a bridge to the 18th century

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Building a Bridge to the Eighteenth

Neil Postman identifies himself as a “neo-Luddite”.

What bothers Postman most is the fact that the great

innovators of this time have no frame of reference

other than their own experience, and that experience

is only that of the 20th century. Advocates of trends

such as information superhighways and economic

globalization appear to know nothing of history,

philosophy and culture; they live digitally in the

hollow present.

Postman assesses different ideas in each chapter:

Chaper One: A Bridge to the Eighteenth Century

Postman heralds the accomplishments of personalities

of the 18th Century, including Goethe, Voltaire,

Rousseau, Diderot, Kant, Hume, Gibbon, Paine,

Jefferson, Franklin, Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, and

Haydn, among many others.

Chapter Two: Progress

Postman summarizes, “The idea of progress is a

product of the Enlightenment. The eighteenth century

invented it… but it also criticized and doubted it and

its limitations and pitfalls. Reason, when unaided

and untempered by poetic insight and human feeling,

turns ugly and dangerous.

Chapter Three: Technology

When assessing various technological advancements,

Postman encourages the reader to be question, “What

is the problem to which this technology is a

solution?” “Whose problem is it?” “Which people and

institutions might be most ser...

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