Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Is the "New World" really a "Peek-A-Boo"?
In Amusing Ourselves To Death by Neil Postman , he constantly points out all the negative's of today's technology and how most of it has no meaning only to entertain us and nothing else. Although a great majority of what Postman writes is true, that most of are technological advances have been invented simply as a way to keep America entertained, is that really what all our technology is based off of? Constantly on here we have written about all the negative attributes cellphones, televisions, computers, and other things we use as entertainment have on today's society, but we hardly write about the positive attributes these inventions have brought to the "New World". I personally do not believe that all of our technology has no benefit. It may be true that they all do not educate us in some way or another, but they do have an importance. My question to you guys is if you agree that are societies inventions have no importance? Do you you think that all the points made in Postman's book are correct? And if so why?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I agree with what you have said. I think technology has an incredible benefit on our society today. Take the news, for example. We watch it from a television set. It's merely there to inform and educate, and if you ask me, it's not the most amusing channel. In fact, I find it the total opposite of amusing. The discovery and food channels factor into this as well, only they might be a tad bit more on the interesting side.
ReplyDeleteAlso, take a look at what we're typing and looking at. A blog site. Although I do find the blog entertaining at times, we are using it to our educational advantage. I find it ironic how we are blogging about a man who does not approve of technology through one of the biggest media sources, a blog.
So yes, I agree with you, but maybe if Postman was around to witness how much our society clearly benefits from using technology, then his point of view would change channels.
You have a very valid point of view. I also wonder if Postman would have still written his book if he saw how much technology benefits the world today. Also, it is very ironic how we blog about a book that was written by a man who did not like where technology was headed.I'm glad that you agree with my point of view and that I am not the only one who feels this way.
ReplyDeleteI somewhat agree with this. Yes, some technology today does play a valid role in our lives and can come very handy when needing to get in touch with someone immediatley or wanting to communicate with a person a great distance away but this is not the case for majority of technology. Often the only use of technology today is for entertainment and the obvious effect occurs we slowly dimmer our intelligence by feeding ourselves this feculent entertainment
ReplyDeleteI suppose it depends on what we choose to "feed ourselves" with. If we were to choose watching cartoons over informative programs or logging onto facebook over blogging about ideas, then I mean I guess you could call technology "feculent entertainment". But who does any of that smart stuff anywho, I'm almost positive no one does. I think it all depends on when or for how long or for what we use technology for. Otherwise, technology has obviously benefitted us tremendously.
ReplyDelete