Key insights from
Amusing Ourselves to Death
By Neil Postman
Audio available
9 minute read
Published Dec 27, 2005
What you'll learn
The late NYU professor Neil Postman examines the cultural shift from the printed word to electronic media as the preferred form of communication. More than another ‘TV will rot your brain’ diatribe, Amusing Ourselves to Death delves into how we perceive and consume information, formulate thoughts and arguments, and construct beliefs based on the technology we use. This classic cautionary tale points out what we are unknowingly sacrificing on the altar of entertainment. Not for the faint of heart.
Key insights
- • What you'll learn
- 1 Huxley’s Brave New World has proven far more prophetic than Orwell’s 1984.
- 2 Primary communication forms have shifted throughout human history from oral-based to print-based to image-based.
- 3 The shift from a word-based society to an image-based culture has led to endless opportunities for miscommunication.
- 4 Public discourse has gradually devolved into show business, which poses dangers for education and the free society.
- 5 America was an unbelievably literate culture through the late 1800s.
- 6 The idea that children can effectively learn through television is grossly mistaken.
- 7 Awareness about the impact of different media on culture is our last fragile defense against the Huxleyan future.
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