Amusing Ourselves to Death
During our discussion of “The Pedestrian”, I told you a little about a book called Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman. It is a fascinating look at how television has come to shape the way we live our lives and the damage that it is doing. The scary thing about it is how relevant it remains today even though it was written in the 80s. We discussed this concept quite a bit yesterday, but as an extension of that discussion, I’ve included a few quotes from the book (and from a couple of his other books) that relate to television and technology in general. Read over these quotes. Pick at least one of them and discuss it. (Possible topics: What do you think he means? Do you agree or disagree with his idea? Give an example of how this can be found to be true in society? Relate the idea to something you have seen or read (ex: “The Pedestrian). I look forward to seeing what you come up with.
tchrman
“Everything in our background has prepared us to know and resist a prison when the gates begin to close around us . . . But what if there are no cries of anguish to be heard? Who is prepared to take arms against a sea of amusements? To whom do we complain, and when, and in what tone of voice, when serious discourse dissolves into giggles? What is the antidote to a culture’s being drained by laughter?”
— Neil Postman (Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business)
“Our culture’s adjustment to the epistemology of television is by now all but complete; we have so thoroughly accepted its definitions of truth, knowledge and reality that irrelevance seems to us to be filled with import, and incoherence seems eminently sane. And if some of our institutions seem not to fit the template of the times, why it is they and not the template, that seem to us disordered and strange.”
— Neil Postman (Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business)
“”Our politics, religion, news, athletics, education and commerce have been transformed into congenial adjuncts of show business, largely without protest or even much popular notice. The result is that we are a people on the verge of amusing ourselves to death.”"
— Neil Postman
“[M]ost of our daily news is inert, consisting of information that gives us something to talk about but cannot lead to any meaningful action. (68).”
— Neil Postman (Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business)
“Television is our culture’s principal mode of knowing about itself. Therefore — and this is the critical point — how television stages the world becomes the model for how the world is properly to be staged. It is not merely that on the television screen entertainment is the metaphor for all discourse. It is that off the screen the same metaphor prevails. (92)”
— Neil Postman (Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business)
“Technology always has unforeseen consequences, and it is not always clear, at the beginning, who or what will win, and who or what will lose…”
— Neil Postman
“[It] is not that television is entertaining but that it has made entertainment itself the natural format for the representation of all experience. […] The problem is not that television presents us with entertaining subject matter but that all subject matter is presented as entertaining. (87)”
— Neil Postman (Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business)
“[It] is not that television is entertaining but that it has made entertainment itself the natural format for the representation of all experience. […] The problem is not that television presents us with entertaining subject matter but that all subject matter is presented as entertaining. (87)”
— Neil Postman (Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business)
Everything in the world is all about entertainment now. Learning HAS to be fun. The tele HAS to be fun. Life is a comedic-horror flick. Sometimes terrible things happen.., but there is always comic relief. The television tells us what life is supposed to be; it tells us how everything is supposed to look, all the while, stealing our ability to interpret or create on our own. It’s made us lazy. We’re no longer driven to do anything, unless it can benefit us (by tugging at our heart strings-entertaining us in some way). We really have too much faith in the television and the computer…
How can you be sure that if what you see in the mirror is what everyone else sees? How can you be completely, totally sure? You really have no idea.
We believe that China looks like it does in the movies, but have we all really been in China?
We don’t know or care about what it FEELS like to be in China: how the grass feels under your feet. How that air feels when it hits your face.
-GummyWormCasserole6 !
Heeeeey everybody! I, like southernbelle, am a senior refusing to move on from my sophomore year! lol not really I actually wanna graduate and go on with life…BUT!!! Whe i was in this class I actually neglected this assignment…a lot. Zeros are not good. But anyways…I kinda wanna come back and join in on the discussions?? that is, if im not crashing a 2012 party?? :/ haha lemme know.
Ok. entertainment. its kinda hard for an actress to diss her passion, but here goes. Entertainment, for years, has been an escape. It allows us to be who we are not, even if it is just for thirty minutes. The problem is that
“[It] is not that television is entertaining but that it has made entertainment itself the natural format for the representation of all experience. […]
WE LET THE ENTERTAINERS LIVE OUR LIVES!
