Topic > Neil Postman's book, Amusing Yourself to Death: Changing the Medium

The Thin Line Has Broken, the River Has FloodedThe ideology that society will stop searching for information due to the many distractions that exist, is what Neil Postman suggests it will happen in America. Postman begins the book “Amusing Ourselves to Death” with a comparison between Orwell's 1984 dystopia which suggests that tyranny and oppression will darken society by taking away its source of information, and Huxley's “Brave New World” dystopia contemplates the opposite. Postman argues that Huxley's dystopia will come about because of the exponential growth of entertainment that has replaced print culture. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayPostman begins with the idea that media is the metaphor, the medium (the way) in which information is discussed or transmitted within a society. of society and limits the ideas that society can communicate. The media is not the message but the metaphor because a message is clear, a metaphor must be interpreted based on the way it was conveyed and expressed. Smoke signals are a great example of this, Native Americans were limited to their media (smoke signals), their ideas were only as big as their medium. According to Postman, this is important because the media prevalent in our society shapes who we are and how we think. In printing America men, women, and children were willing to sit for seven hours during a debate and return if necessary. In today's America, presidential candidates have one minute to answer questions in the presidential debate, unlike in the 1800s, when debates lasted about seven hours. The medium changes the identity of a society, in typographic America men spoke the written word, in today's America men speak like the television presenter speaks. Pamphlets were how Americans spread the news in typographic America. The news was local and had an effect on the daily lives of every civilian. Electricity and television changed this practice forever. The news of the day had no effect on the daily lives of Americans, a huge amount of irrelevant information flooded the streets. Everyone became interested not in what mattered, but in what was new. Publicity arose, and the news became nothing more than a bright, broad headline. America had lost its interest in validity and adopted rarity. The years when men considered books one of their most precious possessions were forgotten, as was seen in the embarkation of the Mayflower. America's values ​​and morals were changed and with that America changed. Las Vegas has become the most iconic city in the United States. The world of entertainment has replaced books and with this it has replaced the value of truth. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay The Postman used Huxley's dystopia to show the reader or audience what America has become. The values ​​and morals of the printing age have disappeared, replaced by television entertainment and irrelevant but interesting news that daily fight for attention sitting at every corner, and especially on every screen. Postman's purpose is not to belittle the usefulness of television, he simply proposes that the purpose of television is only to entertain. The truth of a society is transmitted through its media, and television is incapable of transmitting complex and abstract ideas because it lacks context. Postman wants to change the way people think about communication by showing the importance of..