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The Age of Missing Information
“Highly personal and original . . . McKibben goes beyond Marshall McLuhan’s theory that the medium is the message.”
—— The New York Times
Imagine watching an entire day’s worth of television on every single channel. Acclaimed environmental writer and culture critic Bill McKibben subjected himself to this sensory overload in an experiment to verify whether we are truly better informed than previous generations. Bombarded with newscasts and fluff pieces, game shows and talk shows, ads and infomercials, televangelist pleas and Brady Bunch episodes, McKibben processed twenty-four hours of programming on all ninety-three Fairfax, Virginia, cable stations. Then, as a counterpoint, he spent a day atop a quiet and remote mountain in the Adirondacks, exploring the unmediated man and making small yet vital discoveries about himself and the world around him. As relevant now as it was when originally written in 1992–and with new material from the author on the impact of the Internet age–this witty and astute book is certain to change the way you look at television and perceive media as a whole.
“By turns humorous, wise, and troubling . . . a penetrating critique of technological society.”– Cleveland Plain Dealer
“Masterful . . . a unique, bizarre portrait of our life and times.”
– Los Angeles Times
“Do yourself a Put down the remote and pick up this book.”
– Houston Chronicle
—— The New York Times
Imagine watching an entire day’s worth of television on every single channel. Acclaimed environmental writer and culture critic Bill McKibben subjected himself to this sensory overload in an experiment to verify whether we are truly better informed than previous generations. Bombarded with newscasts and fluff pieces, game shows and talk shows, ads and infomercials, televangelist pleas and Brady Bunch episodes, McKibben processed twenty-four hours of programming on all ninety-three Fairfax, Virginia, cable stations. Then, as a counterpoint, he spent a day atop a quiet and remote mountain in the Adirondacks, exploring the unmediated man and making small yet vital discoveries about himself and the world around him. As relevant now as it was when originally written in 1992–and with new material from the author on the impact of the Internet age–this witty and astute book is certain to change the way you look at television and perceive media as a whole.
“By turns humorous, wise, and troubling . . . a penetrating critique of technological society.”– Cleveland Plain Dealer
“Masterful . . . a unique, bizarre portrait of our life and times.”
– Los Angeles Times
“Do yourself a Put down the remote and pick up this book.”
– Houston Chronicle
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
21 people are currently reading
895 people want to read
About the author
Bill McKibben
202 books820 followersBill McKibben is the author of Eaarth, The End of Nature, Deep Economy, Enough, Fight Global Warming Now, The Bill McKibben Reader, and numerous other books. He is the founder of the environmental organizations Step It Up and 350.org, and was among the first to warn of the dangers of global warming. In 2010 The Boston Globe called him "probably the nation's leading environmentalist," and Time magazine has called him "the world's best green journalist." He studied at Harvard, and started his writing career as a staff writer at The New Yorker. The End of Nature, his first book, was published in 1989 and was regarded as the first book on climate change for a general audience. He is a frequent contributor to magazines and newspapers including The New York Times, The Atlantic Monthly, Harper's, Orion Magazine, Mother Jones, The New York Review of Books, Granta, Rolling Stone, and Outside. He has been awarded Guggenheim Fellowship and won the Lannan Prize for nonfiction writing in 2000. He is a scholar in residence at Middlebury College and lives in Vermont with his wife, the writer Sue Halpern, and their daughter.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/billmc...
http://us.macmillan.com/author/billmc...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
June 14, 2016
If you need encouragement to turn off the TV, this is the book to read. Being reminded of all these jingles and useless tidbits of information floating around in my head was a nice illustration of the absurd.
February 21, 2017
Very boring and drags on. Many 90s references that are hard to relate to.
April 5, 2021
If you cringe a little bit when I tell you the premise of this book, please know that I did too: McKibben watches a full day of programming from each of the 100 or so cable channels in his cable package (meaning something like 2400 hours of TV, all from a single day) to assess the quality of information we receive from our televisions, and compares the experience to a weekend camping trip where he quietly observes the natural environment.
This sounds a lot like a stunt book, such as the Year of Living Biblically or the documentary Super Size Me, where the protagonist undertakes a ridiculous task in order to prove some point or other, and also needlessly place themselves in the center of the narrative. I mean, we really don't need to watch 2400 hours of TV to know that we're really not learning much from it, right?
I am, however, please to report that despite the unpromising premise, the book itself only uses the experience as a jumping off point for less didactic essays on our relationship with television and lack of relationship with the natural world. It was written in 1992, so in some ways it does feel out of date, and our new dependent relationship with the internet/social media/our phones is not part of the story, but the high-level arguments remain understandable and even pertinent.
McKibben has some interesting ideas on the ways that the era before the advent of television is virtually swept away, yet the time period starting in the 1950s or 60s when TV became ubiquitous seem to be part of a permanent present, as real to use almost as our own time. All human history may as well be foreshortened into the last 70 years or so.
On the other hand, he points out that we have very little use to the kind of knowledge that used to be very common about natural habitats in the areas around where we live, and regular cycles of the natural world in our immediate vicinity, as well as the knowledge related to the people that are our neighbors. I guess it sounds a little hackneyed, but McKibben is a good enough writer to get away with this, with self-effacing wit and some earnest yearning for a deeper connection to both the human and natural worlds around us.
