Key insights from
Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology
By Neil Postman
What you'll learn
Neil Postman (1931-2003) was an American author, educator, media theorist and cultural critic. He is best known for his work in the philosophy of technology, which he often called media ecology. Amongst the numerous books he wrote on the subject through the second half of the 20th century, Technopoly, is one of his best known. Postman offers a technological perspective on history, evaluating three stages of culture, each with its own relationship to technology. According to Postman, our present culture—a technopoly—needs to reconsider the ways we use our tools as well as the ways our tools use us. Originally published in 1991, many have commented that Technopoly has not only aged well, but becomes more relevant with every technological innovation.
Key insights
- • What you'll learn
- 1 Technologies are neither purely good nor purely evil, but rather mixed goods.
- 2 All cultures begin as tool-using cultures.
- 3 Tool-using cultures develop into technocratic cultures.
- 4 Our culture is fast becoming a technopoly.
- 5 Technopoly likens men to machines.
- 6 In a technopoly, all traditions become trivial.
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