoint Carefully Reflect

It is no longer necessary to attend a class in person, but instead attendance is online at the student's convenience, and that means it is much more possible for students to get an education and support an institution at the same time. Thus, technology has revolutionized education, and has made it much more possible for everyone to attend a university or other school, and that is certainly something to celebrate, rather than grumble about.

It is certainly true that every culture must deal with technology in their own way. Americans have embraced technology, and it makes sense that it would spread to education. Today's young people are a familiar with technological devices as they are with their own families, and this makes them ideal candidates for more distance education in the future. They are already whizzes at texting, camera photography, and video games, so developing additional methods of delivery and…… [Read More]

Anderson and Postman on Benedict

Philip Curtain notes that the democratic revolution that began with the American and French revolutions continued through the Spanish-American wars for independence (Curtain). The emancipation of the plantation complex stretched from 1770 to 1890 and through the period of orld ar I, while wage-labor plantations continued the racial domination of European masters over non-European workers lasted even longer, because the plantation complex was far too elaborate to be dismantled suddenly because in most places it depended on a continuous flow of fresh slaves to replace births and deaths (Curtain). Points out that the slave trade to the U.S. was relatively unimportant because it had a slave population that could increase by natural growth, thus abolition hit the European countries harder (Curtain).

orks Cited

Anderson, Benedict. Printing and the Origins of National Consciousness.

Postman, Neil. The Disappearance of Childhood.

Curtain, Philip D. The Tropical Atlantic in the Age of the Slave…… [Read More]

Technology Today

Technology

Neil Postman warns against a full-scale embracing of technology and technological advancement in his article "Five Things We Need to Know about Technological Change." While the author agrees that new and emerging technologies do not necessarily pose truly unique problems for society, Postman does acknowledge that technology plays an increasingly powerful role in the world. Technology affects all aspects of human existence, from politics to education to religion. Postman presents the "five things we need to know" to encourage a prudent and balanced perspective on technological growth. The first of his five adages outlines thee disadvantages that each technology brings. For example, automobiles pollute the environment and television has dulled many minds. Postman asserts that the most powerful and influential technologies often bring the deepest dangers. The second thing on Postman's list addresses the social injustices and inequalities that technology often evokes in a culture. The rich and powerful…… [Read More]

Amusing Ourselves With Information in

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.

In chapter 10 of Amusing Ourselves to Death, Postman presents his readers with three commandments that television seems to always follow when it comes to the transmitting of information: have no prerequisites, induce no perplexity, and avoid exposition. (Postman, 1985, pp. 147-148) He asserts that these commandments force television to undermine the idea that sequence and continuity impact…… [Read More]

Amusing Ourselves to Death

Amusing Ourselves to Death

Media has a very powerful impact on people, which is the reason its advantages and disadvantages are discussed so very often. With every new technology entering our world, we start wondering just how this would later impact our society, culture, consumer market etc. This is because every medium brings along a message and while we believe that message is more important, some social critics maintain it is the medium, which was more powerful than the message itself. Neil Postman admittedly based his book, Amusing ourselves to Death" on the aphorism. 'Medium is the message' which was coined by media expert Marshall McLuhan in 1959. In his book Medium is the Message (1967), he wrote, "The medium is the message because it is the medium that shapes and controls the scale and form of human association and action. The content and uses of such media are as…… [Read More]

Computers and Culture Using the Book Technopoly

computers and culture, using the book "Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology," by Neil Postman, and other resources. Specifically, it will answer the questions: How have computers and computer networks changed human thinking, behavior, and lifestyle? What has been gained? What has been lost? What are the advantages of computers in communication? In education? In entertainment? In the economy? What are the disadvantages in these areas? Is computer technology creating winners and losers, or furthering social stratification? Have we become too dependent on computers? Do computers limit social skills and physical activity to a damaging degree? Why or why not? Computers have changed our national culture and our global culture, and not always for the better. When they were first developed for the mass market, computers were meant to increase productivity and cut down on paper work. Today, computers have permeated every section of our lives, and our culture.…… [Read More]