TV remains a big part of most of our lives, and I do think it is healthy and good to reflect on what TV tells us and what it does to us. Books like this can help us have that conversation.
This sounds a lot like a stunt book, such as the Year of Living Biblically or the documentary Super Size Me, where the protagonist undertakes a ridiculous task in order to prove some point or other, and also needlessly place themselves in the center of the narrative. I mean, we really don't need to watch 2400 hours of TV to know that we're really not learning much from it, right?
I am, however, please to report that despite the unpromising premise, the book itself only uses the experience as a jumping off point for less didactic essays on our relationship with television and lack of relationship with the natural world. It was written in 1992, so in some ways it does feel out of date, and our new dependent relationship with the internet/social media/our phones is not part of the story, but the high-level arguments remain understandable and even pertinent.
McKibben has some interesting ideas on the ways that the era before the advent of television is virtually swept away, yet the time period starting in the 1950s or 60s when TV became ubiquitous seem to be part of a permanent present, as real to use almost as our own time. All human history may as well be foreshortened into the last 70 years or so.
On the other hand, he points out that we have very little use to the kind of knowledge that used to be very common about natural habitats in the areas around where we live, and regular cycles of the natural world in our immediate vicinity, as well as the knowledge related to the people that are our neighbors. I guess it sounds a little hackneyed, but McKibben is a good enough writer to get away with this, with self-effacing wit and some earnest yearning for a deeper connection to both the human and natural worlds around us.
TV remains a big part of most of our lives, and I do think it is healthy and good to reflect on what TV tells us and what it does to us. Books like this can help us have that conversation.
November 30, 2008
What is most radical about this book is the experiment itself, it's personal, bodily, i guess almost self-flagellating, akin to the film Super Size Me. McKibben watched one day of cable television, all 100 channels, 24 hours a piece; that is, he gorged on about 2400 hours total of America's TV output from a single day in the early 1990s. It took months to view, and included shopping networks, infomercials, and televangelism. Torturous.
Despite this, he manages to make a quaint little book--a quality I DO NOT appreciate. It has all the mass media trimmings, sugar-coatings. I despise sugar-coatings. ...And his oft-invoked Christian sensibilities, brushed on there and here--Unpardonable, sorry.
Then there is a rather weak device he employs as a counterpoint to all the TV consumption: He goes camping. It's again sugary, even in its more Luddite and supposedly harsher moments. Both his environmental concerns, his technological inquiries, and personal reflections become just quaint paragraphs mauled under by the ongoing litany of familiar programming of years past. Even if his intentions are to criticize the media and to dish on us (the readers) some of the familiar media glut, what results is that the very inclusion of so many titles and celebrities eats away at his approach.
Further, it seems dated now. Yet further, the internet boom must have his eyes rolling like slot-machines. But, to his credit, he is clever, and I actually do agree with most of his assessments. That we are awash in the information age, but that the quality of that information is contestable. That we have disturbingly forgot how to make basic things, grow food, and gainfully live with the Earth. That suburbia is an unsustainable and ridiculous endeavor born of privilege, destined to falter, producing citizens with skills attuned to nothing but itself. The lamentation of the apprentice system. The lamentation of agriculture. The lamentation of empathy.
But I'm afraid he thought this stuff was too apocalyptic, bad for sales, or bad for his own estimation of humankind. So he it framed up in a rather soft quaint way, thus it reads too soft for my liking.
Despite this, he manages to make a quaint little book--a quality I DO NOT appreciate. It has all the mass media trimmings, sugar-coatings. I despise sugar-coatings. ...And his oft-invoked Christian sensibilities, brushed on there and here--Unpardonable, sorry.
Then there is a rather weak device he employs as a counterpoint to all the TV consumption: He goes camping. It's again sugary, even in its more Luddite and supposedly harsher moments. Both his environmental concerns, his technological inquiries, and personal reflections become just quaint paragraphs mauled under by the ongoing litany of familiar programming of years past. Even if his intentions are to criticize the media and to dish on us (the readers) some of the familiar media glut, what results is that the very inclusion of so many titles and celebrities eats away at his approach.
Further, it seems dated now. Yet further, the internet boom must have his eyes rolling like slot-machines. But, to his credit, he is clever, and I actually do agree with most of his assessments. That we are awash in the information age, but that the quality of that information is contestable. That we have disturbingly forgot how to make basic things, grow food, and gainfully live with the Earth. That suburbia is an unsustainable and ridiculous endeavor born of privilege, destined to falter, producing citizens with skills attuned to nothing but itself. The lamentation of the apprentice system. The lamentation of agriculture. The lamentation of empathy.
But I'm afraid he thought this stuff was too apocalyptic, bad for sales, or bad for his own estimation of humankind. So he it framed up in a rather soft quaint way, thus it reads too soft for my liking.
February 13, 2009
This book is a little dated, as it chronicles TV from the 90's (only 100 stations), but other than that it's basic premise holds true... That we have little to no attention span, our collective memory has been truncated to what TV can show us, and we're all a bunch of suckers. The rest of the world, however, holds lessons and information far above and beyond anything else. I loved this book when I read it way back, and I still love it now.