Think about it. How many people RSVP with sob stories such as : “oh ah wish ah could but, hunny, muh show is on!” “oh dear, well lets make it quick cuz biggest loser comes on in ten!” “kids, lets eat dinner around the coffee table so i can see who gets voted off the island!”
ITS CRAZY!!!
People stop living their lives when they watch TV. They go into “television trance” and stop LIVING their lives.
Entertainment is fun. Its cozy. Its an ESCAPE.
Experience is life. Experience is living.
ok. So. all in all. No more TV comas, ok?? Live YOUR
life, dont let Spongebob, Dr. House,Desperate Housewives, or Dr. mcDreamy live it for you!!!
haha.
lilbitdramatic
“[M]ost of our daily news is inert, consisting of information that gives us something to talk about but cannot lead to any meaningful action. (68).”
— Neil Postman (Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business)
THIS IS SO TRUE!
heres a great example.. GOSSIP (or rumors or anything else that isnt your buisness)
we are all guilty of gossiping. we talk about people and THEIR lives all the time, whther we mean to or not. and does this help us in any way, except to make us think down on this person? the answer is NO!
yeah ok, we might say well now i know not to be friends with so and so, but who knows this person might be the sweetest person you meet.
so mr. postman was 100% right in saying that, “[M]ost of our daily news is inert, consisting of information that gives us something to talk about but cannot lead to any meaningful action.”
gator5
Tool’s song “Vicarious” talks about people watching people die on TV and using it as an excuse to think that their life is better.
My question is, do we do this???
That’s all. I have tons of homework
GNG
I think what Neil meant by that quote was that many of the things that are reported on the news (mainly celebrity news) is just there to give us something to talk about. The news that they report about celebrities (athletes included) are not even worth reporting. So I completely agree with that quote.
Pistons6101
Okay well entertainment is a way of life i think. Not only in television either. Entertainment has been around for years. Before TV they entertained themselves by excerise or playing jokes on people. Whatever it was people were doing it was entertainment. We are in a different age now and for people to entertain themselves they watch TV- or get on the computer. Technology is so advanced now that we have come to electronics to interest ourselves. I dont know if i will want my children watching TV as long as maybe my brother does but i dont want them to be alienated from ways to entertain themselves. I guess to sum this up is i dont think TV is the full way to go but there is nothing wrong with it.
Im going to disagree with what GummyWormCasserole6 said. Not every aspect about learning is fun. Nor is everything about TV fun. Some things are boring and some things are scary. Learning helps us figure out what we need to do and know in life and television gives us a visual of life. When Mr.Hudson said in class that people used to listen to plays and things on the radio- and there was the War of the Worlds incident- they never got a visual of what was going on. You had to be creative yes but you never knew if that was exactly right. So what if you misunderstood? Or you wanted to know how the author wanted it. Yes YOUR KIND of entertainment is fun. And there are some games teachers play that are fun. But i would never say it is always funny.
passion4soccer6
i really found the first quote very profound! i found it to mean that throughout our history people have prepared us for our rights to be taken away.. however, if all we, as a society, do is laugh about serious things theres no way for us to stand up for what we know is right.it talks about how no one is going to stand up to a bunch of giggles because there won’t seem to be a real reason to withstand laughter. it doesn’t really talk about technology but im sure you could relate it to that also. i agree with this quote because there is a time for laughter and a time to be serious.. i think today, however, people blur that fine line between seriousness and laughter.
~superchica06
Ohhkkkk.
I am not quite sure how this will work out but I’ll give it a shot…..
Going with the Skillet, once again! (:
the following quote is from Skillet frontman John Cooper as he talks about the band’s record, “Comatose”
“We’re all so desperately trying to communicate with each other online with Myspace and instant messenger that no one gets to know one another, and they feel so alone with nobody to talk to about their problems. So I guess in a Bono-esque fashion we’re talking about how we need to come out of the deep sleep we are in and start reaching out to one another. Getting it right in our own lives and actually being there for someone else.”
