Neil Postman- Amusing Ourselves To Death Part 1

I have been given the opportunity to read Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves To Death. Postman goes into what he believes will be the end all be all for humans referencing George Orwell and Aldous Huxley. Siding with Huxley in that what we enjoy most will ruin us, not what we fear. 

1. Describe three specific characteristics of the "Typographic Mind."

 All three of the characteristics I chose to explain further can be found in the paragraph at the bottom of page 63. The first, is people of that time had the “sophisticated ability to think conceptually, deductively, and sequentially.” The only way to communicate at the time was thought the written or spoken word. This medium forced the brain to hear, process, and understand the words on the page or to what they were hearing from the spoken word. Postman mentions on the bottom of pg. 41 “The resonances of the lineal, analytical structure of print, and in particular expository prose could be felt everywhere. For example, in how people talked” This sentence reinforces the above in stating that peoples brains were demanded to function at a higher level of thinking than compared with today. The second characteristic would be their “high valuation of reason and order” This is seen through their high regard for being literate. They found great value in “reading and writing school” They were able to transfer and manifest knowledge though the printed word, and also felt a moral duty to school the young. An example of this characteristic from Postman can be found on pg. 34 “One significant implication of this situation is that no literary aristocracy emerged in Colonial America. Reading was not regarded as an elitist activity, and printed matter was spread evenly among all kids of people.” This shows that material was everywhere for everyone to be exposed to and as Boorstin mentions, everyone could speak the same language. The final characteristic is “the tolerance for delayed response” In today’s world we are over connected and expected to move at a quick pace in getting back to people who leave a message. There is no fun anymore in waiting for a letter in mail, 

It would be interesting to see if people go to the post office because they cannot be patient and wait for a package in the wired world. “The printed word had a monopoly on both attention and intellect, there being so other means, besides the oral tradition, to have access to public knowledge.” And that is why in those days people had courteous relationships with the butcher, the postman, the general store, and the sheriff. 

2. Postman suggests that the twin inventions of 19th century Telegraphy and Photography challenged Typography's monopoly on public discourse. How, specifically did each of these two new media/communications inventions do this?

 The telephone, thanks to Samuel Finley Breese Morse created a way for Maine to communicate with Texas for no good reason, but once you invent something it will get used if at the time the thought was for positive change, and innovation. Ultimately though “These demons of discourse were aroused by the fact that telegraphy gave a form of legitimacy to the idea of context-free information; that is, to the idea that the value of information need not be tied to any function it might serve.” Pg. 65 I think that is the most profound statement, to think that during that time people were communicating for no constructive purpose to helping their social and political world. In that sentence alone, is stating our biggest disconnect today. There is a lot of chatter but no conversation, and also hearing, but no listening. Photography just created more room for less important information. At the time though it was new and exciting, people were able to take ownership of time and space through photos. But it was deadly again to the mind in the respect that “Pictures, Gavriel Salomon has written, “need to be recognized, words need to be understood” I think that is a good culmination of how telephones, and photos changed our discourse. Impact in todays world. 

3. What does Postman mean by "The Peek-A-Boo World," and can you give an example of this world from your own media experiences?

3. The Peek-A-Boo world is what I feel I walk out into everyday. Things are moving at such a quick pace, what is new today, will be old tomorrow. It is almost frightening, you buy a camera and you will need a new one in a year because the technology will have completely changed, and here’s the kicker, when you go and try to get it fixed, they will say “ohh, sorry that’s out of date and we don’t make that anymore” talk about a short life span. The above video is an example of how I feel when walking through my "peek-boo" day. The media can be a heavy weight to carry around and expensive on your wallet. My example from real life would be that it fascinates me that companies change their packaging and wording often, especially in the grocery store. To the customer they want you to think, “oh new label, newer, better, bigger, less calories, more protein…ect” it could go on for days, but its their peek a boo method of advertising and packaging I think that gets them their customers. When really what’s important to peek at is the ingredients!