Postman TV
...ity row material for intellectual struggle and judgment. Although the press require reading, summarizing and action from the reader, television impose person to consume the information without “chewing” it. The intellect capacity, therefore, decreases steadily because of the non-importance for perception of data from television programs and lack of the training for brain development. In his Amusing Ourselves to Death, Neil Postman arguing the television means of giving information because they give information without unite coherence. He compares the telegraph means of transfer information as well as television to typography means. He exclude the possibility of digesting some kinds of information via books as a main means of typographic way of data transfer. Postman contends that the book gives the possibility to learn because of the many possible ways for summarizing information from the pages of the book. Information which goes through television is aiming to be consumed in the moment of watching, it does not give a time for analysis of received information. Therefore, television does not give an opportunity to learn because of the narrowness and primitive of given information. His claim on page 69 is hard to be disputed: "Books, for example, are an excellent container for the accumulation, quiet scrutiny and organized analysis of information and ideas. It takes time to write a book, and to read one; time to discuss its contents and to make judgements about their merit." Although Postman presents a valid positioning on the ill-effects of television and a few recommended calls-to-action that might aid in curbing what appears to be inevitable downward spiral into TV Hell, the descent may not be as rapid as Postman predicts or, more likely, there may exist some enlightened attitudes toward its overbearing presence. Television program quality is arguably in decline and the evidence could be glaring enough to alarm some otherwise "gullible" victims. As he supposes on page 159, "we would all be better off if television got worse, not better," there may be some indication of television leaning in that "worse" direction. With recent self-instituted guidelines against proliferating more "trash TV," the talk shows that litter the highway of channels proposed a move toward more "meaningful" content in their shows. This is the television industry’s practical application of an idiom originating in the computer field: GIGO (garbage in, garbage out). It is undoubtedly a result of decreasing ratings that TV executives made this move and conveniently positioned it as a "community service" to better the quality of programming. Perhaps American viewers are catching on and simply turning on, tuning in then dropping out, to distort Dr. Leary’s famous buzz-phrase. As Postman unravels in Chapters 6 and 7, television attempts to persuade "us" by portraying "us." By promoting amusement and pleasure, it appeals to the "good things" we want to be. Even in the act of delivering depressing facts of human tragedy (war, crime, and natural disasters), television succeeds in playing the role of the charming moderator, impervious to the horrors it is presenting. This is made obvious by watching any evening newscast or morning news show. I performed the exercise after reading these two chapters. What I had always thought of as ludicrous and comical, Postman made a point to analyze, exposing the dangers of such behavior. If we are desensitized to the point of joining television news personalities in their nonchalant reaction to events that are devastating and at the same time worthy of broadcast, what is necessary to "shock" us or invoke a call to action? I was always amused at Tom Brokaw’s occasional "walk on the wild side" when he slightly grimaced or provided a faint hint of emotion after a well-polished and sensitive "focus" piece during the evening news. Tom, the rebel that he was, broke the glass barrier of disinterest or the "high level of unreality" as Postman would put it (p. 103). I want to represent my own life experience to prove Postman’s point of view. When I was in early ages, I remember how friends of mine who had watched CNN, MTV and Disney channels all the time was aware of all “important” news happened. Among them was new Michael Douglas girlfriend’s car of or new haircut of Madonna. My attempts to recollect them “important” news in a short period of time by then have been collapsed. Nobody remembered neither color of Michael Douglas new car nor new haircut of Madonna. The television information "fades from the mental landscape as if it had never been." (p.75). In the same time I was excited by Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll and recommended it to my friends but they do not have a time for reading because of the “important” news from MTV and CNN tonight. They were “too old” for the books like that. If we compare data in Alice’s adventures in Wonderland to any news report on MTV, the difference in intellectual training is out of question. And we know how important the intellect training for kids and teenagers is. The lack of education in early ages results mental problems in the future. Among them are alcohol and drug dependency of teenagers, suicides and crime abuses in early ages. What we see now is crisis of Americ...