Arguably Postman’s most interesting and controversial book, Amusing Ourselves to Death, is quite an enlightening book. While it is laden with a multiplicity of themes, the core factor is public discourse – a factor whose essence makes media the most prominent topic. The book is best summarized by its subtitle: Public Discourse in the age of Show Business. The book prominently focuses on the role and influence of media on different cultures along the timeline of American history. Clearly, Postman tends to argue that the essence of media deteriorates by the day, implying a continuous negative progress in the social development of the human race because, according to him, the most commonly used medium of communication in any society, reflects the culture of the people, as well as their way of thinking. This paper seeks to analyze Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death by giving a comprehensive summary of his thesis, followed by a critique of his work, and finally, developing a subtopic from the contemporary world, and relating it to Postman’s work.
Summary of the Thesis
The ultimate thesis of the book is straightforward: news has clearly lost its capacity to inform the lives of human beings, and has lost the power to inspire action. Postman argues that over the years the influential power of news has been on a downward trend, thanks to the change in the media used. Further, Postman argues that it is of the essence that people comprehend the manner in which media influences our public discourses. In furtherance of his thesis, Postman argues that in line with Huxley’s warning, the media is evolving into a factor that will control the human race. He borrows from the researches carried out by various gurus in media studies to back his argument that the essence of news is supreme in all cultures. Postman’s thesis is rooted in the actuality that news has evolved into an impetus on which human beings rely for purposes of generating opinions. In a mysterious social cycle, such opinions become the news, making human life to revolve around media – in this case the television. Ultimately, Postman points out that, unnecessary as news may seem to the government, it is critical to human beings.
Critique of Postman’s Arguments
The arguments made by postman revolve around the evolution of the media and the influence of such progressive technologies. For the purposes of elaborating these arguments, Postman has divided history into three notable eras with regard to media used. As such, he breaks down history into: the oral era, the written word era and finally the era we live in – the image era. According to Postman, the oral era is the widest and most interesting. To this extent, I just like many other reviewers, agree with Postman because despite the modest nature of the word of mouth, some of the wisest pieces associated with that era live to this date. For instance, the proverbs we use in society today are more than thousands of years, perhaps millennia old. Such proverbs have been passed down through word of mouth. One then wonders: will what our media make today serve generations to come, thousands years from now? Referring to the power of the oral media, Postman says: “As Walter Ong points out, in oral cultures proverbs and sayings are not occasional devices: 'They are incessant. They form the substance of thought itself. Thought in any extended form is impossible without them, for it consists in them,'" (Postman, 2005, p. 19).
The second argument that Postman gives is that the written word era introduced by the printing press introduced what is referred to as intellectualism – something that is virtually non-existent in today’s world, thanks to image media. The main reason why is elect to agree with Postman on this is because from historical texts, the printing press and other written technologies were introduced in the 18th century – one commonly referred to as the Age of Reason. During this age, intellectualism was a primary feature as it was rooted in rationalism. Postman (2005) notes that the difference between the written stage and the preceding stage can be explained through the way they used to handle court cases. Apparently, during the written era, anything that was not written was not acceptable as being formal. What this means is that as opposed to the current photo era, such things as future reference are subject to the nature of technological advancement.
According to Postman’s arguments, television today, including the news, cannot be viewed as a credible source of reliable information. On the contrary, it is only a source of entertainment – something that Postman refers to as show business, commonly referred to as showbiz. In my opinion, and according to many other researchers in this area, this statement bears significant truth. As opposed to the print media where various pieces of news are printed and people read, image media offers more fun. In elaborating this, Postman gives exceptional touchable evidence from today’s media. It is more about appearance than content. Perhaps the most prominent example he points out is the example of Christine Craft, who was fired, “because research indicated that her appearance hampered viewer acceptance” (Postman, 2005, p.101). Clearly, from this example, the media is already controlling that which the public should consume. The log-run effect is that the television will change the people’s culture.
Whether or not television is a medium of more entertainment than information is no longer a matter of debate. What with the industry introducing channels dedicated to movies purely? Further, Postman points out that the days when Americans could enjoy an hour or so of uninterrupted news is a thing of the past. Currently, there are so many ads and other uncalled-for interruptions during the news hour. The inference drawn by Postman is that news makes little meaning today. For this reason, he says, the television companies have to find ways of making the whole thing acceptable. I totally agree with the arguments made by Postman as it is a thing I, just like many Americas see happening everyday. The desperate search for interesting phenomena has caused the television industry to indulge into the use of substantially misleading images referred to as false images. For instance, a man learning to ski can remain on the water for a couple of seconds before his attempt fails. In the event that the TV crew captures the man’s picture while he is on the water, the viewers would think of the man as a champion in skiing.
Summarily, Postman’s arguments bear a lot of truth. They can be considered to be real life observations and they are just that. Today, the television prioritizes violent movies before news. Such things as violence, as much as they were as well conveyed through oral stories and written word, they did not make the society’s kids a bunch of hooligans willing to try everything they heard. On the contrary, television demonstrates the entire thing, making the children try the same, and potentially injure others. It is however important to mention that television has some benefits. According to Postman, "We now know that 'Sesame Street' encourages children to love school only if school is like 'Sesame Street,' which is to say, we now know that 'Sesame Street' undermines what the traditional idea of schooling represents,” (Postman, 2005, p.141). Clearly, here, television brings positives that come with complications. The point Postman makes in the sesame street example is worth noting because it is a positive that comes at a price.
Social Media in Contemporary Society
Facebook and twitter are more than just buzzwords in today’s social arena. The main reason why they are more than buzzwords is because they are some of the most prominent examples of today’s most robust channel of communication – social media. If Postman (2005) was to write about social media, he could have had a lot to say because social media has a greater impact on the user than the television. This is so because social media, especially online media is associated with internet addiction. From the nature of social media as it is today, Postman’s ideas hold true. For instance, it is true that the more we embrace technology in the media industry, the more the importance of news shrinks. Today, social media is just that – social. Rather than being a news and information platform, it is a friend-ing zone. Social media, as it is currently, is a platform for chatting and meeting new people.
Speaking in the breath of Postman, social media is the ultimate demonstration of image era of media. Facebook, for instance is a social media website that concentrates on images sharing and socializing. As the name suggests, the social media website is all about appearance. Worth mentioning also is that social media has a greater impact on the society because unlike television, a person can modify the content they want to see. They have more control over the website because it is associated profiles. The interaction between man and media will consistently grow interesting because it is seriously affected by the move from news to entertainment.
In conclusion, it is important to mention that Postman’s Book, Amusing Ourselves to Death, conveys quite a controversial fact laden message. The message, which is both researched and observed, traces the nature and influence of media in society through history. While Postman prominently addresses the image era, he provides examples that back his arguments in an outstanding fashion. I largely agree with Postman because, as a matter of fact, modern television is shifting from news to movies and other forms of show business. A noteworthy form of image era medium of communication is the social media platform. Arguably the most sophisticated medium currently, it has a negligible percentage of news broadcast. The platform is mainly associated with socializing and making friends. These, compared to the power of the oral era, create a worrying trend.
References
Postman, N. (2005). Amusing ourselves to death: Public discourse in the age of show business. New York, N.Y. [u.a.: Penguin Books.