This applies to this post because the “instant messenger” is like the televisions and things mentioned in ”Amusing Ourselves to Death”
@Passionforsoccer
GWC was saying that learning is easier when it is fun, not learning has to be funny to be taught. GWC was completely right too! Learning needs to be fun for our generation to be taught. We are just too spoiled to learn by reading or just listening. Why else do you think they show us films on subjects? Or why do they let people read our short stories to us on tapes? They are trying to make it more enjoyable so we can learn easier. The psychology behind that is simple. If we are bored, then we tune it out, don’t we? They need our attention because we have to learn. Society is getting dumber and dumber. In elementary schools, they can’t give out grades lower than a 70. Or at least my friend’s mom isn’t allowed to at Oak Elementary.
But it’s an ughghgh topic. Because people think that technology is getting better that we are getting smarter. That really isn’t the case. Calculators are taking away our math skills and spell&grammar check is taking away our…spelling and grammar skills!
I’m in the library yo!
GirlsNotGrey
The Game
I think that at the end of the year we should all reveal who we are!
I think what Neil meant by that quote was that many of the things that are reported on the news (mainly celebrity news) is just there to give us something to talk about. The news that they report about celebrities (athletes included) are not even worth reporting. So I completely agree with that quote.
Gator5:
I really agree with your comment on gossip related to this quote. its so true. everyone at some point has been entertained by gossip somewhere in the school. its just natural we cant help it. but it is something that needs to be a smaller issue. that was a great point i wouldnt have thought of so thanks.
AHS21#856
Well well well GirlsNotGrey i will have to disagree with you on one part and also agree with you. I DO NOT think that they make learning all that fun. Every once in a while there is an awesome project or game a teacher does that is fun but that is about it. I think teachers think the more work they give us the better we will learn.
But i do agree with you that our resources are making us more and more dumb. Like sometime i forget how to do basic addition in math and its just easier to put it in the calc. And same with the computer.
Im in the library too!
passion4soccer6
K not sure if this came through the 1st time so Im retrying
”Our politics, religion, news, athletics, education and commerce have been transformed into congenial adjuncts of show business, largely without protest or even much popular notice. The result is that we are a people on the verge of amusing ourselves to death.”
This is so true. Everyone is an actor these days. Even ur average Joe/Jane acts to get what they want. Celebrities have to act to make the majority like them. It reminds me of a quote “Life is a stage.”
Professorprodigy6
“Technology always has unforeseen consequences, and it is not always clear, at the beginning, who or what will win, and who or what will lose…”
— Neil Postman
Improvements. Don’t we all want more of them? Want to make them? Want to witness them? What if these so called “improvements of society” force you to lose more than you gain from them? What if they make you take advantage of the simple wonders of life?
Neil Postman makes a statement that I agree with. No one ever really knows what the outcome of future technology will be, but we know now that consequences are written all over new inventions, we just need to take the time time to read them.
Hi5
Mr.Postman has a point. Much of our TV news is inert. They always talk about, “somebody got shot” or, “Some neighborhood is taking a turn for the worst”, but they hardly ever say what we can do about it. Personally, I get tired of hearing all about crime and misfortune on the news. How about telling how we can help the situation so maybe we can hear about it less?
Hey superchica! I see exactly where you’re coming from. I get tired of people thinking that anything that doesn’t directly effect them is a joke. I love to laugh and joke, but I still know when its time to be serious about something.
@Passion4Soccer
I know that videos and tapes aren’t fun. That’s just an expensive attempt from the learning companies. The true way to make us learn is to let us watch The Magic School Bus and Barney.
Jk. Jk. Don’t post compliments. I was kidding.
GNG(I threw it on the ground)
This is my comparison between the article and the story of the pedestrian. I think that the srticle is very similar to the pedestrian because we are amusing ourselves to death. There is so much technology today, that we are going to keep on making more and wanting more until we die from overuse. Just like the people in the pedestrian who are not physically dead, but mentally and emotionally dead. The more we amuse ourselves, the more books begin to go extinct, and the world will be in a giant puddle.
pinkpuffs502
“[M]ost of our daily news is inert, consisting of information that gives us something to talk about but cannot lead to any meaningful action. (68).”
