Neil Postman Essays

A speech by Neil Postman called Bullshit and the Art of Crap-Detection delivered at the National Convention for the Teachers of English on November 28, 1969 in Washington D.C, describes different types of bullshit used by English teachers as well as other people. Postman states that it is very useful to teach kids how to differentiate between what he calls bullshit and practical information but in order to do so, one must know how to be aware of our values. According to Postman, there are 4 main

Neil Postman Rhetorical Analysis Inventions are changing before our eyes and the world does not seem to question what new technology reveals and what its consequences will be. In the future of technology, there are many individuals who see technology as either a sanction or a burden. Many individuals cannot seem to imagine a world with no technology, however, there are many others who argue that humans are becoming too dependent on technology instead of their own observances and cognition. Technology

Cultivation theory is a theory founded by George Gerbner that explains whether or not the audience of a television program will be affected by watching it. Ways that the audience could be affected by television viewing are by becoming more violent, more sad, or happier after viewing. Television is the use of the study for cultivation because people tend to watch more television than listen to radio or read media sources. Also, television is used for the study because it is the most accessible and

The articles “Technology” by Neil Postman and “I’m So Totally, Digitally, Close to You” by Clive Thompson, both set to address the role of technology in society and debate whether the internet has an effect on the community. Does community exist on the internet? Thompson argues that the internet, social media more specifically, provides a “dynamic of small town life”. With the involvement of social media in the twenty first century, does the definition of community adapt to this new phenomenon. The

Neil Postman dives into a deeper understanding of technology and how he perceives certain technological developments. He considers the outcome that technology has on societies and cultures and then evaluates them to see if they are beneficial or detrimental. He also examines what people, who base their lives around technology, do to keep technology in power. His ideas about technology are in a perspective that numerous people would not consider because he is willing to contemplate all the angles

In the book Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman, he discusses the “dangers” of television and elaborates his thoughts about how that specific media was affecting American society. Some of the main points Postman touched on can be compared to the modern media society has now. Postman elaborated that television gained control of American society, which meant that Americans stopped questioning the media and opened the opportunity for fake news to be spread. Americans didn’t know what was real

In ‘Now…This,’ chapter 7 of Amusing Ourselves to Death, Neil Postman argues that by tis very nature medium of television decontextualizes and devalues the information it conveys thus creating a culture of pure entertainment. In support of his argument he makes the following three points: that television commercials devalue the stories that precede and follow them; that the short length and diluted content of the average news story causes even the most serious news to seem trivial; and that executives

“Television as a Teacher” author of Neil Postman describes the effect on what educational television is teaching to children. He claims that people use television as entertainment out of their life, so people expect serious news to be entertained. Postman states academic television does not teach math, science, letters but it can cause entertainment of education, because of this he says school should adopt usage of television to elicit interest of education because children are familiar to entertainment

In Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death the writer tries to prove the fact that media has a powerful impact on people because makes them accept whatever it says, using persuasion, their emotions and the fact that they believe that whatever is been said must be true and right. Therefore, what the author tries to say is that too often people think nothing of what they see or read in the media and they simply accept everything. In this first chapter of the book, The medium is the metaphor, he proposes

To Death, Neil Postman communicates that the people of the 19th century would endure very long hours of debates and speeches. These events were very long, but these people seemed genuinely interested in these events due to the fact that it would inform them on current political events. However many people began wondering how these people were able to maintain such interests in these events. Neil Postman proves in Amusing Ourselves to Death, that the qualities that the people

The article, “The Broken Defenses”, by Neil Postman explains the meaning of technopoly and how much of a impact it has on information in society. It shows how the culture needs to do things related with technology such as finding what is useful within technology. The article makes emphasises on how society needs to exclude/include information from the people. It was compared to a organism because of the way it protects itself from unwanted cell growth. Another comparison was how schools have certain

Postman establishes his premise through a comparison of two notable literary authors; George Orwell and Aldous Huxley; through their dark prophesies of the evolution of man’s attitudes and the demise of books. In Orwell’s assertion, he “feared that the truth

Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman discusses how technology changed the world forever. Technology is not just defined as radio, internet, and phones; it also is defined as television and commercials. Television is a machine that has no inherent medium and a medium that is the environment that the machine creates (Postman 84). Television is used in modern times for entertainment/humor, information/news, and a way to advertise products to thousands of people at once. Television changes the

Death by Neil Postman is a book that contends that we are living in the Brave New World that Aldous Huxley predicted in 1932. Postman states that television has become our “soma” and we rely on its instant gratification to comfort us instead of connecting with others to form meaningful, intellectual bonds. He says that it isn’t all of television that is the problem, the “junk” or entertainment for the sake of entertainment is just fine and is, in fact, the thing television does the best. Postman states

novel by Neil Postman that analyzes the World’s, particularly America’s, growing obsession with being entertained. Postman writes that in the past, people would converse and exchange ideas, whereas it is now an exchanging of “images,” that nowadays we no longer argue with statements of fact and opinion but instead with “good looks, celebrities and commercials.” (pg 93) Gone are the days of discussion as Americans are now only interested in being entertained. Throughout his novel, Postman uses a somewhat

education in its most advanced ways thanks to technology. In “Virtual Students, Digital classrooms”, Neil Postman argues that technology is just another tool that makes school be obsolete and affirms that it has more disadvantages than advantages on education. It is true, that technology does have deplorable effects on students such as inciting to distraction or sometimes increase

In the book by Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death, Postman states that the Age of Television has negatively affected people’s public discourse, and it has become the dominant media. More specifically, Postman sees that the Age of Technology has the same effects as the television where people become bias of its context. In chapter eleven, Postman fears that the pleasure of the technology will start to take over where people have become addicted to it, and this will support a 2014 update on Postman’s

In the importance of news and entertainment of tv shows seems paramount to Neil Postman in the excerpt Commentary: Learning in the Age of Television. The excerpt focuses on the way our entertainment discourse has devolved. He implicitly argues throughout the book that media – whether oral, written, or televised form - should serve to keep us informed and entertained so that we can take direct action to improve our lives and world. We should be willing to satisfy our self-interest, and we obviously

According to Neil Postman, author of Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology, "Technological change is neither additive nor subtractive. It is ecological." Therefore, "One significant change generates total change" In other words, technology generated a "total change" in our thinking. In real life today, we are living in high technology, and we work so hard and are busy all day for work. We have many intelligent machines that help us clean or sweep the floor, wash dishes, wash clothes

difficult to live without using technology. In Neil Postman’s speech “Informing Ourselves to Death,” he explains how not all technology is being used for what its original purpose was, and how people are starting to drown in the useless information technology gives. Postman also makes the claim, “And therefore, in a sense, we are more naïve than those in the Middle Ages, and more frightened, for we can be made to believe almost anything” (5). Though Postman gave this speech about thirty years ago, this