August 5, 2020
I feel like this book was missing something. Something crucial. I can't quite figure out what is was. Huh! Well, it still stands up. TV is still just as vapid, probably more so. The environment seems worse now than it was in 1992. When will we learn that missing information books have a lot to teach us?
This book is for: People who are fighting with their TVs, people who are in love with their environments and don't want them to die, people who wonder what was on TV in 1992.
This book is for: People who are fighting with their TVs, people who are in love with their environments and don't want them to die, people who wonder what was on TV in 1992.
July 24, 2022
I've read pieces by McKibben before, who is renowned environmentalist; this is the first book of his that I have read. The book, written in the early 1990s, is a time capsule of a sort that, due to the direction of contemporary society, made for absolutely fascinating reading.
McKibben contrast two days - one day spent watching nothing but television (he actually had all the shows on all channels on a Virginia cable network recorded for 24 hours and watched all of them); the other day a day spent in nature. McKibben's premise, which he does an effective job establishing in his writing - is that the television age, which supposedly promised increase access to information and knowledge and learning, is actually resulting in learning loss. We have lost the information and knowledge that comes from being able to reflect peacefully and quietly in the woods; the information that comes from gathering in community with others as opposed to remaining in isolation watching television. McKibben suggests that as television (and particularly, commercials) increased its presence we never stopped to ask if the trade off was worth it.
For McKibben, it clearly is not. He sees television as the pure promotion of individualism - telling each viewer that he or she is the most important person in the world. Such claims are inherently absurd when living in community or living within our natural world.
Again, the time capsule of the book was fascinating, as was attempting to extrapolate what McKibben's thoughts would be on the development of personal internet into Western homes, followed by the rise of the smart phone. It seems that the same mistake has been made - there was no questioning if the trade off was worth it, no concern about what information and knowledge we would lose as technology increased, and the failure to drive real community building.
It's hard to read this book without immediately becoming more curious - to immediately inquire of one self - what knowledge or information have I lost because of how technology (and my acceptance of it) has changed the world. Informative, incredibly thought-provoking read, that seems as timely as ever despite being written 30 years ago.
McKibben contrast two days - one day spent watching nothing but television (he actually had all the shows on all channels on a Virginia cable network recorded for 24 hours and watched all of them); the other day a day spent in nature. McKibben's premise, which he does an effective job establishing in his writing - is that the television age, which supposedly promised increase access to information and knowledge and learning, is actually resulting in learning loss. We have lost the information and knowledge that comes from being able to reflect peacefully and quietly in the woods; the information that comes from gathering in community with others as opposed to remaining in isolation watching television. McKibben suggests that as television (and particularly, commercials) increased its presence we never stopped to ask if the trade off was worth it.
For McKibben, it clearly is not. He sees television as the pure promotion of individualism - telling each viewer that he or she is the most important person in the world. Such claims are inherently absurd when living in community or living within our natural world.
Again, the time capsule of the book was fascinating, as was attempting to extrapolate what McKibben's thoughts would be on the development of personal internet into Western homes, followed by the rise of the smart phone. It seems that the same mistake has been made - there was no questioning if the trade off was worth it, no concern about what information and knowledge we would lose as technology increased, and the failure to drive real community building.
It's hard to read this book without immediately becoming more curious - to immediately inquire of one self - what knowledge or information have I lost because of how technology (and my acceptance of it) has changed the world. Informative, incredibly thought-provoking read, that seems as timely as ever despite being written 30 years ago.
April 5, 2008
We have been told multiple times that we live in the age of information, that we are living through an information revolution, that we are taking in more information than any other culture at any other time in the history of the planet. True enough, says McKibben. But what information is it? Is it valuable, sustaining, enriching information or is it something else? The answer would be “something else.”
Published in 1992, the Age of Missing information is McKibben’s exploration of the information that we are receiving in massive quantities and compares that to the information we are no longer collecting as a culture. The experiment consisted of videotaping 24 hours worth of video tape from each of Fairfax, Virginia’s nearly 100 cable television channels. McKibben then sat and watched all 2400 hours of television, every rerun, every infomercial, every sporting event and every music video. In contrast, he spent 24 hours hiking, camping, swimming atop a mountain near his home. The mountain provided information about limits, completeness, community, sustainability, and fundamental, ongoing happiness while TV provided information about insecurity (the goal of every advertisement is to make you feel insecure), individualism, and consumption as the route to happiness.
Published in 1992, the Age of Missing information is McKibben’s exploration of the information that we are receiving in massive quantities and compares that to the information we are no longer collecting as a culture. The experiment consisted of videotaping 24 hours worth of video tape from each of Fairfax, Virginia’s nearly 100 cable television channels. McKibben then sat and watched all 2400 hours of television, every rerun, every infomercial, every sporting event and every music video. In contrast, he spent 24 hours hiking, camping, swimming atop a mountain near his home. The mountain provided information about limits, completeness, community, sustainability, and fundamental, ongoing happiness while TV provided information about insecurity (the goal of every advertisement is to make you feel insecure), individualism, and consumption as the route to happiness.
March 2, 2013
Reading this book was rather like listening to a symphony composed in different keys,an elegaic bflat minor interspersed with bursts of jangling gsharp major,drawing on techniques of different centuies and conducted by the 3 stooges,all of them,at the same time. This metaphor is flawed,and maybe it would be more accurate to say it was like listening to a symphony with the radio on to the news,except for that that the medium under the spotlight is television,and the whole scope of its programming.
