A Weekend, A Book, & The Age of Show Business
First things first--hi. How are you doing? I know it's been a few days strung together since I last posted something that was actually something lengthy and worthwhile to read. There's a reason for this and I hope you'll allow me to bring it before you to consider as well. I've been turning something over in my head for a little bit over the weekend. From the recommendation of "Mr. Sowin":http://www.fireandknowledge.org this past weekend I started reading _Neil Postman's_ "Amusing Ourselves To Death: Public Discourse In The Age of Show Business":http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0140094385/qid=1123502150/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-9786576-9854229?v=glance&s=books&n=507846 and this is where the thought begins. I have finished the first part of the book and my opinion on his proposal has gone back and forth about as often as a malcontent wave. In the end though I think I am starting to see his point. A part of me looks at Postman's proposal of today's media conversation being nonsense, disconnected, and alienated from action, and I see a person in an ivory tower trying to preserve the way things 'used to be.' That's my first reaction. Yet my second, and more well-thought out reaction is this: maybe Postman has a point. Maybe we have long forgotten how to have a meaningful conversation through letters, words, and sentences. Maybe we truly have forgotten how to reason a point systemically and fully within a thesis. A part of myself at first thought that while Postman's point of television trivializing facts and content might be true, surely the *internet* must have attempted to bring us back. Yet as I think about it, that thought is about as absurd as the educational value of television. The reason I came to this position was last night as I read Postman's overview of how he believes the Age of Exposition faded away and the Age of Show Business came forth. Allow me a moment to quote Postman here: bq. Together, this ensemble of electronic techniques called into being a new world --- a peek-a-boo world, where now this event, now that, pops into view for a moment, then vanishes again. It is a world without much coherence or sense; a world that does not ask us, indeed, does not permit us to do anything; a world that is, like the child's game of peek-a-boo, entirely self-contained. But like peek-a-boo, it is also endlessly entertaining. My point is this: The internet is not an extension of the book, rather it is another arm of the television. The medium of the internet could be utilized as a book, allowing for reasoned and logical passages on varying thoughts along multiple subject lines; yet that isn't function we've used it mainly for. The internet was around for years before its commercial explosion in twenty-first century, used widely as a academic resource. Yet with its commercial explosion and the market's utilization of the medium, people started utilizing the internet as we see it today -- a larger stage for entertainment. Games, quizzes, link sites, fantasy sports, message boards, magazines, movies, trailers, music, and so on the list goes. All with the purpose of entertaining. How often though does one link to a book or a well-written passage on an idea? How often do we utilize this internet medium with the purpose of engaging within a point and counter-point? How often do we allow ourselves to have a reasoned 'community discussion' about issues which affect us personally instead of lightly conversing on independent, irrelevant issues which spur no response on our part? It's a question which I have to consider further, but I at least start the conversation with the hope that others might join in with me.
This entry was posted on Monday, August 8, 2005 at 6:38am. It has been filed under Thoughts, Books, Quotes, Joshua.
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Man... No one has cared to share their thoughts. Could you be the first?