Educated Person

Educated Person

The definition of education is not universal; nor is the definition of an educated person. In some cultures, education may mean being well-versed in age-old magical rituals, herbal lore, and spiritual healing. In others, education may mean a complete command of the tools of agriculture and animal husbandry. In yet others, education might denote mainly the acquisition of specific skills, applicable to a specific trade. In modern estern European and North American cultures, an educated person need not be knowledgeable in religious or spiritual matters; in farming methods; or in a specific trade. Rather, education and being educated connote entirely different and in some cases less practical things. For example, an individual with a PhD in Philosophy will be thought of as an "educated person" by nearly every citizen of the United States. However, place that person in the woods with no food, shelter, or clothing, and he…… [Read More]

Media News

Multisource Comparison:

British vs. American newspapers and journalistic styles

The popular stereotype that 'the British' are more erudite, well-spoken and intelligent than Americans persists, as can be seen in the tendency to bestow a British accent upon any characters who are intended to be perceived as cold, aloof, and intellectual in American sitcoms. In the world of newspapers, however, such stereotypes evaporate. The British possess some of the most widely-read newspapers in the world. However, it is often American papers like New York Times that are considered the superior newspapers of record, even more so than the London Times in the eyes of most British journalists. Despite the homogenization of the news due to the permeation of online media culture, British and American newspapers continue to have distinctly different characters. In Great Britain, newspapers are expected to be far more partisan and far less scrupulously fact-checked than their American counterparts.…… [Read More]

Orwell vs Huxley

Brave New orld

The two books 1984 and Brave New orld reflect futuristic views that are quite different and dichotomous. Indeed, 1984 reflects a world of dystopia and punitive government while the work Brave New orld reflects one of more utopian conditions but is no less controlled and crafted by a master plan. The noted social critic Neil Postman postulates that Huxley's version of the world in Brave New orld more closely matches that of our current actual world. However, while there is some grain of truth to that, there are some facets of Brave New orld that are not in place now and the chances of that changing in the foreseeable future is practically nil in the view of the author of this report.

Analysis

First up on this report will be a compare and contrast of the two works in general terms. First off, an obvious difference between…… [Read More]

Media the Age of Typography Began With

Media

The age of typography began with the Enlightenment and flourished in the New World, and coincided with significant social, political, and economic changes. As Postman (2005) points out in Amusing Ourselves to Death, Protestants with a predilection toward intellectualism made books and reading integral to American life. "The influence of the printed word in every arena of public discourse was insistent and powerful not merely because of the quantity of printed matter but because of its monopoly," (Postman, 2005, p. 41). In other words, print had a monopoly on information, communication, and the exchange of ideas. Print became endowed with a level of political and social significance that it does not have in the digital age, as there are now multiple modes of information exchange. When printed matter was all there was, the very ideals of democracy depended on it.

During the typographic age, content was meaningful as well…… [Read More]

Amusing Ourselves to Death

Amusing Ourselves to Death

In Chapter Seven of Neil Postman's book Amusing Ourselves to Death, the author critiques television news, claiming that its flashy format has reduced reality to fluff for entertainment value. While there are some exceptions to Postman's perception of television news, in general the author is correct in claiming that television news is "news without context, without consequences, without value, and therefore without essential seriousness ... news as pure entertainment," (100). At first it may be temping to disagree with Neil Postman's harsh criticisms of television news, especially those that are based on his claim that most newscasters have to have faces fit for magazine covers. Any cursory glance at some reporters reveals that at least some are overweight and comparatively unattractive. However, most, if not all, television news anchors have what Postman calls "credible" faces; otherwise, they would be doing radio news. Postman's critique of what…… [Read More]

Impact of Computers on Learning

Computers on Learning

Educator ichard Clark once argued that "The best current evidence is that media are mere vehicles that deliver instruction but do not influence student achievement any more than the truck that delivers our groceries causes changes in our nutrition" (Clark, 1983, p. 445). Essentially, Clark argued that using a specific medium to provide instruction did not necessarily lead to improved learning. For example, he noted that media studies were so unpredictable that performance or time improvements cannot be attributed to a specific medium, but instead can often be explained by changes in instructional methods or novelty. Clark (1983) went on to note, "The choice of vehicle might influence the cost or extent of distributing instruction, but only the content of the vehicle can influence achievement" (p. 445).

