Reflective Essay

WRTG 101

Annemarie J Chiarini

Summary of Postman Neil’s “Amusing Ourselves to Death,”

In Postman’s book, “Amusing Ourselves to Death,” Postman argues in the first two chapters that the medium acts as the metaphor as well as epistemology. This means that different forms of medium such as television and the printing press are a mirror of the cultures’ reality and source of knowledge. The representation of issues and ideas in by medium reflects a model for the staging of the world and people’s reality in the society hence they have a direct influence to the society. They affect communication between people and culture. I completely agree with statements medium as a metaphor and media as epistemology as the media does not only informs us but tell us what to think about and how to behave.

In the first chapter, Postman explains the metaphoric/symbolic representation of the American culture that he believes is symbolized by Las Vegas a city that is "entirely devoted to the idea of entertainment" (Postman & Postman, 1985, p. 3). He believes that public discourse has taken a form of entertainment that has put people in a position of amusing themselves to death. He believes that the seeking of celebrity status by political figures and the definition of newscasters by their attractiveness are all public discourses created to the society by the medium.

Postman further explains the how the media is important in determining how people derive their knowledge and truth. He believes that the society is prone to the manipulation by the media. He even wishes to elaborate how television makes people grow "sillier by the minute" (Postman & Postman, 1985, p. 24). This implies that people use the media as a form of knowledge that the images presented in televisions are primary mediums for truth to an extent that they are even doubtful of the manipulation. The epistemological function of the media is therefore seen in this chapter where people actually use the media as a source of knowledge without even asking of the manipulation it may have in their lives or cultures. The content in the medium therefore is manifested through the cultures of human persons.

In explaining the metaphorical and epistemological representations of the media in the society, Postman identifies that cultural conversations between human persons take place through images that limit our abilities to communicate the truth. He explains this by having to compare communication in the past and communication in an era of technological advancement. He explains that in the oral cultured communication, intelligence and acquisition of knowledge was defined by the ability to remember and apply proverbs. This is contrary to the print culture where intelligence is defined by the ability to see words and intuit their meanings and determine the logic and arguments presented by the writing. In explaining this, he believes that “new medium changes the structure of discourse” (Postman & Postman, 1985, p. 27). This statement implies that a creation of new mediums encourages use of intellect by demanding certain kinds of content. This explains how the media is used by the society as a source of knowledge. For one to get intelligence in the print era, they have to determine the logic behind the writings.

Postman produces evidence that there are cultural shaping roles associated to the media. He criticizes the television greatly as a culprit that undermines societal values. He does this by using philosophies behind its epistemology and metaphorical nature and creates an argument that can easily be under stood. The author embraced the advancement in technology that has led to the change of the medium that in turn has lead to a change on the level of intelligence of people assimilating media messages. This therefore leads to the creation of cultures driven by the media industry.

Reference

Postman, N., & Postman, A. (1985). Amusing ourselves to death. New York, NY: Penguin Books