Analysis Of Neil Postman's 'Amusing Ourselves To Death'

Improved Essays
Neil Postman’s 1985 novel “Amusing Ourselves to Death” presents many interesting and well-thought out claims, one of the major ones being about television and the dangers it presents to society. His main points on this subject pertaining to the fact …”that television has reduced our ability to take the world seriously.” By this, Postman is addressing the fact that all the information we receive now is through the television. Leading into one of his largest, and debatably most important, assertions, our society is morphing into something similar to Aldous Huxley’s “A Brave New World”. Where the people are controlled by entertainment and pleasure. Postman’s work is less of a story and more of a wake-up call or warning. Our image driven society must become less obsessed with our own image and begin to truly comprehend the images that we are putting …show more content…
However, upon reading Postman’s “Amusing Ourselves to Death” I now realize that these two things go hand in hand. There are certain parts of Postman’s argument I disagree with, like the fact that we are being controlled by “our pleasures” i.e. that we have become a Huxley-esque society. I think that this idea may be taking things a bit far. I am, however, willing to admit that we have become more and more obsessed with things that we see on TV or similar platforms. This obsession is causing us to rely only on the information presented to us through these platforms. Our attention span for things outside of them has decreased in such a way that we don’t even bother to look into the outside information. The problem is us. Human beings, that is. Postman views the TV as a “value-neutral” tool, meaning, in the end, the TV is just nuts and bolts , the TV does not threaten you if you don’t listen to it. It is after all, just a tool. It is made strong by the importance we place on

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Soma In Brave New World

    • 691 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Television shows an unrealistic view of our society that distracts on what is really happening in our world and our lives. We use television as an escape from our problems like how Lenina use soma to escape from her problems. “ Lenina felt herself entitled, after this day of queerness and horror, to a complete and absolute holiday. As soon as they got back to the rest-house, she swallowed six half-gramme tablets of soma...” (Huxley 140).…

    • 691 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Jeffery Sachs "A Nation of Vidiots" he frequently uses logos and ethos in his story, by explaining that the Television has changed the world in many ways, and as Americans we have taken it to a new level. Trying to reach the average American, Sachs explains in is story that in comparison to other countries the American people spend several hours watching Television. He uses examples like percentages from the 1950's and 1960's and compare it to this day an age. Reaching his readers that Television has become an addiction to us. Sachs context is social and some political, although most Americans admit they watch more than they should.…

    • 1194 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Elizabeth Thoman, the author of, “Rise of the Image Culture: Re-imagining the American Dream,” takes the position that American lives, as a whole, are being consumed with images and the effect that have on us. Claims she uses that further support he position include that “consumer culture as we know it could have never emerged without the invention if the camera and the eventual mass production of media images…” (pp. 202-203). Thoman also claims that the “progress” that America has had over the last few decades has made America as a whole dependent on the concept of images and television, she also states that “We must recognize the trade-offs we have made and take responsibility for the society we have created” (p. 205). To provide evidence and research throughout her essay, Thoman uses quotes from a magazine to help further her explanation of American’s dependence on television. The most effective aspect of Thoman’s essay is her use of examples and scenarios that help the reader connect and realize exactly what “frozen images” has done to our population as a whole.…

    • 1247 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    “We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out” (Ray Bradbury). By beautiful stuff I mean the thoughts that swirl in your head or questions that leads you to your lightbulb moment. You are undoubtedly thinking about what I am saying to you right this moment, but just envision living in a world that eradicated any thinking and muted your expressions from ever being perceived. Ray Bradbury predicted a society resembling this in his book Fahrenheit 451 published 1953, an isolated society where books are made illegal by a government fearing an independent-thinking public.…

    • 1690 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Overall Sachs provides information that creates a solid argument for the perspective that he has taken on this subject. The combination of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos provides this writing with the proper material needed to sway the audience’s opinion of TV viewing to agree with the point that the author is making. TV viewing is a growing issue in our nation. Individuals spend significant time in front of televisions rather the interacting with one another. This issue needs to be discussed, and the effects demonstrated to the general public.…

    • 818 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Brave But Not So New World “It is in the nature of the medium [television] that it must suppress the content of ideas in order to accommodate the requirements of visual interest; that is to say, to accomodate the values of show business.” This quote from Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death shows how current day media is suppressing the content for entertainment purposes. Similar ideas are shared in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, in which he created a dystopia where people are born into a society that suppresses beliefs in exchange for sustainability. Postman’s argument of people in Brave New World not knowing what they were laughing about and why they had stopped thinking stands true because the citizens were indoctrinated into beliefs on how to live their life, had their thoughts suppressed, and were…

