In chapter 1, Postman takes the opportunity to highlight how
different American cities have taken turns being stereotypical “United States”.
He spoke of revolutionary significance, diversification, and industrial
expansion. He suggests that culture in American is “entirely devoted to the
idea of entertainment” (3). This is most apparent in Las Vegas. He spoke about
how everything that happens within the US somehow turns into entertainment
which is what gives us the title “slowly amusing ourselves to death”.
In this
chapter he spoke of how the President, Ronald Reagan used to be a Hollywood
actor and how other political individuals are celebrities. Postman knows that
he isn’t the first person to realize that this is the way America seemed to be
heading. In this first chapter, Postman describes how he wants to take a look
at the culture and how it has morphed from the “age of typography” to the age
of television. Basically, he wants to figure out why America went from the
world of type to the world of image. It discusses how once a person was judged
based on their abilities and their message. He then goes on to discuss the way
that the age of television takes that away.
Postman discusses the introduction
of ‘tools’. In my opinion the most interesting tool that he discussed is the
clock. He began this with talking how we used to measure time by the changing
of the seasons and the sun rising and setting. With the development of the
clock, we began to view time in terms of hours, minutes, and seconds. This
changed the way we did things as a society. We began to live our lives based on
the clock instead of basing the clock on our lives.
Overall this chapter was
very interesting because of the perspective he puts things in. It really gives
you something to think about. What would the world be like if we didn’t worry
about what we looked like? What would the world be like if we didn’t let the
clock and other ‘tools’ dictate the way we lived our lives? It’s very thought provoking
to say the least.
I am glad you posted on this chapter because when I began reading this book, it was hard for me to grasp what the author was trying to get across. I felt the book started out slow and then became easier to read.
ReplyDeleteIt was helpful to read your summary especially the part which you pointed out that the author wanted the reader to see how the world has changed from typography to a world of image.
A very though provoking question you pointed out was what would the world be like if we didn't worry about what we looked like. There is so much emphesis placed on this today. Very nicely written.