Transcript Amusing Ourselves To Death Neil Postman

Amusing Ourselves To Death
Neil Postman
Chapter 5
The Peak-A-Boo World
What two technological developments ushered
in the
Age of Mass Communication
What two technological developments ushered in the Age of
Mass Communication?
• The Telegraph
• The Photograph
The merging of the telegraph and the photograph furnished the
watershed between the Age of Print and the Age of Television
In 1860’s days the manufactures of
cameras were most likely to be cabinet makers
This is a typical camera design from 1910-1930.
“I don’t understand
Postman’s view that
telegraphy
destroyed the
prevailing definition
of information…and
gave new meaning
to public discourse.”
What are Postman’s fundamental arguments?
• Telegraph began to change the nature of the
information environment
How did the telegraph begin to alter the nature of the information environment?
• increased the quantity of information available and
altered the quality of information
How did the telegraph begin to alter the nature of the information environment?
• increased the quantity of information available and altered the quality of
information
• redefined what information was and began to create a decontextualized communication environment.
““Would you explain
“dignified
irrelevance’ and
amplified impotence’
as related to the
telegraph”
Why did the
telegraph make a
three-pronged attack
on the typographic
definition of
discourse?
The Demons of Discourse
Age of Print
Definition of Information
• Relevance (Local)
• Coherent ( Embedded In Context - Not
Merely Tied To The Moment)
• Potent
• (Tied To Personal and Community
Affairs -Empowered Citizens To Act)
Age of Mass Communication
Definition of Information
• Irrelevance
• Why is what is happening in the country or the
world more important than what is happening in
our own communities?
The Research Suggests
“Only 8 percent of all newscasts about a truly local race,
Defined as a U.S. House, state legislature, or regional office.
Lear Center
University of Southern California
Study News Coverage Prior to
2004 General Elections
Age of Mass Communication
Definition of Information
• Dignified Irrelevance
• As relevance became less important as a
criteria for capturing audience attention what
criteria were elevated?
“I do not understand how the
telegraph could change the content
of newspapers so much?
“Technological change is not additive; it is ecological,
which means, it changes everything and is, therefore,
too important to be left entirely in the hands of Bill
Gates.”
Neil Postman
Local Begins to Take a Back-stage to the National & Global
Helped to redefine “news”
Contributed to a decontextualized
information environment
“What does Postman
mean when he says that
telegraphy made public
discourse essentially
incoherent?”
Age of Mass Communication
Definition of Information
• Incoherent (De-contextualized)
• “Up To The Moment”
• “News From Nowhere-Addressed To No One.”
• Less Likely To “Build Context”
What does de-contextualized mean?
What does de-contextualized mean?
• Not directly relevant or salient to individuals
• Not connected to the past or anticipated future.
• Information became transient and short-lived.
Age of Mass Communication
Definition of Information
• Impotent
• Less Basis For Managing Personal and
Community Decision-Making
• Altered The Information-Action Ratio
What does it mean to say that something is “taken-out-of context?”
Information is Missing
The Answer Is
The Crossword Puzzle
The Question Is
What do Americans do to amuse
themselves as a result of living in a country
overwhelmed by irrelevance, incoherence,
and impotence?
“Postman says the most of the
news of the day is irrelevant
because it does not alter our lives.
Sometimes, thought isn’t
increasing one’s knowledge in and
of itself worthwhile, even if it
does not stir us to action.”
Channeling Neil Postman
“Of course there is always potential for knowing. Given that I
lived all my life in Queens, New York, I might point out that the
content of the average evening newscast will fill only two
columns of the New York Times, and it is not the content of the
information which is useless but rather the way in which the
information is brought to the viewer which makes it less useful.”
“What happened to the “real news” if
telegraphy and photography were
pseudo-news?