The idea that I am trying to express is what I believe the author is intending to convey with this account of the dissonence and fragmentation that dominates modern life. For this is not a simpllistic denunciation of the evils of modern civilization,tv in particular;nor is it a naive ealtation of times gone by. Yes,the point is strongly made that with all our tecnological advances we are not actually better off than our ancestors and that in fact we have lost something essential, but McKibben is no prophet of doom. Indeed,he is somewhat of a poor prophet who fails here to take into account the insidious and pervasive rise f the computer,claiming that "they have made surprisingly little difference to daily life outside the office. If people use them at home,they are either toys or efficient typewriters" p11 One gets the idea that he wrote this by hand,probably in pencil.
To be fair,this book was published in the early 90's,and who could have forseen the world wide obbsession with computer technology or predicated the craze which has turned into a dependece on the phone? McKibbens assertion that most of the major changes in the modern lifestyle occured in the first half of the last century and that all further advances are mere refinements,has now also been proved wrong,but that does not take away the power of his main point,that for all the so called improvements in the mainstream standard of living,we are missing something vital that was available with a simpler way of life.
Indeed,it may be that McKibbens obvious love/hate relationship with tv gives him a more balanced perspective than someone who is utterly convinced(as I have been) that tv is right up there on the list of modern evils that would best be altogether put aside. He grew up with the box after all, and retains a certain fondness for the medium,somewhat like the nostalgia one might feel for kindergarden chums. In fact,somewhat ironically to me,he places cultural relevance on the fictional characters that are easily referenced by those that grew up with the tv on.
So what would we be missing if we skipped this book? Perhaps I can present my cas that this is an imprtant book by quoting him directly.But first, a break for station identification.
The cover of my hardback Random House edition is brilliant. A sheep is curled up in front of a couple of lions,a goat,a wolf perhaps an emu, and some kind of large colourful bird,gathered together in a night clearing.They all have a bewildered look as they raptly gaze at a small portable tv placed on a rock/
TV,and the culture it anchors,masks and drowns out the subtle and vital information contact with the real once provided. There are small lessons,enormous lessons...that may be crucial to the planets persistence as a green and diverse place and also to the happiness of it's inhabitants-that nature teachs and TV can't. p23
The great push is always away from individual skill and engagement-a horse took all sorts of infirmation and insight to handle, and a model T a little,and a Honda Accord virtually none. p34
If we're ever to recapture these fundamental kinds of information,it's necessary to start by remembering just how divorced from the physical world many of us have become. 26
...if we could block out the assumption that economic expansion will fill our lives with sunshine_then perhaps we could begin to talk realistically about our predicament.Because it is a predicament-on the one and continued economic growth threatens the environmental stability of the planet,but on the other hand the system...rigged up requires constant acceleration or else it produces unemployment,misery,want. p118
The question is,does it make sense for us any longer-is it automatically cheerful news that the American economy is busily expanding? p108
... a society obsessed with the linear passage of time....Viewed linearly,the rat race makes perfect sense-if there is a destination,you might as well get there first.But if,instead,you've internalized the seasons to the point where you realize that you're on a whell,you might slow down a little-might decide you're going nowhere impressively fast. If you're on a wheel...speed is an illusion. p148
Music and dance,at their beginnings and throughout most of their history,were drenched with content. p132
Dance and music ordered time;they passed down the stories that bound civilizations together. 133
..we've managed to strip away meaning and information...p132
The question "What time is it?" has a different answer on the mountai and in front of the TV.And the answers,far from being frivolous,have great environmental,social,oersonal meaning-the mountain and the television aren't somuch in different time zones as in different dimensions. p140
It rarely occurs to us how much intelligence about the world light erases.p222
The spread of artificial light,and the ability to continue all activity round the clock,erododed this sense much more radically...p142
We say "information"reverently,as if it meant "understanding" or "wisom",but it doesn't. Sometimes it even gets in the way. p167
...tolerance by itself can be a cover for moral laziness.In a world with real and pressing problems,tolerance is merely a precondition for politics....p182
It's true we don't need all the old "traditional" values-but as a society we desperately need values. p183
Human beings-any one of us,and our species as a whole-are not allimportant,not at t he centre of the world....if we insist on dominating everything ,we'll create for ourself an unlivable world....pp228/9
...the real real world,one that was here before us. p229
That's why TV makes us feel so guilty sometimes. It's a time-out from life. p200
world once provided.
The idea that I am trying to express is what I believe the author is intending to convey with this account of the dissonence and fragmentation that dominates modern life. For this is not a simpllistic denunciation of the evils of modern civilization,tv in particular;nor is it a naive ealtation of times gone by. Yes,the point is strongly made that with all our tecnological advances we are not actually better off than our ancestors and that in fact we have lost something essential, but McKibben is no prophet of doom. Indeed,he is somewhat of a poor prophet who fails here to take into account the insidious and pervasive rise f the computer,claiming that "they have made surprisingly little difference to daily life outside the office. If people use them at home,they are either toys or efficient typewriters" p11 One gets the idea that he wrote this by hand,probably in pencil.
