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97th out of 2,088 books
—
3,730 voters
Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business
Originally published in 1985, Neil Postman’s groundbreaking polemic about the corrosive effects of television on our politics and public discourse has been hailed as a twenty-first-century book published in the twentieth century. Now, with television joined by more sophisticated electronic media—from the Internet to cell phones to DVDs—it has taken on even greater signific...more
Paperback, 208 pages
Published
December 27th 2005
by Penguin Books
(first published 1985)
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Mar 20, 2013
s.penkevich
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Infinite Jesters
Recommended to s.penkevich by:
School
‘What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one.'
The modern era is an age of endless information and entertainment. Media looks to the public for what they want, and then sells it back to them wrapped up in the most irresistible packaging they can create, and we eat it up. However, if entertainment is what we desire most, and if everything we receive must compete for our atten...more
The modern era is an age of endless information and entertainment. Media looks to the public for what they want, and then sells it back to them wrapped up in the most irresistible packaging they can create, and we eat it up. However, if entertainment is what we desire most, and if everything we receive must compete for our atten...more
Well, yes, Mr Postman. You're undoubtedly right in much of your analysis. And I suppose it was prescient of you to be so right way back in 1985 when you wrote this book.
But having said that, I'm not sure what else to add. Here we are in 2009. Arnold Schwarzenegger is governor of the state I live in. But the republic hasn't fallen. The barbarians are just an annoyance, not a threat. Newspapers may be undergoing a steep decline, but it would be premature to declare this a complete tragedy. I read...more
But having said that, I'm not sure what else to add. Here we are in 2009. Arnold Schwarzenegger is governor of the state I live in. But the republic hasn't fallen. The barbarians are just an annoyance, not a threat. Newspapers may be undergoing a steep decline, but it would be premature to declare this a complete tragedy. I read...more
23 likes · like · see review
This really is a book that needs to be read. I’m going to start with the quote that got me to read this book:
“We were keeping our eye on 1984. When the year came and the prophecy didn't, thoughtful Americans sang softly in praise of themselves. The roots of liberal democracy had held. Wherever else the terror had happened, we, at least, had not been visited by Orwellian nightmares. But we had forgotten that alongside Orwell's dark vision, there was another - slightly older, slightly less well kn...more
“We were keeping our eye on 1984. When the year came and the prophecy didn't, thoughtful Americans sang softly in praise of themselves. The roots of liberal democracy had held. Wherever else the terror had happened, we, at least, had not been visited by Orwellian nightmares. But we had forgotten that alongside Orwell's dark vision, there was another - slightly older, slightly less well kn...more
41 likes · like · see review
If someone held a gun to my head and asked for a precise and concise definition of irony (it could happen!), I would say only this: Neil Postman died two days before Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected governor -thus narrowly missing out on the single best example of what he was screaming about all those years ago. This book was foundational for me. Postman delivers a passioned polemic about the entertain-at-any-cost ethos of our current culture, and how the irrestible siren song of triviality is...more
Jun 18, 2008
booklady
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
any parent!
I think this was my introduction to Postman and I read this book in a day; it's 163 pages. Yes, I like to read, but even so back then with two little kids, I rarely read that much in month much less a day! I had two nearly-hyperactive (okay yes they were girls) kids of four and five. I only mention this so you know just how big an impression this book made on me at the time.
Up until then I frequently resorted to letting the kids 'do' videos several hours a day--not that they would ever sit stil...more
Up until then I frequently resorted to letting the kids 'do' videos several hours a day--not that they would ever sit stil...more
7 likes · like · see review
This book had been on my To Read list for quite some time; a mention in The Geography of Nowhere was the final spur to check it out from the library.
Postman takes a look at how our perception of the world is affected by the medium in which we receive information about it; contrasting the Age of Print (the 18th & 19th centuries) with our current age - starting with the telegraph and continuing through to the computer. Obviously, the main focus is television, as it is the most ubiquitous info...more
Postman takes a look at how our perception of the world is affected by the medium in which we receive information about it; contrasting the Age of Print (the 18th & 19th centuries) with our current age - starting with the telegraph and continuing through to the computer. Obviously, the main focus is television, as it is the most ubiquitous info...more
7 likes · like · see review
Aug 22, 2007
Malbadeen
added it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
headless people
Shelves:
read-by-virtue-of-proximity
I read a paragraph of this? or a page? or a chapter? or most of it? What I read to the point where Postman said, basically that there is so much information out there that we can not or do not act on that it's pretty ludicrous to keep taking it all in. And I was like cool! I can finally stop paying attention to that war that they're having in that place and all that talk about those hungry people in that one country is now in one ear and out the other. And then I was like double cool cuz I know...more
4 likes · like · see review
This was an astonishing book. I picked it up from the library but I really want my own copy now. I was nervous about it because it was written a while ago, before the Internet was the all-pervasive force it is today. I thought it's a book about media, it will be dated, it will say television is bad for you, etc. But it really surprised me.