Channeling Neil Postman
“Let me tell you a story. When I was young I was a pretty good
athlete, I particularly liked baseball and basketball. I remember
during the summer we could often race home to read the
evening newspapers to see if we “made headlines.” Each day
the newspaper would run a five inch story summarizing the
days happening in each of the four youth baseball leagues. I
would guess a lot of news has gone the way of the youth
baseball stories.”
“Postman says “to the telegraph
intelligence meant knowing of things,
but not knowing about them. Yet
people’s own intelligence, interests,
and attention span don’t allow for
people to know about and understand
great quantities of diversified
information.”
Channeling Neal Postman
You argue that Americans do
not possess the intelligence,
interest, or attention span to
allow for people to know about
and understand great quantizes
of diversified information.
Perhaps you and your
classmates would humor me by
taking the following quiz?
Name that Movie
"I'll make him an offer he can't refuse."
Name that Movie
"I'll be back."
Name That Movie
Can I borrow your underpants for ten minutes?"
Name that Movie
"Then close your eyes and tap your heels
together three times. And think to yourself,
'There's no place like home'
Name that Movie
"You want answers?“
"I want the truth!“
"You can't handle the truth!"
Name that Movie
"Frankly, my dear. I don't give a damn."
Name that Movie
Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me.
Aren't you?"
Name that Movie
Life's a box of chocolates, . You
never know what you're gonna get.
Name that Movie
You realize we're all going to go to college as
virgins. They probably have special dorms for
people like us.
Name that Movie
“We're on a mission from God.”
Name that Movie
What?! Over? Did you say over? NOTHING is
over until WE decide it is! Was it over when the
Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?
HELL, NO!
What are the names of the six countries that border Iraq?
Who is the current President of Iraq?
A.
C.
B.
D.
Jalal Talabani
What was the name of Sadamn’s Hussein’s eldest son?
What was the name of Sadamn’s Hussein’s eldest son?
Uday Hussein
What year did Sadam Hussein come to
power in Iraq?
What year did Sadam Hussein come to power in Iraq?
1979
What is the official language or Iraq?
What is the official language or Iraq?
Arabic
What is the major religion of Iraq?
What is the major religion of Iraq?
Islam
What is the capital of Iraq?
What is the capital of Iraq?
Baghdad
What was the primary cause of the US
invasion of Iraq in 1991?
What was the primary cause of the US
invasion of Iraq in 1991?
Iraq invaded Kuwait
What percentage of adult males in Iraq are unemployed?
What percentage of adult males in Iraq are unemployed?
50 percent
At the age of 20 Sadam Hussein joined which movement
whose goal was to unite all Arab nations?
At the age of 20 Sadamn Hussein joined which
movement whose goal was to unite all Arab nations?
Ba’ath Party
What country was involved in a border
fighting with Iraq in Feb. 2008?
What are Postman’s fundamental arguments?
• Telegraph began to change the nature of the information environment
• There are fundamental epistemological differences
between the word and the image.
“True, to read requires more intelligence
than to watch, but a picture is worth 1000
words, and the pictures shown in the
news wrote books of truth. A picture of a
man being shot in the head has more truth
on the horror of war than any book could.”
“Do pictures in the news write truth?
“What is the primary difference between
the linguistic (verbal) and visual depiction
of reality?
•Postman says that the
sense of context created by
the photograph
and headline is lllusory.
What does he mean?
“It is true enough that the photograph provides a context for
the sentence, and that sentence provides a context of sorts for
the photograph, but if that is the being and end of your
encounter, than the appearance of context provided by the
conjunction of sentence is illusionary and so is the impression
of meaning attached to it, and you may even believe for a day
or two you have learned something.”
Neil Postman
Amusing Ourselves to Death
Distinguishing Between Forms of Discourse:
Visual vs. Verbal
• The Image
• The Word or Concept
• Abstract
• Concrete
• Propositional
• Non-Propositional
• Isolated From Context
• Function In Context
Distinguishing Between Forms of Discourse:
Visual vs. Verbal
Can photographic messages be understood without language?
Can one argue about the truth or falsity of an image?