Clark's statement had a dramatic impact on the field of educational technology. Jones (1999) notes that after the publication of…… [Read More]

Classic Literature for a New Generation When

Classic Literature for a New Generation

When one watches "Rambo: First lood Part II" are we actually watching a contemporary version of the Iliad about the ferocity of Achilles on and off the battleground? When we watch Francis Ford Coppola's "Godfather" trilogy, are we really watching Aeschylus's Oresteia trilogy? Is today's "Jerry Springer" yesterday's Euripides' Hippolytus? Is Rodney Dangerfield's "ack to School" really Aristophanes's The Clouds? Could flicking through the pages of Playboy be tantamount to listening to Plato's Symposium, a discourse on sex and love, or reading Castiglione's Renaissance courtesy novel The ook of the Courtier? (Spectrum, Australia, 1)

Richard Keller Simon, in his book Trash Culture advocates the simultaneous study of classic literature through its traditional forms and contemporary interpretation, highlighting the importance of promoting popular culture in conjunction with classic literature in order to comprehend the crucial perspective in which the books materialize. (R. K. Simon, California,…… [Read More]

Presumption Often Promulgated by Scholars

They goal for globalization is to increase material wealth and the distribution of goods and services through a more international division of labor and then, in turn, a process in which regional cultures integrate through communication, transportation and trade. The overall theory is that if countries are tied together cooperatively economically, they will not have needed to become political enemies (Smith 2007). Notice the continuum here -- globalization, like modernization, is a process, but a process that insists movement from A to B. is not only desirable, but necessary to become part of the Global Club. hile this is primarily an economic determinant, nothing exists in a vacuum. Therefore, economics drive technological, social, cultural, political, and even biological factors. And, with this exchange of paradigms, there is transnational circulation of ideas, languages, popular culture, and communication through acculturation. Typically, we see the movement of globalization moving into the developing world…… [Read More]

Cultural in the United States

Cultural in the United States

Compare and contrast what Morris Berman, Frank Capra, and David Fincher present as the flaws in our culture's pursuit of material self-interest.

Morris Berman, Frank Capra, and David Fincher present the society in postmodern consumer where the masculine identity is lost: the gray-collar male personnel and the satisfaction socially created by the society focused in materialism. Technology is the baseline for Berman's argument. The argument goes well-known to Neil Postman, and McLuhan Marshal it is not normal, not only does it change the way we connect with the rest of the world, but it also gets our brains wired (Berman 21). A normal brain of a person who has been print raised differs with a big margin from that of a person who, most of his time is corrupted by the internet.

However, the significance of the internet is making a reduction to our understanding…… [Read More]

Define Media

media as an extension of the human society. Toward this end, this study will conduct a review of the literature in this area of inquiry. In today's society media is linked with almost every activity and as well, media saturates the lives of individuals. Social media, including such as Facebook, Flicker, and LinkedIn are used by many individuals to keep in contact with friends and family who live both near and far away.

The word media is a Latin derivation of the word medius which means 'middle' and as such, media serves as a mediator between media individuals and institutions in society. McLuhan (nd) writes that in a culture such as the one in which American society is presently situated and in fact, which the entire world society presently exists "it is a bit of a shock to be reminded that, in operational and practical fact, the medium is the…… [Read More]

Cultural Literacy - Issues &

scu.edu).Andre goes on to say some critics see Hirsch's efforts to bring culture into the classroom are not so much "cultural literacy" but more like "cultural indoctrination." Not only is the Hirsch strategy and methodology seen as flawed, Andre and Velasquez continue, the "content" he prescribes is subject to criticism. For example, the question of "Whose form of knowledge, culture, vision, history and authority will prevail as the national culture?" should be asked, and Hirsch knows that is an issue. "Will they, like Hirsch, be white, middle-class males?" Andre wonders, and will they be elitist?