The point of the book is about how the advent of television influenced public discourse and politics. The book speaks at length about pre-television society i...more
The point of the book is about how the advent of television influenced public discourse and politics. The book speaks at length about pre-television society i...more
Aug 06, 2007
Inggita
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
media-socsci-journ-philo
i translated this book into Indonesian ("Menghibur Diri Sampai Mati" - Pustaka Sinar Harapan press) back in the 90s - i was taken by the clarity of the analogy that he provides even though it makes little sense to those who doesn't read (where i come from there's a lot, therefore we can't say Postman will be effective over here): Orwell's vision of a totalitarian nation where everything's monitored and controled vs. Huxley's where we will gladly let go of our role as watchdogs in return of endle...more
Postman provodes an insightful analysis about how the medium of communication (speech, writing, television) has a significant effect on the information that is communicated. Television is limited to providing information without context because the communication happens only in a single direction and has strict time limitations. Television is a great medium for entertainment, but it is generally counter-productive as a medium for for communicating more complex ideas such as news, education, and...more
Wow, what a read! This is a book that everyone should read. Postman has diagnosed the problem that most of us didn't even know existed. The trouble is there really is no easy cure. Each person must act upon his solution individually and take responsibility for himself and his family.
I have never given so much thought to how to educate my children as I have in the past twenty-four hours that I have been reading this book.
I have never given so much thought to how to educate my children as I have in the past twenty-four hours that I have been reading this book.
In three words, read this book.
Why?
1. Neil Postman's skill in argumentation is a beautiful thing. Whether or not you agree with him, you can learn something by paying attention to how he structures his argument -- so transparently, for one thing; he tries to let you know what he's up to, tries to anticipate and address criticisms, tries to bare his definitions, tries to work within specific and specified historical and disciplinary contexts, tries to explicitly define the scope of his argument....more
Why?
1. Neil Postman's skill in argumentation is a beautiful thing. Whether or not you agree with him, you can learn something by paying attention to how he structures his argument -- so transparently, for one thing; he tries to let you know what he's up to, tries to anticipate and address criticisms, tries to bare his definitions, tries to work within specific and specified historical and disciplinary contexts, tries to explicitly define the scope of his argument....more
In one word. Damned good. This is what I called a prophetic writing.
This book is a lamentation of a dying culture, the typographic culture, now being replace by audiovisual culture. The decline has been shown in many books, but never been stated as beautiful and engaging as Postman.
Postman himself, is not the vanguard, he is merely following the footsteps of the prophet before him, Marshall McLuhan. McLuhan has seen that this new culture technology had bring its own nature. The new technology is...more
This book is a lamentation of a dying culture, the typographic culture, now being replace by audiovisual culture. The decline has been shown in many books, but never been stated as beautiful and engaging as Postman.
Postman himself, is not the vanguard, he is merely following the footsteps of the prophet before him, Marshall McLuhan. McLuhan has seen that this new culture technology had bring its own nature. The new technology is...more
Feb 04, 2012
Jon
added it
"This book is about the possibility that Huxley, not Orwell, was right." - Neil Postman
In 1854 Stephen A. Douglas presented a three-hour speech against Abraham Lincoln's ideas, and in return, on that same night, Lincoln responded with a three-hour argument of his own. The surprise? People actually stayed long enough to hear both men out.
Contrast that with the Republican debate that happened last night: 8 candidates were forced to answer leading, disjointed questions in 30 seconds or less. And th...more
In 1854 Stephen A. Douglas presented a three-hour speech against Abraham Lincoln's ideas, and in return, on that same night, Lincoln responded with a three-hour argument of his own. The surprise? People actually stayed long enough to hear both men out.
Contrast that with the Republican debate that happened last night: 8 candidates were forced to answer leading, disjointed questions in 30 seconds or less. And th...more
Whenever I challenge my students to think critically about the value of television and the amount they consume, they almost always respond, "But Mrs. B! What about all the educational stuff on TV?"
This is exactly why I encourage them to read this book. Neil Postman doesn't believe our culture is threatened by shows created for the sole purpose of entertaining audiences. Instead, Postman argues, "...television is at its most trivial and, therefore, most dangerous when its aspirations are high, wh...more
This is exactly why I encourage them to read this book. Neil Postman doesn't believe our culture is threatened by shows created for the sole purpose of entertaining audiences. Instead, Postman argues, "...television is at its most trivial and, therefore, most dangerous when its aspirations are high, wh...more
4 likes · like · see review
There's a good feeling you get when you read a book that accurately criticizes something that needs it. If you've ever felt like watching TV was a waste of time, this book will impart such a feeling.