To be fair,this book was published in the early 90's,and who could have forseen the world wide obbsession with computer technology or predicated the craze which has turned into a dependece on the phone? McKibbens assertion that most of the major changes in the modern lifestyle occured in the first half of the last century and that all further advances are mere refinements,has now also been proved wrong,but that does not take away the power of his main point,that for all the so called improvements in the mainstream standard of living,we are missing something vital that was available with a simpler way of life.
Indeed,it may be that McKibbens obvious love/hate relationship with tv gives him a more balanced perspective than someone who is utterly convinced(as I have been) that tv is right up there on the list of modern evils that would best be altogether put aside. He grew up with the box after all, and retains a certain fondness for the medium,somewhat like the nostalgia one might feel for kindergarden chums. In fact,somewhat ironically to me,he places cultural relevance on the fictional characters that are easily referenced by those that grew up with the tv on.
So what would we be missing if we skipped this book? Perhaps I can present my cas that this is an imprtant book by quoting him directly.But first, a break for station identification.
The cover of my hardback Random House edition is brilliant. A sheep is curled up in front of a couple of lions,a goat,a wolf perhaps an emu, and some kind of large colourful bird,gathered together in a night clearing.They all have a bewildered look as they raptly gaze at a small portable tv placed on a rock/
TV,and the culture it anchors,masks and drowns out the subtle and vital information contact with the real once provided. There are small lessons,enormous lessons...that may be crucial to the planets persistence as a green and diverse place and also to the happiness of it's inhabitants-that nature teachs and TV can't. p23
The great push is always away from individual skill and engagement-a horse took all sorts of infirmation and insight to handle, and a model T a little,and a Honda Accord virtually none. p34
If we're ever to recapture these fundamental kinds of information,it's necessary to start by remembering just how divorced from the physical world many of us have become. 26
...if we could block out the assumption that economic expansion will fill our lives with sunshine_then perhaps we could begin to talk realistically about our predicament.Because it is a predicament-on the one and continued economic growth threatens the environmental stability of the planet,but on the other hand the system...rigged up requires constant acceleration or else it produces unemployment,misery,want. p118
The question is,does it make sense for us any longer-is it automatically cheerful news that the American economy is busily expanding? p108
... a society obsessed with the linear passage of time....Viewed linearly,the rat race makes perfect sense-if there is a destination,you might as well get there first.But if,instead,you've internalized the seasons to the point where you realize that you're on a whell,you might slow down a little-might decide you're going nowhere impressively fast. If you're on a wheel...speed is an illusion. p148
Music and dance,at their beginnings and throughout most of their history,were drenched with content. p132
Dance and music ordered time;they passed down the stories that bound civilizations together. 133
..we've managed to strip away meaning and information...p132
The question "What time is it?" has a different answer on the mountai and in front of the TV.And the answers,far from being frivolous,have great environmental,social,oersonal meaning-the mountain and the television aren't somuch in different time zones as in different dimensions. p140
It rarely occurs to us how much intelligence about the world light erases.p222
The spread of artificial light,and the ability to continue all activity round the clock,erododed this sense much more radically...p142
We say "information"reverently,as if it meant "understanding" or "wisom",but it doesn't. Sometimes it even gets in the way. p167
...tolerance by itself can be a cover for moral laziness.In a world with real and pressing problems,tolerance is merely a precondition for politics....p182
It's true we don't need all the old "traditional" values-but as a society we desperately need values. p183
Human beings-any one of us,and our species as a whole-are not allimportant,not at t he centre of the world....if we insist on dominating everything ,we'll create for ourself an unlivable world....pp228/9
...the real real world,one that was here before us. p229
That's why TV makes us feel so guilty sometimes. It's a time-out from life. p200
world once provided.
September 18, 2021
Dated in places, but relevant
Off his success with The End of Nature, Bill McKibben takes on the then timely topic of television in our society.
It's difficult to come up with a new angle to television, especially in the early 1990s, but McKibben manages to pull it off. Echoing similar themes in his previous and latter books (Oil and Honey, Deep Economy, even radio Free Vermont); McKibben touches on the cult of Self, and gospel of More, by pointing out television, and by greater extent, technology's influence on our inability to address climate change, even today.
As a Northwesterner, it was nice to read of his father's adventures around Mt. Rainier, and yes, I died a little when he noted "Tiffany" as a 1990's name.
With the results of climate change, fake news, and the news desert becoming more and more apparent, it would do new, and older generations good to read these timeless pearls of wisdom, wrapped in package from the past.
Off his success with The End of Nature, Bill McKibben takes on the then timely topic of television in our society.
It's difficult to come up with a new angle to television, especially in the early 1990s, but McKibben manages to pull it off. Echoing similar themes in his previous and latter books (Oil and Honey, Deep Economy, even radio Free Vermont); McKibben touches on the cult of Self, and gospel of More, by pointing out television, and by greater extent, technology's influence on our inability to address climate change, even today.
As a Northwesterner, it was nice to read of his father's adventures around Mt. Rainier, and yes, I died a little when he noted "Tiffany" as a 1990's name.
With the results of climate change, fake news, and the news desert becoming more and more apparent, it would do new, and older generations good to read these timeless pearls of wisdom, wrapped in package from the past.
