Is Media Sucking Away Time?

According to Amusing Ourselves to Death, citizens of America were capable of listening intently to debates by political figures that lasted for hours upon hours a long time ago. These people were able to interact with the debators, cheer for their person, and absorb every detail that they were saying, all while staying seated without having to get up for a 5-minute break. What happened to that attention span that our ancestors had?

In my opinion, as the media slowly changed, it sucked up the publics attention spans and capability of sitting still, even through little 30-minute long television shows. Think about it, as things got more convinient to watch or listen to, the time limits of those programs dwindled down. From debates to the radio to television, things are having to get simpler and shorter to keep up with the dwindling of the American mind. For example, the people who watched debates slowly got accustomed to the radio shows, making hours at a debate seem insane. Following, the radio shows soon became too long as well, so they became filled with commercials, a break in time where the people didn't need to pay attention.

Then came the television, where half the shows are now commercials in which people can take breaks; and even now people can fast-forward through commercials for lack of patience to watch them. I don't know how things could get worse, but with media going in this downcast direction, it'll find a way. Do you agree that the media is one of the biggest reasons Americans are now always in a rush?

Appearance and Attractiveness first?

Today I was watching a repeated episode on Tyra, when suddenly I realized how important attractiveness is to our society, most importantly women. Young girls starting from the age of 9 said that they could not stand in front of the mirror without thinking they are ugly. To me that is very heartbreaking. You should always love yourself no matter what. Beauty that counts comes from the heart. And as years go by, this situation gets worse. With a lot of reasoning you can say that the media is to blame. Sadly, we fall for all this nonsense. Also there were dark-skinned women that believed that society prefers to portray images of light-skinned women. Now my question to you is, do you think or believe this is true? Also, for all you young ladies out there, would you prefer to be beautiful or intelligent, why or why not? In my opinion, I think I would prefer to be intelligent. Being smart and knowing how to use your brains takes you on a long journey full of success, but it all depends on you. Everyone in this world is appealing in his or her own way. Some of us possess interesting talents we have not yet discovered. I thank God for having created me the way I am and no one or anything will every make me feel worthless. Just let me know your thoughts on the two questions I have for you.

To Be Against the President

This has nothing to do with the two books we've been assigned, but I still feel a need to bring this up. The media and all of the politicians are unfairly judging President Obama, blaming him for all of the problems with America. He's being blamed for things that started way before him, and things he could have done NOTHING about. For instance, critics and the media are bashing Obama because of the Iraq and Afghanastan wars, two things that started with Bush. Now, I do admit, I don't like the fact that he's sending in more troops, but what else can he do? He's wanted to stop the war ever since the beginning of his campaign, but no one will compromise with him. He tries to stop something, the Senate and all of the politicians around him give him a hard time until he gives up and sends in more troops. With all of the controversy he's going through and the fact that politicians disagree with every little thing he says, how can we expect him to stop an almost-decade long war in less than a year?

On top of that, people are blaming him for the oil spill. Seriously? That's like blaming him for global warming because we can't stop polluting our world. The oil spill happened out of nowhere- there was absolutely no way Obama, or anyone else, could have predicted something so random to happen. Now is that really fair, especially since he's doing so much to help figure out how to stop the oil spill?

Don't think I'm biased just because I'm African American, too; I would be against any president being blamed for crimes he did not commit. It's honestly not fair; I mean, he's barely been in office for a year and people already expect all of America's problems to be solved. The media is a big factor in this; if it wasn't producing so much gossip and so many debate programs full of people bashing Obama, the public might not be so blinded to what's going on right in front of them. But even if the media wasn't against Obama, would it make a difference in how America sees Obama? Does the fact that he's the first visually non-white president play a part in this?

To Gain, or Lose it All

I’ve been reading Postman’s book for awhile, and even though I’ve passed chapter two, “media as epistemology”, my mind keeps going back to what Postman expressed on page 29. “It giveth and taketh away, although not quite in equal measure. Media change does not necessarily result in equilibrium. It sometimes creates more than it destroys. Sometimes, it is the other way around.” This quote really made me think about the technology we have today. Take for example Facebook, it gives us the ability to communicate with one another without even leaving our house. When our parents were our age they would spend all summer playing outside. Now we all sit in our rooms staring at a screen. What is our world coming to? We’re losing a lot, but at the same time we gain so much. With the access of internet children no longer bother with getting a book at the library because you can read it online. Now people text instead of talking with a person face to face. I know there are still some people out there continuing with past events, but how long will that last. With time comes change, but is this change good for man kind? I wish to find some sort of answer in Postman or Huxley’s book to this question. Do you think our generation is gaining more or losing it all?

Politics Are Becoming Absorbed in the Media

I'm only on Chapter 1: The Medium is the Metaphor, and I've already found some information that shocked me. Politics aren't what they used to be; and though I'd already realized this, I didn't comprehend the true issue. Yes, though us teens don't really pay attention to politics anymore-Facebook is way more important, of course-we are all still aware that they aren't making the best choices out in the White House. Now, this may be a far-fetched idea, but could it be because America is only choosing handsome, or at least slightly decent-looking, people for the most crucial jobs in government?
As Postman says on page 4, "we may have reached the point where cosmetics has replaced ideology as the field of expertise over which a politician must have competent control". Basically, Schwarzeneggers' are being placed where Clintons' and Kennedys' should be instead. When society gets to the point where even politicians need to be surrounded by makeup artists, something is obviously wrong. Now my question is: does the public recognize this, or are they just choosing to ignore it?