— Neil Postman (Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business)
I love this!!!!!!!!!!!! I hate some of the things that they talk about on the news. The way they follow people around with cameras and harass them all the time is sooooooooo annoying. I agree with the fact that some things that we put on the news aren’t going to benefit the people watching in anyway possible. I think it’s just an excuse to talk about people b/c if you think about it, when you listen/watch the news, they give you the facts to a story and when they’re done telling you the facts they feel like they have to put in their own personal opinions about it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That’s not their job and it’s not helping the world as a whole in any kind of way.
I agree with gator5. Gossip doesn’t do anything but help you look down on a person. (b/c no1 really gossips about the good qualities of a person). Looking down on some1 and thinking bad things about them isn’t going to do anything but separate the human race and divide us even more. Gossip is BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD!!!!!!!!!!
Hi5,
I agree with you! People now just invent things and don’t even consider the resulting consequences first. People seem to want more money and will invent anything to get others addicted to it. When texting was invented, the inventors thought it would be a convenient way to talk, but now it has become something much more. People are sending innapropriate texts and that improvement has caused great harm. No, I dont think that texting is bad overall, but it has its bad characteristics…but doesn’t every new technology?
-jellybean6
I think he means that we look to tv and other kinds of influence that are not imperative to see how we should act or what’s right or wrong. The truth is the best way to find out how to cope with life is not ”reality” tv but reality itself. Why do we feel that just because something or someone is on tv or radio that it is automatically right or better? I think he means we need to realize that just because something is praised doesn’t mean it deserves it and doesn’t mean it needs to be incorporated into the everyday lives of humans.
I agree with GirlsNotGrey. Society is getting dumber and dumber and that by technology getting better, people think that we are getting smarter as a whole. Really the only people getting smarter are the people creating the technology. The people that think that are the people using their calculators to do simple math problems and are the example of society getting dumber. And just for a real life example, people in my Honors Algebra II class even admit to using their calculatrs to solve simple multiplication equations. Honestly,it’s quite sad. Technology bad! :[
In, my economics class my teacher has powerpoints that come with the economics books and he literally reads them to us word for word. oh, and then he passes out a guided reading that we do for each section. Basically, a monkey could do this worksheet. My point is that society is getting dumber. For sure. This class is purely regurgitation of information.
Now, mind you, I could have taken AP economics BUT I didnt…..:/ but thats me using my svadyaya(study of inner self) to look at how much extracurricular activities I do and therefore how much time I will have for HW.
ANYWAYS! Im tired of barfing up facts.
lilbitdramatic (also threw it on the ground)
passion4soccer:
I agree with you. I don’t think I’ll let my kids waste away their childhood on TV and video games. I’ll probably make them go outside and get some exercise. On the other hand, I don’t want to be like some parents who give their kids like five minutes of tv-watching time. Who knows though? That’s a scary thing to be considering at our age…
-elraha6
i agree with some of what passionforsoccer6 said. There are many forms of entertainment, but people have more and more recently turned to television. Personally i love tv and wouldnt want to get rid of it, but i tink its good in moderation, theres so many fun things out there, but they’re slowly being lost. what did they cavemen do people? I agree that we should not get rid of tv, just add to our entertainment possibilities so that it doesnt consume us.
GummyWormCasserole6,
I agree with what you said. These days people only do things for their own entertainment. If something is boring to watch, we change the channel. Since books take a long time to read, I’m going to stop reading and watch the movie, unless that also is too boring. People have accepted the fact that they don’t have to have experiences in real life. I think everyone should wake up and smell the roses instead of watching someone else do it for them.
It’sMe!5
I am going to agree with passion4soccer6. I think that entertainment is a way of life for most people. In the olden days people really didnt have a tv or anything, so they used a radio to enetertain themselves and listen to music and so on. Tv is a great way to enetertain yourself when you are bored, but it also is scary and sad sometimes too. I think too many people today base part of their life on television shows or stars they see on tv. They want to be just like that one person or persons and they don’t act like their true self. Also, our world is like basically run by technology these days that people think they have to watch tv or get on the computer just to be entertained. Well you can still have a good time without tv or your phone or anything like that if you actually have a life!! haha Anyways, I think that tv is ok but people need to experience the world and not just be stuck at home all the time!!