    • 1512 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Another quote from Postman stating “As the influence of print wanes, the content of politics, religion, education, and anything else that comprises public business must change and be recast in terms that are more suitable to television” (8). I can say that I agree with him because some of the things on print do not translate on television. That television sometimes has to rely on antics to get your attention, and as a result, end up on shows like the ones I mentioned…

    • 857 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    During the Cold War era, as the free will system in American resonated around the world; simultaneously, there rose one of the most socially-dictating capable inventions known to man: the television (Anderson and Bushman, 2001). During this Golden Age of television, almost every American household had a television set in their homes. This new devotion to viewing the television led to many societal changes on how we looked, behaved or interacted with people. In the essay “The Man Who Counts the killings”, the author, Scott Stossel, an editor for The Atlantic Magazine, delves into the relationship between viewership of violent TV shows and violence in society. In his cause and effect type essay, Stossel believes in a direct correlation between…

    • 1185 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    On average, American’s watch about 28 hours of television per week. Neil Postman’s “Amusing Ourselves to death” reinforces his many ideas and theories that revolve around the concept of how media is seen in a much bigger picture, and tries to offer some solutions to the issues that are happening right under our noses. It also shows how television has affected the perspectives of many and cultures in negative ways. Postman makes other points such as the how the truth can be seen or manipulated by the media ,and the way we acquire and absorb information. All of these points tie back to the negative aspect of watching television.…

    • 1067 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In “Supersaturation or Media Torrent and Disposable Feelings” Todd Gitlin writes of the fast moving media soaked environment we live in today. Gitlin begins with a description of The Concert, a Vermer painting from the 1600s, calling it proof of “amusements and news at once.” These paintings were hung in a house for many years because the modern styles would not change as often as it does now. Gitlin connects the painting to the different media outlets that are in homes now such as TVs magazines and radios. He did research on the amount of time spent watching TV and found that 40 percent of a person’s free time is spent watching TV.…

    • 442 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As with just about everything, there are both positive as well as negative aspects to consider when looking at the effect of television in American culture. It is true that television can be educational, entertaining and empowering. The media consumption in general and TV specifically, has grown with rapid fervor over the past 60 years thus, a uniquely symbiotic relationship between culture and TV was born. This relationship has been slowly cemented by the cultures dependence on media in general.…

    • 172 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Symbolic Interactionism

    • 811 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Mass media has been on the rise since the early 1920s, however, most recently has it only began to allow individuals to express their thoughts and ideas more easily. Generally speaking, television is a form of mass media that plays a significant role in reflecting as well as creating cultures. Television allows individuals to be overwhelmed with messages from an abundant amount of different sources leading to the influence on society’s mood as well as attitude. Though it becomes quite obvious that television affects societies as a whole, there is still quite a debate on how much it really contributes into different cultures. To truly understand the study of television and its implications one has to understand the three major ideologies of…

    • 811 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    However, the information we have and the means by which we attain itsaid information is slowly but clearly altering the way we think. In his landmark book Amusing Ourselves to Death, Postman focuses on how a culture rich in the media of television actively prevents us from engaging in meaningful conversations with each other and with the theorists of the past. When our culture shifted from a primarily print-based culture to an image-based culture, the demands placed upon us by that culture changed as well. In a print-based culture, the reader is required to “follow a line of thought, which requires considerable powers of classifying, inference-making and reasoning. It means to uncover lies, confusions, and overgeneralizations, to detect abuses of logic and common sense.…

    • 1299 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    It is no secret that the television has now become a staple device in the average American home. The history of the television has evolved tremendously compared to when television sets were first introduced to the public in the early 1940’s. Over the last sixty years, they are slimmer, produce sharp images, and come in various makes and models. Not only can these physical contributions be noted, television programs often correlate to what is going on in the outside world. Lauren Zalaznick, television executive, argues that television has a conscious and its popular programs reflect similar characteristics of the American society.…

    • 1255 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    ENGL 1515 ASSIGNMENT “TELEVISION” BY ROALD DAHL: AN ANALYTIC REVIEW NAME : NUR AFIFAH BINTI NOR HASBI MATRIC NO : 1416044 SECTION : 1 LECTURER : DR. MD.…

    • 1250 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays