"Amusing Ourselves to Death"

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses the argument made by Neil Postman in his book, "Amusing Ourselves to Death", that television and the central role it has come to play in our culture and our daily lives. The paper explains Postman's belief that television offers a highly corrosive, dehumanizing experience that promotes ignorance and stifles intellectual pursuit. The paper asserts that Postman's argument seems reactionary as well as incredibly prescient.

From the Paper:

"In his book from 1985, Amusing Ourselves to Death, Neil Postman explores the amazing affect that television is having on our culture and daily life. His audience are those people who belong to literate American culture, who he hopes to frighten with the implication of his analysis while glorifying the past as an intellectual wonderland. Postman begins the book by looking back on how educated Americans once centered their social experiences around social discourse and the printed word, from colonial pamphlets to the publication of the Lincoln-Douglas debates. Then the author goes on to analyze television commercials as a form of popular therapy that promotes the idea that all of our problems have simple solutions. Postman then goes on to make the argument that television represents nothing less than a hostile attack on traditional literate culture and that it is eroding public discourse."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Postman, N. (1985) Amusing Ourselves to Death. New York, NY: Penguin Publishing

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• Book Review # 29920 : "Neil Postman's "Amusing Ourselves to Death"

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