Vonnykinz6
I agree that people add more than the facts to a story. However, If we only had the facts nothing could change. Arguing and expressing our opinions lets others know how u feel something should be done. If we don’t then we have all this info and no reason to know it. If we can’t add our opinions why do we need the facts?
Vonny, in the news reports and after the give the facts, it’s not necessarily a bad thing. You can see their point of view, and i think it is their job to voice their opinions where they see fit. It’s only my opinion. The following around of the people I’m not too keen on, but still if there is news to be reported they are like flies on mold. Benefiting the world? No, in fact if you watch the news all you see is how the world is becoming worse because of: economy, murder, greed, lust. As for me, I read the Good News (Bible) instead of seeing all the corrupt things of life. Yes, I know that might sound cheesy, but that’s the first time I put a Christian punchline in this blog.
Peace!
-Heavenrox6
Professorprodigy6:
I completely agree. Everyone is an actor these days. Even in the church. People will act like they are so holy and and dance and shout only to show out in front of other church people. Politics is another story – who can insult the other candidate or how much controversy will there be? Life is a stage, and that may ruin us.
autumnnewmath6
“Technology always has unforeseen consequences, and it is not always clear, at the beginning, who or what will win, and who or what will lose…”
— Neil Postman
I love this quote! its so true!! technology has a mind of its own. it always breaks and stops workin at the worst possible times like the computer crashes when u have a paper due the next day. i always yell at my computer, tv, printer, phone, ipod, etc. and u never kno if it will work again (u win) or it just dies (it wins). somehow in my case, it always wins and i just yell and scream some more. and it still doesnt work
GirlsNotGrey:
I think you got what I meant just right. (:
I didn’t exactly mean that EVERYTHING is fun and entertaining. But, I think that most things have kind of gotten that way. It’s just that we don’t need to work as hard as we used to. I think that big businesses play a big role in this. In order to grasp the attention of viewers, tv shows and cartoons get more and more and more outrageous. They have abrupt commercials that only last for about 20 or 30 seconds. It is estimated that 5 million children in the US have ADHD and are given medication to help them concentrate.
I’m definately not saying that technology is the cause of ADHD. xD
The diet has also changed. Families go out more often and don’t eat together with homecooked meals as much as they used to. Kids eat more sweets and junkfood.
Never the less, I think that the use of the television and computer would be a logical reason why the numbers have gone up so high in the past ten years.
It’s not very easy for kids to get excited about learning unless it’s entertaining. Who knows, maybe it follows them right into adulthood.
-GWC
This assigment is the hardest one this year.
“”Our politics, religion, news, athletics, education and commerce have been transformed into congenial adjuncts of show business, largely without protest or even much popular notice. The result is that we are a people on the verge of amusing ourselves to death.””
— Neil Postman
i totally agree with this topic!!! escpecially the amusing ourselves to death part. this is true fro this society and is seen everyday. we as a community are lazy and all we do for most of us is sit around and watch TV!! this is so unhealthy and its killing us, litteraly…i think Postman is saying that we wont do all the active things in life we would rather watch it….i have not had tv for 11 or 12 years because my parents didnt want all this to happen to us….and i like the idea i find it sad to see all these people who just sit around and do anything…..thats what i have to say bout this….
“[M]ost of our daily news is inert, consisting of information that gives us something to talk about but cannot lead to any meaningful action. (68).”
— Neil Postman (Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business)
Well at least somebody had some common sense. Anyway this guy was too right. I totally agree wit him. Everything thing that is on the news or just news that you find out from someone else is pointless. I agree wit gator5. The media changes virtually all of the info they get and try to change it into something certain ppl want to hear. Personally im sick of it. For example the whole michael jackson thing that went on for years but lets not get into that………
I know everyone’s agreeing with GATOR5, but so am I. I hear gossip all around me all the time. Most of the time it’s not true. But it does give everyone something to talk about right? It gives people more drama and,sometimes, excitement. Does that make it right to start spreading rumors about someone either close to you, or someone you may not even know a thing about….other than what you’ve heard. NO! It hurts people when they hear what has been said about them. So, don’t gossip, and maybe nobody gets hurt =)
“[M]ost of our daily news is inert, consisting of information that gives us something to talk about but cannot lead to any meaningful action. (68).”
