Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (AOTD), is a book by Neil Postman that critically analyzes a shift in public discourse and communication through the development of new technologies in modern western culture. More specifically, Postman describes the shift in modern discourse with negative connotations as it further contributes to the growing age of show business and the intellectual decline of western culture. AOTD was published by Neil Postman in 1985, before many of the technologies of the current era were produced. In its time, the book may have appeared to be an obscure prediction, but the growth of western culture in the 21st century has only further proven the points made by Postman back in 1985.
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Postman begins his book by comparing different time periods of western society to different American cities. He ends up comparing modern America to the City of Las Vegas, Nevada claiming that the modern era of western society is based on entertainment and show business. Wanting to explain how western society arrived at this point, Postman provides the reader with his most foundational principle for his argument: the medium is the metaphor. Medium is the metaphor that simply means that different forms of discourse directly determine the content that can be issued by such forms. Postman believes that because culture has shifted from oral or written discourse to that of television, the meaning of modern discourse (or the metaphor) must change because the two methods are so different they can’t possibly communicate in the same way. Postman supports his theoretical analysis with various examples, one of the most relevant being in the case of former President William Howard Taft. Taft was a large 300-pound man who likely would not be elected in 2024 because of his off-putting image that would be displayed on
Postman begins his book by comparing different time periods of western society to different American cities. He ends up comparing modern America to the City of Las Vegas, Nevada claiming that the modern era of western society is based on entertainment and show business. Wanting to explain how western society arrived at this point, Postman provides the reader with his most foundational principle for his argument: the medium is the metaphor. Medium is the metaphor that simply means that different forms of discourse directly determine the content that can be issued by such forms. Postman believes that because culture has shifted from oral or written discourse to that of television, the meaning of modern discourse (or the metaphor) must change because the two methods are so different they can’t possibly communicate in the same way. Postman supports his theoretical analysis with various examples, one of the most relevant being in the case of former President William Howard Taft. Taft was a large 300-pound man who likely would not be elected in 2024 because of his off-putting image that would be displayed on