For this entry, I will examine the first ninety-one pages of Neil Postman's Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology. Postman begins his book with the tale of Thamus. Long story short, Thamus presents the God with his inventions such as Writing and the God tells him that society will lose itself in writing and forget what life was like before the invention. I believe this was a fantastic way to begin his book. Postman's central thesis rests around the idea that while technology is so important and has made life so much easier, society as a whole is becoming a slave to it.
Similar to Thamus, the invention of the modern computer as well as the internet has sparked other inventions that have replaced old traditions. My favorite example of this is digital friends. I am a firm believer that in order to be successful in life good people skills are absolutely necessary. I feel fortunate that I grew up in a time before computers were as popular as they are now because I was very social when I was younger. If I wanted to talk to my friends, it was either on the phone or in person. I feel bad for kids now that grow up and their primary mode of communication is the computer. I feel that in the long run it is not beneficial. How does a kid who's only talked to girls on the computer act on a first date? How can a social networking addict nail a job interview? Obviously these are generalizations but these are my feelings and they coincide with Postman's ideas.
Postman provides a similar example with television. Obviously it has been a huge blessing to have TV, however, it has also hurt our society. Television has clearly reduced the amount of reading done by our society as a whole. Whether that is in newspapers, magazines, or novels there is less reading done on a consistent basis. If TV's (or the internet) across the globe disappeared, would our world go into chaos? The answer seems to be a resounding yes. I can't imagine a middle schooler saying, "no internet today? No problem I'll just go get the paper."
Postman uses new terms such as Technocracy in order to describe the development of our reliance on technology. Technocracy is the early stage where people realized "knowledge is power, humanity is capable of progressing, that poverty is a great evil, and that the life of the average person is as meaningful as any other." (p 38). All of this seems like obvious knowledge to us today, but thats because we were born into a time where this information already existed. Postman continues to describe the time period he calls Technopoly. He describes this as the "submission of all forms of cultural life to the sovereignty of technique and technology" (p 52). This is where I begin to disagree with Postman. While it is obvious technology has taken over our culture, it is an exaggeration to believe that one day the Pledge of Allegiance will read "One nation, Under technology".
Postman's main point is that all things run through technology, however this is untrue. We have not abandoned real sports for video games, and although online classes are available, the majority of learning is set in a classroom. I believe that Postman takes the worst possible scenario and assumes we will eventually become slaves to the computer. While it is true we are dependent on the computer, I doubt people would die if they could not access the internet for a few days.
"Technopoly... is a state of culture... which means that the state of culture seeks its authorization in technology, finds its satisfactions in technology, and takes its orders from technology." (p 71). I believe Postman's statements here sum up my feelings about his work. I do agree there is a heavy reliance on technology, but I know that I, and many others do not take our order from technology. I find satisfaction in area's outside of the technological world and I also do my best to limit my use of technology in order to avoid becoming a slave to it. Postman's ideas are all well thought out, however I believe he fears the absolute worst case scenario and I don't think we will ever get to that point.
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