Exploring Postman's Critique on Television and Education

Neil Postman (March 8, 1931- Octomber 5, 2003) was an American author, educator, ,media theorist and cultural critic, who is best known for his seventeen books, including “Amusing Ourselves to Death”(1985). Postman’s best known book is “Amusing Ourselves to Death”. Since TV replace the written word , Postman belive that people would be more and more attracted to this, but he also argue that television is not an effective way of providing education after all.

First part is spinning around of an historical analysis. He introduce the concept of the “media-metaphor”, who is found in the first chapter (The Medium is the Metaphor). Furthermore, Postman suggest for instance, that any oral culture will speak of the world differently than one that has printed language.

In this first chapter we will find that Postman focus much on the

President and how said that he actually lost a election against make up men. This image relate to that in nowadays only the look it’s appreciated and lesser the knowledge. That is all about this chapter, broadly is an introduction for his basic examination, which show us how this age of television is changing in actually in new media of television. Soon television will seize entire mass of population and they will forget about the written words.
Neil Postman belive that some American cities have served as the primary metaphor for the United State at a specific time in history. At that time, Boston was the centre of revolutionary meaning and later New York became the primary symbol because of its reputation as melting pot. Postman thought that all the American culture is symbolized by Las Vegas, and if we look on the text we will see that this city (Las Vegas) is “entirely devoted to the idea of entertainment”.
For the first time, he propose the book’s primary thesis or theme and that will be that in the current climate “all public discourse increasingly takes the form of entertaiment” wich has put us in the position were we slowly “amusing ourselves to death”.
I belive that Postman ideas about television and apparence are totally right , an example will be than when he speak about the President , that was an Hollywood actor, and list other political figures who seem to seek celebrity as much as anything an d who worry more about their weight and appearance that their ideas.
Postman introduces a new idea. He defines a culture’s “conversation” metaphorically, as representing “all techniques and technologies that permit people of a particular culture to exchange message”.
To ground his word, Postman presents some examples, and one would be President Taft who was a famously fat man, but surly he will not be elected today because of his appearance , wich could be off-putting as television image. Because people wants a men in charge who only looks good.
The most finest and important example is when he propose that “the news of the day” could not exist without proper media to give it expression.

In short, Postman wishes to trace how the “Age of Typography” has turned into the “Age of Television” and how the latter age requires all communication to take the form of entertainment.

My opinion is that thought language is the primary and most direct form of human communication, we communicate through several other mediums. And people are not aware of the way media affect them. Another important element in this fragment is The clock , that serves as metaphor for the way we look at the world, as one of moments turning into other moments, each disassociated from what comes before and after. We can say that the clock actually serve as conversation man has with himself through technology.

Finally, Amusing Ourselves to Death is really a book that make you think if all the words of Neil Postman are true and if they are true we need to realize that we are living in a world who is submitting to “television age”, that everything is based on how you look and not how you

think.