Amusing Ourselves to Death, What a book. Neil Postman brings up so many good points and explains his reasoning so well that it frustrated me. After finishing the book I couldn't think of one topic about media or technology that he left unexplained or untouched, he covered it all.
And today I came across an article about a man who was pressing charges against his cable company! Why? Because he claims the reason his wife is fat and the reason he smokes and drinks is because he and his wife have been watching T.V. everyday for 4 years. The article goes on to say that "He has a point." What? He has a point? That is probably the dumbest thing I've ever heard. "Watching T.V. is a lot like smoking. People know all the crummy side effects and continue to do it anyway," quotes one anti-T.V. ranter. It's true; You know that T.V. is wasteful and mind-numbing but you do it. You know that smoking causes cancer but hey, guess what? That ciggy is still in your mouth!
So, now that I am completed with the book I have one final question.
What would life be like without television?
Seems like a no-contest answer huh? But I really want to know what you all think. Would we resort back to how it was in the past? Would we be more active or try to discover technology? Also, what are your views on T.V.? Is it ruining your life? Or is it benefiting?
And today I came across an article about a man who was pressing charges against his cable company! Why? Because he claims the reason his wife is fat and the reason he smokes and drinks is because he and his wife have been watching T.V. everyday for 4 years. The article goes on to say that "He has a point." What? He has a point? That is probably the dumbest thing I've ever heard. "Watching T.V. is a lot like smoking. People know all the crummy side effects and continue to do it anyway," quotes one anti-T.V. ranter. It's true; You know that T.V. is wasteful and mind-numbing but you do it. You know that smoking causes cancer but hey, guess what? That ciggy is still in your mouth!
So, now that I am completed with the book I have one final question.
What would life be like without television?
Seems like a no-contest answer huh? But I really want to know what you all think. Would we resort back to how it was in the past? Would we be more active or try to discover technology? Also, what are your views on T.V.? Is it ruining your life? Or is it benefiting?
Honestly if it wasn't TV we would've found something else back then that would have had the same effect. If TV wasn't as successful as it was, we would have just found some other mind numbing media resource to waste away in front of. I think TV just came around at the right time. For all we know if the situation was reversed with internet first and TV second in creation, Postman might have written his book targeting internet, but with mostly all the same points.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Carina. Television would have been invented at some point in time, it just happened to come before other technologies including the internet. We live in a curious world, and even if the television did not exist yet, we would have found something else that preoccupied our time. Had the computer been invented first, Postman might have written a book about why computers are destroying society, even though they seem to benefit us more than harm us. We as people have to be entertained, and such entertainment will be the death of us. To answer your question of whether t.v. ruins our lives or benefits us, I would have to say it benefits us. The television opens you up to a different world that you just couldn't get by reading a book or a magazine. The television is an experience like no other and the real problem is not television itself but how we abuse it's uses.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Carina and Charles. The T.V. was bound to be invented, just like the lightbulb and all the other discoveries that were invented before the T.V. Without the T.V. we may have not have the devices that we have today such as; laptops, cell phones, digitals camera, or even the popluar Ipods and all the other things we take for granted. I don't think that the T.V. has ruined our lives, if anything it's made of lives a bit easier by entertaining us and gave us a bit of enjoyment. And let's face it, everyone would agree that life needs to be more enjoyable. It's just like Charles said "The real problem is not the television itself but how we abuse it's uses.". As for the couple that's sueing their cable company, well they're the ones that look foolish, no one ever forced them to sit in front of the T.V. set every night, it was just a choice. And they certainly did abuse the T.V.'s use.
ReplyDeleteLife would not be the same. Television has so many benefits, the only down side to television in "mind-numbing" television programs. But even if television hadn't been invented, someone would have invented something just the same that would have the same effect that television has. For instance television helps people stay current about things happening all around the world as well as entertainment from time to time, where as cell phone help use to communicate with one another, stay currant, and serve as entertainment occasionally. I said that to say I do believe that people would have been and stayed more active if television wasn't around as much but I also believe people are always going to discover new inventions to make life easier and in some ways television has helped people make new discoveries. So yes I believe that television in benefiting our lives but certain programs are ruining our minds.
ReplyDeleteI, personally, love movies. I mean what about all the great movies that have been made? A lot of movies inspire people. You can say the same things about books but movies can sometimes display things that books can’t. Like slapstick comedy, action scenes, great chases, gunfights, romance scenes, and places around the world that people might not ever be able to go. Some books were never meant to be movies, and some movies are never meant to be books. Think about how powerful some award winning movies are. How they touched you in some way. I know the movie Pursuit of Happyness got a ton of awards. I personally liked the movie UP, and just like a lot of people in the movie theatre I was on the verge of tears for the first part of the movie. And if you’ve seen Toy Story 3 yet I’m sure it touched you too. Pixar finished the trilogy so perfectly. TV really touches people. When I got home after watching Toy Story 3 I wanted to hug all my stuffed animals and dig out all my toys or something! I’m sure almost every person has watched a movie that really got to them. So without a really good movie, how would our lives be different? Well, people with really great ideas could have a hard time getting it out in the world. By books, maybe, you could get your ideas out but with books, like I said, some things can’t be conveyed by books, just like some things can’t be conveyed by movies. I’m sure there’s a better way to put this, but I can’t place it.
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