Not to mention, providing an arsenal of reasons why TV is a general waste of time.
Why, just two days ago my 3rd grade students asked me why the 4th graders at our school always get to watch videos in class and we don't.
With Postman's support in my back pocket I explained that TV was nothing more than...more
Not to mention, providing an arsenal of reasons why TV is a general waste of time.
Why, just two days ago my 3rd grade students asked me why the 4th graders at our school always get to watch videos in class and we don't.
With Postman's support in my back pocket I explained that TV was nothing more than...more
I just re-read this with a book group. Most fascinating and insightful for me this time around were the introductory chapters in which Postman undergirds his later specific critique of TV culture.
2 likes · like · see review
Disinformation Means Misleading Information--Misplaced, Irrelevant, Fragmented or Superficial, June 14, 2008
"In watching American television, one is reminded of George Bernard Shaw's remark on his first seeing the glittering neon signs of Broadway and 42nd Street at night. It must be beautiful, he said, if you cannot read." John Ackermann
Neil Postman in his book,'Amusing Ourselves To Death', looks at the impact of television culture on the way we live our lives, understand our present and fut...more
"In watching American television, one is reminded of George Bernard Shaw's remark on his first seeing the glittering neon signs of Broadway and 42nd Street at night. It must be beautiful, he said, if you cannot read." John Ackermann
Neil Postman in his book,'Amusing Ourselves To Death', looks at the impact of television culture on the way we live our lives, understand our present and fut...more
This book makes two good points: the media used to communicate affects the nature of the communication, and much of modern communication on serious matters is frivolous.
That covers the first part of the book. The rest is a tiresome rant about how TV is ruining us all. The details of the rant are not worth covering, but I do think that Postman misses some important points. First, he never looks to see if there is any good in a visual based communication style. It is true, as he states, that a med...more
That covers the first part of the book. The rest is a tiresome rant about how TV is ruining us all. The details of the rant are not worth covering, but I do think that Postman misses some important points. First, he never looks to see if there is any good in a visual based communication style. It is true, as he states, that a med...more
Let me start by saying, I don't have a problem with the premise. Most television, outside of the sacrosanct series "Breaking Bad, is just awful. We're all better for reading, for having disciplines and complex conversation, and for having a strong educational background.
My problem with the book is twofold.
1) the book relies on some alarmist extremes. It's heavy with examples, but light on numbers. For all the evidence used about how moving pictures has eroded serious discussion of religion, po...more
My problem with the book is twofold.
1) the book relies on some alarmist extremes. It's heavy with examples, but light on numbers. For all the evidence used about how moving pictures has eroded serious discussion of religion, po...more
Apr 09, 2013
Brandon
added it
The subtitle to this book, while lacking the title's shock value, is probably a little more relevant: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. Postman's book, published in 1985, details the way in which television affects American culture, as America is the leading producer/consumer of television. A comparison made throughout warns that we are not likely to have our culture destroyed by Orwell's Big Brother, which would have to be forced on us, but by Huxley's soma, which would choose and a...more
Are you ready for this book? It's a blow below the belt, to say the least. You will feel convicted or else continue to ignore the blatant truths within this book.
Neil Postman historically and accurately shows that America has changed from a nation of well-informed, attentive, and beneficial citizens to idle, over-informed, amused robots. He proves that Alduous Huxley's prophecy in "A Brave New World" has been fulfilled. We are a nation that is always laughing, and we don't know why. Postman isn'...more
Neil Postman historically and accurately shows that America has changed from a nation of well-informed, attentive, and beneficial citizens to idle, over-informed, amused robots. He proves that Alduous Huxley's prophecy in "A Brave New World" has been fulfilled. We are a nation that is always laughing, and we don't know why. Postman isn'...more
A cultural prophet who unfortunately did not see the his predictions come to pass, Neil Postman addresses the dangers of the media for the future generation.
The highlight of the book perhaps is his insistence that as long as entertainment remains entertainment and serious reporting maintains credibility, the rise of various outlets is no problem. In fact, Postman himself is not against the use of a TV. What is glaringly dangerous, however, is when the two are merged.
When the audience loses her...more
The highlight of the book perhaps is his insistence that as long as entertainment remains entertainment and serious reporting maintains credibility, the rise of various outlets is no problem. In fact, Postman himself is not against the use of a TV. What is glaringly dangerous, however, is when the two are merged.
