College Lecture Series – Neil Postman – “The Surrender of Culture to Technology”
A lecture delivered by Neil Postman on Mar. 11, 1997 in the Arts Center. Based on the author’s book of the same title. Neil Postman notes the dependence of A…
Video Rating: 4 / 5
What is his critic to Al Gore?
17:45 – porn, conspiracy theories, online gambling, narcissism (facebook).
Ah, the joys of haphazard discovery on YouTube–What a great video from
culture and media analyst/pundit/thinker Neil Postman. Agree or disagree
with Dr. Postman, his questions regarding the cultural and ethical
implications of technology are worth consideration.
Hey y’all, we’re watching and discussing this lecture using a medium Neil
Postman might not have thought necessary. Do you think Youtube solved a
truly important problem?
College Lecture Series – Neil Postman – “The Surr…:
http://youtu.be/hlrv7DIHllE
Amazing speech from an inspiring mind. Will be greatly missed…
Ah, the joys of haphazard discovery on YouTube–What a great video from
culture and media analyst/pundit/thinker Neil Postman. Agree or disagree
with Dr. Postman, his questions regarding the cultural and ethical
implications of technology are worth consideration.
I have recently read a few of his books and wish I could have met him. As
with all fine writers, he doesn’t make his ideas unnecessarily obscure.
Neil Postman’s wisdom is sorely missed in our current technology driven
culture.
He may well be whistling in the wind; tv will continue to offer
entertainment of the lowest quality to those who want it, and a few
thought-provoking investigative programs to those who can be bothered. i
hardly watch any broadcast or satellite tv anymore, as the Internet has
taken its place, offering me a wider choice or sources and a wider range of
voewpoits to engage with. Postman does seem to be a bit of a Luddite, but
he raises useful questions.
You clearly haven’t read his book, Amusing Ourselves to Death, which I had
assumed you had read, considering your strong opinions against his ideas.
He’s nothing against television. Or any other medium of discourse, for that
matter. What he has an issue with is when a medium of communication, such
as television, tries to become more than it is capable of becoming.
Television is no place for rational, intellectual discussions; it’s for
entertainment. But this, unfortunately, is turning [1/2]
Excellent. Bedtime listening sorted.
His reason for doing so was that he saw those media of communications as a
decadence in the most basic form, straying from more intellectual media. I
would love, no sarcasm intended, for you to reference me to something which
would help me to better understand your reason spewing invective.
I’m sure some cavemen argued against the prolonged use of fire against
fire-wielding cavemen. Are we to limit the use of our progressive tools in
fear that it is taking away our culture from us, that in doing so would
slow our adaptation to such tools, making it extremely hard to express our
thoughts and perspectives in the most simple efficient rapid convenient way
that may have ever and will be possible for human beings.
Which of his books have you read? So far, I’ve read Amusing Ourselves to
Death, and Building a Bridge to the 18th Century. It would have been a
pleasure to meet him. There is currently no one in our culture asking the
questions he would about technology. I love this quote from Henry David
Thoreau, “All our inventions are but improved means to an unimproved end.”
If you haven’t read Propaganda by Edward Bernays’s, do so. It will further
open your eyes.
I certainly don’t miss him. He was a Luddite when it came to any kind of
new story telling medium and a enemy to writers and the creative class
everywhere.
our supposedly intellectual discussions on TV into nothing more than
entertainment, since television isn’t capable of hosting such discussions.
The written word can, however, since what you experience is simply the bare
information, without any added functionality, which only lends to become a
distraction. [2/2]
Thank you so much for sharing this lecture with Mr. Postman.