July 17, 2017
This book has been on my TBR list for a long time, but I only now picked it up. McKibben, an environmental writer who grew up with television, examines what "information" television truly provides us, and what it does not. The book owes a debt to Marshall McLuhan whose phrase "the medium is the message" brings a lot of McKibben's points home. TV narrows our focus, placing us as consumers in the center of everything, which is contributing to our environmental destruction. The book was written in the early 90's and some of its references are dated (although it's amazing how often Trump comes up), but its message is vital and interesting.
January 2, 2025
An excellent choice for anyone attempting to kick the social media/internet/21st century doomscrolling habit!
I'm about a third of the way through, and I'm going to call it done. My attempts to avoid TV ownership during the 20th century appear not to have made much of a difference. There is still way too much that's familiar about 20th century TV culture.
Could be a very useful read for people who did not experience 20th century cable television, or for getting perspective on the fragmenting of culture that changed the American imaginary to what it has become in 2024.
I'm about a third of the way through, and I'm going to call it done. My attempts to avoid TV ownership during the 20th century appear not to have made much of a difference. There is still way too much that's familiar about 20th century TV culture.
Could be a very useful read for people who did not experience 20th century cable television, or for getting perspective on the fragmenting of culture that changed the American imaginary to what it has become in 2024.
June 5, 2017
When it comes to providing information electronic media is best at reductionism, isn't it? Wonderful and timeless truths are reduced to soundbites for easy digestion. McKibben's book explores this concept mostly through the medium of TV. (The book is dated, that is, published in 1992, and so internet and cell phone culture is absent from his analysis.) We must find a way to get away from media and seek meaning and real information. Get back to nature? Maybe. Thoreau would agree.
January 28, 2019
Blast from the past,
Reading you can't help thinking, if you only knew what was just around the corner. But that makes this all the more effective at making the point and driving home the themes of what we miss with the overload of information from media and tech and become more distant from the physical experience and knowledge and wisdom of the natural experience
Reading you can't help thinking, if you only knew what was just around the corner. But that makes this all the more effective at making the point and driving home the themes of what we miss with the overload of information from media and tech and become more distant from the physical experience and knowledge and wisdom of the natural experience
October 24, 2021
this book would be good if mckibben would hold to his self proclaimed hippie new age mentality and not like. drift into puritanical nonsense criticizing women for expressing sexuality in the same passage he claimed elvis (a known sexual predator and child rapist) reflected an age of innocence.
September 12, 2018
One of my all-time favorite books and still so relevant today as we get more and more disconnected from the natural world around us.
December 9, 2021
Great read
Extremely thought provoking given we have indeed lost community spirit and common goals for a better, sustainable world. Thank you
Extremely thought provoking given we have indeed lost community spirit and common goals for a better, sustainable world. Thank you
September 2, 2023
It’s really dated. I only read it for class and I wanted to bang my head against the library table.
May 31, 2009
I kind of gathered what the author was going to say when he laid out his strategy toward the beginning of the book. After plowing through all of the TV examples, sprinkled with tid bits of outside beauty journals, the only conclusion I had in mind is what he led us to. So TV blindly misuses its power to deliver information by sending us mediocre, subpar, and damaging information, instead of useful information. If I had to sit through over 1000 hours of TV first and then spend 24 hours camping, I would hate TV too.
The endless cycle of the TV that spits up and pukes in our sensory receptors everyday almost compare to the endless cycle of bad TV examples followed by the tranquil romance of camping outdoor McKibben writes in this book. Right around noon time, I could guess what the whole day will entail. I really had to force myself through the book. McKibben's lecture, talking-down-to-you voice made it even harder. My suggestion for others who want to read this book is to start with the first 3 and then skip to about Midnight.
That said, thinking about the book outside of the experiment's constraints leads me to a different conclusion. The experiment pitted how the way things were versus where it is and/or it's going. It seems like McKibben struggles with the vast influx of information and "The Age of Missing Information" was his way to deal with it. Older generations, as they move on, have a hard time dealing with youth and the eventual ceremonious torch passing of control. This book sounds like the rebellious retort to the process. For me, I couldn't help but hear my Dad saying things like 'the world is coming to an end' after an unsuccessful attempt the get 'the email' and get on 'the internets.'
The endless cycle of the TV that spits up and pukes in our sensory receptors everyday almost compare to the endless cycle of bad TV examples followed by the tranquil romance of camping outdoor McKibben writes in this book. Right around noon time, I could guess what the whole day will entail. I really had to force myself through the book. McKibben's lecture, talking-down-to-you voice made it even harder. My suggestion for others who want to read this book is to start with the first 3 and then skip to about Midnight.
That said, thinking about the book outside of the experiment's constraints leads me to a different conclusion. The experiment pitted how the way things were versus where it is and/or it's going. It seems like McKibben struggles with the vast influx of information and "The Age of Missing Information" was his way to deal with it. Older generations, as they move on, have a hard time dealing with youth and the eventual ceremonious torch passing of control. This book sounds like the rebellious retort to the process. For me, I couldn't help but hear my Dad saying things like 'the world is coming to an end' after an unsuccessful attempt the get 'the email' and get on 'the internets.'
