An Analysis Of Postman's Amusing Ourselves To Death

Sitting in a coffee shop trying to break out an acceptable essay about the effect media has on our lives is ironic considering I have every form of media whirling around me at this very moment. A TV with clips of products and reality tv shows plays endlessly in from of me, along with my computer, phone, talking people, and a book in my hand. All these different forms of media are fighting for my attention and yet most of the time I am unaware of just how much of my life is centered and formed around media. In Postman’s novel, Amusing ourselves to death, Postman examines the aftermath that a shift in communication forms has had on the world we live in. Because of the role media plays in our lives, postman argues that television in particular

In chapter one he puts it this way, “ What I mean to point out here is that the introduction into a culture of a technique such as writing or a clock is not merely an extension of man’s power to bind time but a transformation of his way of thinking-and, of course, of the content of his culture. Postman worries that today’s culture has a limited outlet from which we receive truth and often entertainment is the place where we decide if it’s worth believing. The problem lies not in the entertainment aspect of today’s culture but in the lack of discipline to indulge in any form of media that doesn’t provide instant gratification. Because of this truth comes in the form of 60 second summaries shown in a biased light so the audience not only doesn’t have time to process the information and form their own opinions but they don’t have to because one is provided for them. This new age form of media fosters an environment where free thinking and a desire for deep understanding are irrelevant to one’s success and place in society. This is a dramatic shift of values than that of the era of printed media. From young age we are sat in front of a television and it sells ideas and beliefs through the power of suggestion. Postman refers to this concept as the medium metaphor. Because of the dominant media in our culture, Television, we have subconsciously

In the printed era, truth was approached in a rational perspective where the individual was encouraged to decide for themselves what they thought to be true or false. But in today’s world of Hollywood glamour and visual media truth is experienced in a completely different light. The television makes the value of the execution more important than the information being provided. Because of this people don’t often take the time to process if the information is actually truth or just a biased generalization. Postman argues that the intention to call people to action and to inspire greatness is falling away from Media’s purpose and instead their only motivation is to amuse and sell. As a culture we have shifted from striving to find solutions to just forming opinions on the problems. The aftermath of the era of visual media is a society in which context in which we receive information is valued more than the information itself. After all we have to be