When the audience loses her...more
Feb 11, 2013
Justin
added it
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Besides being almost as entertaining as watching TV, Postman's book is insightful and profound. Reading it almost makes we want to live in 1857, throw away my TV and my computer, and try to recover from the effects that TV and entertainment-saturated culture has had on my brain. What most amazes me about Postman's book is that it was written twenty years ago, before computers. I'm sure he's currently rolling in his grave and realizing that things would actually turn out much worse than he even i...more
Oct 11, 2012
Jenny Stanfield
added it
Amusing Ourselves to Death can arguably be divided into three major parts which are quite different than Postman’s own division, which is comprised of two. The first section is comprised of chapters one and two, and is an explication of Postman’s “Huxleyan” thesis, what he intends to do, and why classical theorists such as Plato and Galileo would support his theory. (16). Postman creates a discussion of how different medias (especially television) have affected public discourse negatively and ho...more
Amusing Ourselves to Death is the spiritual sequel to Boorstin's The Image. Postman wants us to realize that there is something inherently inferior about the information we consume through visual media. Forget television designed for entertainment - which is at least honest - and focus in something like a news segment. As far as its creators are concerned, the worst thing that it could possibly do is inspire or provoke you, two horrible emotions that risk you getting up and leaving your living r...more
Book Review: 2 Treasure Boxes
What impact does entertainment have on our society? In Amusing Ourselves to Death, Postman draws parallels between society's obsession with entertainment and Huxley's Brave New World where people escape reality in numerous ways. Postman believed that television was creating a Huxleyan world view where citizens would stop thinking and instead, come under common hypnosis within a “world of technological narcotics”. Postman also felt that watching television was not the...more
What impact does entertainment have on our society? In Amusing Ourselves to Death, Postman draws parallels between society's obsession with entertainment and Huxley's Brave New World where people escape reality in numerous ways. Postman believed that television was creating a Huxleyan world view where citizens would stop thinking and instead, come under common hypnosis within a “world of technological narcotics”. Postman also felt that watching television was not the...more
Written in 1985, Amusing Ourselves to Death remains a popular critique about television and our entertainment minded culture where everything, including education, politics, and religion, now strives to be amusing instead of enlightening. It's a good argument, and I think a valuable read about how we have become so depended on television not just as our source of entertainment and information, but as the medium for translating every message and idea. As the saying goes, the medium is the message...more
This was a very interesting and insightful read. While the references to "modern" technology and media are a bit dated by today's standards, the principles still certainly apply - not only to television, but also to the digital world of computers, ipads...anything with a screen.
Postman explains the dangers of what happens when we receive all of our information, news, and education about the world, current events, politics, etc. through the media of television - a form of communication which suc...more
Postman explains the dangers of what happens when we receive all of our information, news, and education about the world, current events, politics, etc. through the media of television - a form of communication which suc...more
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Neil Postman, an important American educator, media theorist and cultural critic was probably best known for his popular 1985 book, Amusing Ourselves to Death. For more than four decades he was associated with New York University, where he created and led the Media Ecology program.
He is the author of more than thirty significant books on education, media criticism, and cultural change including Te...more
More about Neil Postman...
He is the author of more than thirty significant books on education, media criticism, and cultural change including Te...more
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“We were keeping our eye on 1984. When the year came and the prophecy didn't, thoughtful Americans sang softly in praise of themselves. The roots of liberal democracy had held. Wherever else the terror had happened, we, at least, had not been visited by Orwellian nightmares.
But we had forgotten that alongside Orwell's dark vision, there was another - slightly older, slightly less well known, equally chilling: Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Contrary to common belief even among the educated, Huxley and Orwell did not prophesy the same thing. Orwell warns that we will be overcome by an externally imposed oppression. But in Huxley's vision, no Big Brother is required to deprive people of their autonomy, maturity and history. As he saw it, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.
What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy. As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny "failed to take into account man's almost infinite appetite for distractions". In 1984, Huxley added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us.
This book is about the possibility that Huxley, not Orwell, was right.”
—
180 people liked it
But we had forgotten that alongside Orwell's dark vision, there was another - slightly older, slightly less well known, equally chilling: Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Contrary to common belief even among the educated, Huxley and Orwell did not prophesy the same thing. Orwell warns that we will be overcome by an externally imposed oppression. But in Huxley's vision, no Big Brother is required to deprive people of their autonomy, maturity and history. As he saw it, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.
What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy. As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny "failed to take into account man's almost infinite appetite for distractions". In 1984, Huxley added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us.
This book is about the possibility that Huxley, not Orwell, was right.”
“Everything in our background has prepared us to know and resist a prison when the gates begin to close around us . . . But what if there are no cries of anguish to be heard? Who is prepared to take arms against a sea of amusements? To whom do we complain, and when, and in what tone of voice, when serious discourse dissolves into giggles? What is the antidote to a culture's being drained by laughter?”
—
35 people liked it
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