Can photographic messages be understood without language?
Can one argue about the truth or falsity of an image?
Can photographic messages be understood without language?
Can one argue about the truth or falsity of an image?
Can photographic messages be understood without language?
Can one argue about the truth or falsity of an image?
Can photographic messages be understood without language?
Can one argue about the truth or falsity of an image?
“What did Postman mean when he
said television has become the
background radiation of the social
and intellectual universe?”
How Is Television Like Radiation?
• Television like radiation is ubiquitous
• Television like radiation is harmless in
low doses and lethal in high doses
• Television like radiation exerts influence
at low levels of awareness
Could it be that the pervasive nature of television influences what
we defined as intelligence, out interests, and our habits?
• On average every household has a TV on almost 50
hours a week.
• 40% of households eat dinner with the set on.
Americans watch an average of 30 hours per week.
• The average American spends 1/5 of their life in front
of the screen
What are Postman’s fundamental arguments?
• Telegraph began to change the nature of the information
environment
• There are fundamental epistemological differences between the
word and the image.
• The merging of the telegraphy and the photograph
began the creation of a new metaphor of public
discourse i.e. began to change the way we come to
know and understand the world around us - seeing
rather than reading became the basis for believing
The Natural Epistemology
“My grandmother, who lived in a Moravian village
and still knew everything through her own
experience: how bread is baked, how a house is
built, how a pig is slaughtered and the meat
smoked, what quilts are made of, what the priest
and the schoolteacher think about the world; she
met the whole village every day and knew how
many murders were committed in the country over
the last ten years; she had, so to speak, personal
control over reality, and nobody could fool her by
maintaining that Moravian agriculture was thriving
when people at home had nothing to eat.”
The Televisual Epistemology
“My Paris neighbor spends his time an an office,
where he sits for eight hours facing an office
colleague, then he sits in his car and drives home,
turns on the TV, and when the announcer informs
him that in the latest public opinion poll the majority
of Frenchmen voted their country the safest in
Europe (I recently read such a report), he is
overjoyed and opens a bottle of champagne without
ever learning that three thefts and two murders
were committed on his street that very day.
“
Channeling Neil Postman
“Postman seems quick to state what is wrong
with our culture due to the influence of television.
Does he offer any suggestions?
“I wrote Amusing Ourselves to Death to create awareness of
the way in which mediums of communication have the power
to resonate and to transform many different aspects of our
culture. Many others have written similar books, Joshua
Meyorwitz,, No Sense of Place, Mark Cripen Miller’s Boxed
In: The Culture of TV, Steward Ewing’s All Consuming Images
and Tood Gitlin’s Media Unlimied, In a sense we were trying
to demythologize television. It is not our mission to tell
people how to live their lives.”
Images proliferate, the net spreads, the volume rises. No one
is in control. "Information is not knowledge; knowledge is not
understanding. How can we create understanding in a world
in which information and knowledge are out of control?"
Mark Taylor
``In the age of information overload the ultimate
luxury is meaning and context.”
Louis Rossetto
Wired Magazine 1993
““
“Postman says the most of the
news of the day is irrelevant
because it does not alter our lives.
Sometimes, thought isn’t
increasing one’s knowledge in and
of itself worthwhile, even if it does
not stir us to action.”
““
“Postman argues that the telegraph
ushered in a new era of useless
information, But is he suggesting
that we would be better off without
world news, since is does not effect
us directly? Does that make it
useless?”
““
“Why does Postman compare
language and photography I don’t
think they should be compared, they
are so different.”
He is interested in epistemology.
Words and images are two of the primary ways
we come to know and understand the world
around us
““
Voices From The Front
• “Why does Postman compare language and
photography I don’t think they should be compared,
they are so different.”
• Postman talks about how a camera limits perception,
presenting only a fragment. Isn’t language also limited
by the fact that it must be presented in a logical
sequence?
• “I disagree with the idea that you can misunderstand
language and can’t misunderstand picture.”