-Neil Postman (Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public
Discourse in the Age of Show Business)
I think NEIL POSTMAN means that we can hear or see things happening all around us everyday, but nobody fights for what is right. They don’t stand up and speak out. They don’t try to take any action. I agree totally with this quote from MR.POSTMAN’s book. Like GATOR5 said, gossip. There’s also racism, bullying, etc. Most all of it falls under the catagory of gossip. All of the soap operas are examples of what I’ve seen on television and movies. They have drama, gossip, heartbreaks, and other things that no one ever speaks out against. If they do try to help, their voices most likely are not heard.
<3,
cheersince6
I agree with vonnykinz6. On both posts. Television reporters and others follow celebrities around just to get a good scandal or interesting story. They’re people too!!!! They need privacy and not people shoving cameras and microphonesin their faces 24/7. It’s ridiculous. The reporters need to focus on other people’s problems probably just to avoid their own. It’s the same way with gossip. People will attract attention to put the spotlight on someone else to make themselves look and/or feel better.
The thing about gossip is that most of us do it without even knowing it. if we know something interesting, good or bad, we pretty much have to tell someone. its human nature. unfortunatly, like many of the other stupid things we do, gossip sometimes ends up destroying something(friendships etc.)
-danumbah5
0110011101_1016: (well that was confusing to type
)
I agree with the John Cooper quote. It seems as if everyone’s life is revolved around technology. People live their lives through facebook & myspace where they can see what is going on in all of their friends lives. They talk through text and instant messaging where emotions can’t get through very well. People feel good if someone comments on their post and sad and lonely when nobody does. It is kind of scary how depressed it can make a person. And television can make people sad too. They see the fictional, exciting, romantic, action-packed, wonderful, fantasy worlds created on tv shows and movies and feel upset when their own life doesn’t model that on the screen. People should stop thinking that life is going to be like it is on TV and go out and live their own life. I mean, go outside, talk to people, climb a tree, read a book, write a poem, color with crayons, sing along with the radio, play dress-up… do SOMETHING other than stare at the TV or computer.
whywas6afraidof7?
Oh, and one other thing: TV is influencing people in a bad way. Kids (plus teenagers and adults) see actors and actresses having attitude and doing bad things, like getting drunk and having pre-marital sex. Then they think that it is perfectly normal and acceptable to smart off to their parents and become total idiots. Disney Channel is full of shows with smart-alecs and all those little 7 year olds watching them go out and become smart-alecs too. It drives me crazy. Sorry for ranting and raving.
gator5…i completely agree with you! gossip consumes most everyones lives because we always wanna know what so and so has going on. WHO CARES!!! worry about your own buisness…by you talkong about others it will just turn around and bite you on the but!!! we wud never thimk that gossip controls most of our lives…but when i read all this it really made me think.
jugaralbeisbol5
okay gummywormcasserole6! i totally agree with you! everything has become soo dependent on television and computers and everything entertainment. i mean even with this, we can;t write on a sheet of paper anymore we have to share our thoughts on the internet. with the radio we can’t drive down the road five minutes without having SOMETHING to entertain us (this one i know from experience since i am an avid radio junky. it’s crazy because we believe that if we aren’t exactly like the popular girl on that one TV show we are rejected but what if we just turned everything off and became ourselves…would we even recognize us?
In response to hi5:
I agree. I think we spend so much time and resources trying to come up with ways to improve technology. My pastor talked a little about that in his sermon today. He saidhe bought an iPhone some time ago, and not even a few months later, they had a new iPhone. And his wife got one. How jealous he was! Even though the improvement that her iPhone had that his didn’t, he never used! How crazy our world is today. If only we spent that much effort trying to be better people. Imagine what the world would be like then. It is like that in an alternate universe. A univrse I wish I could go to.
I agree with vonnykinz6. Gossip doesn’t do anything to help. In fact, it hurts more people than it helps. Going back to the whole news thing, instead of focusing on all of the bad things and celebrity gossip, why not focus on all of the positives? To me, those are worth reporting more than gossip.
pistons6101