Hirsch meanwhile answers these accusations in his Core Knowledge Web site, saying that the contend must arise from "a broad consensus of diverse groups and interests." That consensus should include the parents, teachers, scientists, "professional curriculum organizations, and experts on America's multicultural traditions." The "central motivation behind" his core knowledge initiative is "to guarantee equal…… [Read More]

Huxley & G Orwell Two

Whatever happened you vanished, and neither you nor your actions were ever heard of again" (Orwell, 1949, p.168).

Capitalism

Principles of mass production are very clear in the novels. Huxley for instance, applied the idea of mass production in human reproduction, since the people has abandoned the natural method of reproduction. Mass production as the conventional feature of capitalism and Huxley's novel reinforces such. He talked about the requirement of the World State about constant consumption, which is considered as foundation of its stability. Huxley apparently criticizes the commercial dependence of the world towards goods. Conditioning centers teaches people to consume. Orwell similarly provides criticism to capitalism as well: "The centuries of capitalism were held to have produced nothing of any value." The Proles are the symbols of the capitalist system as they constitute the working class who work in assembly lines.

Destruction of the concept of family

oth novels…… [Read More]

Dickens & Bronte Keeping the

Cathy is, although temporarily lowered to a servant when Lockwood first meets her, was brought up from birth by her father to be a refined young girl, and Hareton is the rightful owner of the estate he inherits, not a true orphan and stable boy like Heathcliff.

The shift in the individual and personal past cannot change society in Bronte -- perhaps because Bronte's tale is a romantic tale, embracing both female and male experience, and this acknowledges the limits of gender, of both partners in a relationship. In contrast, Scrooge's initially rejection of human kindness is solely told in male-directed, economic terms -- by providing a turkey and medical care for Bob Cratchit's family, Scrooge becomes a good man. Scrooge is more powerful, financially, even if he lacks a heart socially, than Catherine or Cathy is, as both are women who are possessed of an estate only through patrilineal…… [Read More]

Television and Cybergs to Morphing

If the medium is one requiring intellectual thought and inquiry, then the media is likely to be interpreted as such; likewise, in the case of television, the corollary holds true.

Donna Haraway takes the "medium as the message" statement a few steps further. There is no denying that she sees a powerful connection between the medium and the message. Perhaps, she takes this message a bit too far or a bit too fast (It may just be that I'm not willing to accept her cyborg theory since I'm just beginning to understand the meaning of a cyborg). Specifically, when Haraway wears the hat of media theorist, she sets forth the forward-thinking, modern, and somewhat controversial statement that human beings are so closely linked to the mediums of today that we are actually morphing into half cyborg-half human creatures given our interconnectedness with the medium of computers themselves and their intrustion…… [Read More]

Mckibben's Book the Age of

She used some commercial breadcrumbs and a bit of the commercial, grated cheese together and cooked the cutlets in a skillet. She served them with a salad. I realized that watching and listening to a 'real person' was actually a much better, as well as a more enjoyable way to learn how to cook than watching a television show. I could ask questions, and learn how to do things that the cooks on television assumed I already knew how to do -- and I could also 'taste' and touch the results, which is even more important with a how-to product like cooking.

My entire experiment made me wonder about the popularity of home-improvement television in general. I wonder how much really people get out of it, or if we have become so conditioned to looking to television for information, we don't realize that it is better to sometimes try to…… [Read More]

Gender and Sex Blurred Lines or Clear

Gender and Sex: Blurred Lines or Clear Boundaries?

One of the hottest songs of summer 2013 was a song by Robin Thicke called "Blurred Lines." The song gained popularity because of its catchy tune, and many people who found themselves dancing along to the song found themselves surprised by the lyrics when they actually listened to the song. In fact, the lyrics to the song were sufficiently suggestive that discussions about whether they were a symbol of rape culture became almost as popular as the song itself. The lyrics were not helped by the video for the song, which featured Thicke, two guest artists, and three scantily clad models in situations that could only be described as bizarre, leading to allegations that the video marginalized its female performers. Adding fuel to this fire was a performance by Thicke featuring Miley Cyrus, in which they seemingly referenced the video and Miley…… [Read More]