Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show BusinessTelevision has conditioned us to tolerate visually entertaining material measured out in spoonfuls of time, to the detriment of rational public discourse and reasoned public affairs. In this eloquent, persuasive book, Neil Postman alerts us to the real and present dangers of this state of affairs, and offers compelling suggestions as to how to withstand the media onslaught. Before we hand over politics, education, religion, and journalism to the show business demands of the television age, we must recognize the ways in which the media shape our lives and the ways we can, in turn, shape them to serve out highest goals. |
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Page 21
... assumed to be more casually uttered than what they write . The written word is assumed to have been reflected upon and revised by its author , reviewed by authorities and editors . It is easier to verify or refute , and it is invested ...
... assumed to be more casually uttered than what they write . The written word is assumed to have been reflected upon and revised by its author , reviewed by authorities and editors . It is easier to verify or refute , and it is invested ...
Page 32
... assumed that these people confined their reading to religious matters . Probate records indicate that 60 percent of the estates in Mid- dlesex County between the years 1654 and 1699 contained books , all but 8 percent of them including ...
... assumed that these people confined their reading to religious matters . Probate records indicate that 60 percent of the estates in Mid- dlesex County between the years 1654 and 1699 contained books , all but 8 percent of them including ...
Page 127
... assumption of rationality among buyers that spurs competitors to become winners , and winners to keep on winning . Where it is assumed that a buyer is unable to make rational decisions , laws are passed to invalidate transactions , as ...
... assumption of rationality among buyers that spurs competitors to become winners , and winners to keep on winning . Where it is assumed that a buyer is unable to make rational decisions , laws are passed to invalidate transactions , as ...
Contents
The Medium Is the Metaphor | 3 |
Media as Epistemology | 16 |
Typographic America | 30 |
Copyright | |
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advertising Aldous Huxley America amusing argument audience become believe Billy Graham called celebrities Charles Finney claims classroom coherent communication conversation course created culture Diff'rent Strokes Douglas eighteenth entertainment epistemology example exposition fact Frye Huxley idea implied intellectual irrelevant Jerry Falwell Jimmy Swaggart language learning Lincoln-Douglas debates literacy Marshall McLuhan matter means medium ment merely metaphor Mimi mind movie nature newscaster newspaper nineteenth century oral Orwell Pat Robertson photograph play preachers President printed word printing press problem public discourse question radio rational readers reason religion religious Reverend Robert Schuller rock music sense serious Sesame Street show business sion social speech story symbolic tele telegraph television commercial television program television screen television show television's thing tion tradition truth typographic viewers visual Walter Ong watch writing written word York