false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170970838m/79680.jpg 79680 3 Winner of the Marshall McLuhan Award for Outstanding Book in the Field of Media Ecology, 2000. The problem with the world today, says Neil Postman, is that we've become so caught up in hurtling towards the future that we've lost our societal "narrative," a humane cultural tradition that creates "a sense of purpose and continuity"--in other words, something to believe in. "In order to have an agreeable encounter with the twenty-first century," he asserts, "we will have to take into it some good ideas. And in order to do that, we need to look back to take stock of the good ideas available to us." He finds rich source material in the Enlightenment, the salad days for philosophers such as Goethe, Voltaire, Diderot, Paine, and Jefferson, "the beginnings of much that is worthwhile about the modern world." Yet <I>Building a Bridge to the Eighteenth Century</I> is a call for cultural progress, not regression: "I am not suggesting that we <I>become</I> the eighteenth century," Postman notes, "only that we use it for what it is worth and all it is worth."<p> Chief among the values Postman cites is the development of the intellect; it plays a part in many of his recommendations, from the cultivation of a healthy skepticism towards overhyped technology to sweeping educational reforms that include replacing grammar instruction with logic and rhetoric and introducing courses on comparative religion and the history of science. He also lashes out at postmodernists who start with the premise that language "is a major factor in producing our perceptions, judgments, knowledge, and institutions" and conclude that language is therefore tenuously connected to reality at best. Enlightenment thinkers knew that language molded perception, he notes, but they also believed that "it is possible to use language to say things about the world that are true" and "to communicate ideas to oneself and to others." Postman is excessively curmudgeonly at times, as in his reference to philosopher Jean Baudrillard as "a Frenchman, of all things," or his remarks on the ancient Athenians: "I know they are the classic example of Dead White Males, but we should probably listen to them anyway." But for anybody with a stake in the culture wars, or who wants to apply the lessons of philosophy to the modern world, <I>Building a Bridge to the Eighteenth Century</I> will make for provocative reading. 1401834 1999 Building a Bridge to the 18th Century: How the Past Can Improve Our Future total:78|5:18|4:37|3:17|2:4|1:2| 78 299 139 17 4 3 false false Fri Feb 13 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 05 16:37:05 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 13 06:48:55 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jan 28 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 02 14:20:28 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 28 12:43:54 -0800 2009 1
Neil Postman's various theses in terms of what the 21st Century looks like it will be lacking (i.e....more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Mar 04 11:52:50 -0800 2009 Wed Mar 04 11:53:07 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Oct 14 20:04:13 -0700 2008 Tue Oct 14 20:05:12 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Sep 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 09 19:39:26 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 09 19:44:33 -0700 2009 The only thing that I did not agree with was that he implied he did not think men would help with childcare, so women who work are somehow not supposed to do so for the ch...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2002 Sat Apr 26 16:57:47 -0700 2008 Sat Apr 26 16:59:19 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2000 Sun May 03 18:19:51 -0700 2009 Sun May 03 18:19:51 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Apr 11 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 04 20:59:11 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 14 12:08:17 -0700 2009 1 0 false false Mon Dec 29 15:03:45 -0800 2008 Sun Apr 05 17:48:56 -0700 2009
OK - wish ther...more...]]> 0 0 false false Sun Apr 26 14:14:02 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 26 14:16:05 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Tue Nov 11 04:23:01 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 05 08:24:24 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Sat Jun 16 16:30:10 -0700 2007 Sat Jun 16 16:30:13 -0700 2007 ]]> 5 0 false false Fri Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Fri Jan 11 17:35:51 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 11 17:37:51 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 16 16:17:39 -0700 2007 Sat Dec 01 10:30:21 -0800 2007 3 0 false false Mon Jun 30 11:11:35 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 30 11:12:21 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Mon Feb 25 01:22:02 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 25 01:22:46 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Wed Jul 15 20:36:35 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 15 20:37:11 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Nov 12 22:48:45 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 12 22:48:53 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Fri Oct 30 08:14:03 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 30 08:14:03 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Thu Oct 22 17:53:48 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 22 17:53:48 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=79680