December 3, 2012
This book is amazingly bad. While the premise of the experiment is interesting and the author does have a few points about the nature of television I found thought provoking, most of the book is just the author espousing his views about nature, environmentalism, and sustainability. I did find the fact that these buzzwords have been in constant use for over 20 years both fascinating and depressing all at the same time. The author seems to have made choices in his life that he wishes we would all choose, and therefore decided to set them out for us to look at in this book. The result is a romantic view of living with less and a time when farmers farmed and we were all closer to nature. The problem is he ignores how technology has made our lives better by giving us more time that is not directly spent figuring out how to acquire food and shelter, which used to be hard. Very hard. Separate from this is how TV affects us and society, but he author has jumbled it all together in one giant evil. This book was published at the height of "the sky is falling" terror of global warming, which is not looking to be the catastrophe that the author is making it out to be. While reading this book, the feeling I had more than any other was the feeling I wanted to throw up from the way the author's lifestyle was pushed so hard. Bottom line: if you agree with the author, you'll like this book because it will make you feel good about what you already think. If you don't, you'll realize that this is a horrible book full of logical holes.
February 27, 2021
I repurchased this enlightening nonfiction treatise with fond memories of my days in English 1A at Chabot College. Instructor Tom De Witt really knew how to "crack open our eggs," as he used to say.
Here, Mc Kibben's overall purpose would be lost if it weren't considered carefully; it's easy to become immersed in the colorful nostalgia of cable TV. However, the goal of this book is to present a study of what happens when one watches too much cable TV versus spends time with nature.
TV teaches the world that anything is possible. Without limits, we become passive, complacent, and lukewarm. We have nothing to overcome. TV shows only sensational, bite sized information: endangered animals prevalent, up-close and personal, for example, so we don't even take their endangerment seriously. In contrast, nature teaches us that life is slow, uneventful and lacking drama. Yet it's wholesome and requires us to develop real skills to overcome limits. And if we can't overcome the limits, we can respect them. In real life, there is both joy and suffering. On TV, there's only the good stuff. We don't have to wait for it. We can just turn the channel. But the problem is, there is no joy without suffering. No reward without labor. Loss of responsibility leads of passivity and lack of choice. TV keeps us from choosing, keeping us passive. Eventually, we lose.
Pages: 256; Publication Date: 1992; Part of my book collection.
Here, Mc Kibben's overall purpose would be lost if it weren't considered carefully; it's easy to become immersed in the colorful nostalgia of cable TV. However, the goal of this book is to present a study of what happens when one watches too much cable TV versus spends time with nature.
TV teaches the world that anything is possible. Without limits, we become passive, complacent, and lukewarm. We have nothing to overcome. TV shows only sensational, bite sized information: endangered animals prevalent, up-close and personal, for example, so we don't even take their endangerment seriously. In contrast, nature teaches us that life is slow, uneventful and lacking drama. Yet it's wholesome and requires us to develop real skills to overcome limits. And if we can't overcome the limits, we can respect them. In real life, there is both joy and suffering. On TV, there's only the good stuff. We don't have to wait for it. We can just turn the channel. But the problem is, there is no joy without suffering. No reward without labor. Loss of responsibility leads of passivity and lack of choice. TV keeps us from choosing, keeping us passive. Eventually, we lose.
Pages: 256; Publication Date: 1992; Part of my book collection.
October 3, 2012
The book is a long essay contrasting and analyzing a day relaxing in the wilds of the Virginia Adirondacks with the experience of absorbing one single day of 100 channels broadcasting on the local TV network. McKibben invited over one hundred of his friends and family to tape all of the programming on May 3, 1990, and he took a few weeks to watch it all, and he contrasts this experience with one day that he spent in the 'Great Outdoors'.
It's clever and insightful, and I thought it most interesting how the two experiences treat 'Time'. Obviously, television is lightening fast and does an excellent job describing reality about what is happening in the present moment. 'Chaos' and 'Disaster' are the bread and butter of the television experience, while the worst disasters, such as global warming, the consequences of poverty, or the degradation of the environment, move slowly, and the TV cameras don't see them. So the dedicated TV viewer is oblivious to these grave and catastrophic issues.
The book is filled with facts and observations on our Consumer Society, and McKibben makes the case that television has become the most important element in World Culture. The book is well-written, it won't require a lot of your time, but it will make you think.
It's clever and insightful, and I thought it most interesting how the two experiences treat 'Time'. Obviously, television is lightening fast and does an excellent job describing reality about what is happening in the present moment. 'Chaos' and 'Disaster' are the bread and butter of the television experience, while the worst disasters, such as global warming, the consequences of poverty, or the degradation of the environment, move slowly, and the TV cameras don't see them. So the dedicated TV viewer is oblivious to these grave and catastrophic issues.
The book is filled with facts and observations on our Consumer Society, and McKibben makes the case that television has become the most important element in World Culture. The book is well-written, it won't require a lot of your time, but it will make you think.
April 27, 2009
I found the premise of this book interesting: the author recorded a day's worth of TV on over 100 channels, watched it all over the course of the next year, and pondered what we could learn about modern American society from it. It had some funny bits and some insightful moments about useless products, lack of community, distancing ourselves from nature even while watching nature documentaries, etc. Overall though I found it suffered from two major flaws:
1) It was published in 1993 and the author felt that future technology held no prospect of meaningfully changing people's lives. Given the internet revolution (and future changes I can't imagine now but that I feel sure will happen in the coming decades and centuries), I think that was a gross miscalculation on par with scientists who in the 19th century thought that there was little left to discover.
