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 51
... was coexistent with the growth of a print culture , first in Europe and then in America . The spread of typography kindled the hope that the world and its manifold mysteries could at least be comprehended , pre- The Typographic Mind 51.
... was coexistent with the growth of a print culture , first in Europe and then in America . The spread of typography kindled the hope that the world and its manifold mysteries could at least be comprehended , pre- The Typographic Mind 51.
Page 74
... least three times as old as writing , and the place of imagery in the repertoire of communication instruments was quite well understood in the nineteenth century . What was new in the mid - nineteenth century was the sudden and massive ...
... least three times as old as writing , and the place of imagery in the repertoire of communication instruments was quite well understood in the nineteenth century . What was new in the mid - nineteenth century was the sudden and massive ...
Page 93
... least one of which was specifically directed at Mayor Edward Koch , who was a member of his audience ; that is to say , he was a congregant . At his next public performance , the new arch- bishop donned a New York Mets baseball cap ...
... least one of which was specifically directed at Mayor Edward Koch , who was a member of his audience ; that is to say , he was a congregant . At his next public performance , the new arch- bishop donned a New York Mets baseball cap ...
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