2) At various times I found the author annoying, repetitive, and preachy and this made even his interesting ideas sometimes difficult to get through.
Overall I would recommend the book, but it wasn't great for me.
1) It was published in 1993 and the author felt that future technology held no prospect of meaningfully changing people's lives. Given the internet revolution (and future changes I can't imagine now but that I feel sure will happen in the coming decades and centuries), I think that was a gross miscalculation on par with scientists who in the 19th century thought that there was little left to discover.
2) At various times I found the author annoying, repetitive, and preachy and this made even his interesting ideas sometimes difficult to get through.
Overall I would recommend the book, but it wasn't great for me.
March 8, 2015
I bought this book in 1993 and sat on it for 20 years…so reading it now with the rise of the Internet makes the message even more poignant. If you can get over much of the almost antiquated TV information, the message McKibben teaches is still pertinent. Even though most of us will not sit an entire day surrounded by nature, we have to also come to grips with the fact that there is NO WAY anyone can keep on top of or abreast of news/current events/trends/what's occurring around the world. Trying is a recipe for disaster because you will miss the life the you should be living with the people you interact with.
We have to learn to let go, sip from the mad whirlwind of modern life, and be at peace knowing we will never be able to fully grasp knowledge because it is always expanding. As well as we should more often step outside, take a few deep restorative breaths, and actually choose to experience something first-hand.
We have to learn to let go, sip from the mad whirlwind of modern life, and be at peace knowing we will never be able to fully grasp knowledge because it is always expanding. As well as we should more often step outside, take a few deep restorative breaths, and actually choose to experience something first-hand.
August 3, 2011
Written 20 years ago, this book still strikes a strong chord. I have a love-hate with television myself and know if I find myself in a rut, killing my TV seems to bring instant and (surprisingly?) only fleetingly painful change. McKibbon's conclusion is that having information constantly streamed at us actually makes us less informed because (1) there's no time to reflect and internalize information and (2) it's hard to separate the important from the banal.
Additionally, we isolate ourselves away from the natural world, which offers a wealth of information vital to the success of our species. He only had 93 channels when he wrote it; I wonder if my viewing habits over the last 20 years would be different if I'd read it during college. No time like the present!
Additionally, we isolate ourselves away from the natural world, which offers a wealth of information vital to the success of our species. He only had 93 channels when he wrote it; I wonder if my viewing habits over the last 20 years would be different if I'd read it during college. No time like the present!
January 17, 2016
This book was a catalyst for me, a springboard, it launched me. I had read Henry David Thoreau's Walden before, so I knew at heart what McKebben addressed in this book, but I had never thought of making a "thought experiment" like he did. McKibben's approach and analysis is scathing and it makes it embarrassing to be a part of the TV generation. Now the the internet is here, I wonder if it has only accelerated things (I state, as I write this on the Internet). The best part of this book was the final section in which he spends his 24 hourse out in the woods. His writing, his insights, his conclusions make this a very important book. It was the first book to turn me on to McKibben and now I am in his corner all the way.
A companion book for this particular McKibben book is Jerry Mander's, In the Absence of Sacred.
A companion book for this particular McKibben book is Jerry Mander's, In the Absence of Sacred.
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August 5, 2011Although the book is a bit dated, I think McKibben's argument is still valid - that television has the effect of creating a false reality where the individual viewer is the center of a universe that is completely disconnected from our neighbors and nature. Originally written in 1992 it suffers by not considering the massive changes to media since then, including a narrowing of ownership, the plethora of "reality" shows (he does mention this briefly in anew afterword) and most importantly the Internet and social networks. Still, a quick and rewarding read that should offer everyone some food for thought.
February 18, 2011
We're told we live in the information age. Do we? What kind of information? What kind is left out? What do we do with it? Is it worth having, and does it replace information that would be better worth having? Some of this is dated (the book was published in 1992), but most of the changes (cell phones, the ubiquitousness of personal computers, social networking, ipods, wireless computing, blackberries and text messaging, and so forth--all more recent inventions than we usually remember) don't invalidate his argument; most often they strengthen it.
August 11, 2016
Written in the early 90s, it's a bit out of touch with modern technology or the even wider divide that computers and the internet have created, but much of what he has to say is overall still the same and perhaps in some ways even more relevant. It was interesting to read about some of the television shows and remembering when I watched them. The parallels of television and our disinterest in the greater world and nature is even more an issue now, and if people can get past the dated references, then it's still a good book to read.
July 8, 2010
Just brilliant.
The only problem is the huge amount of late Eighties/early Nineties cultural references. Given the premise of the book, they're unavoidable, but it can give the book a retro feel at times. Or maybe I'm just ashamed that I caught about 90% of the references, and like McKibben, a disturbingly high percentage of my childhood memories have to do with TV - in my case, the Eighties.
Now I've got the Growing Pains theme song stuck in my head. Grrrr.
The only problem is the huge amount of late Eighties/early Nineties cultural references. Given the premise of the book, they're unavoidable, but it can give the book a retro feel at times. Or maybe I'm just ashamed that I caught about 90% of the references, and like McKibben, a disturbingly high percentage of my childhood memories have to do with TV - in my case, the Eighties.
Now I've got the Growing Pains theme song stuck in my head. Grrrr.
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