Amusing Ourselves To Death Postman Analysis

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The Power of an Epistemological Medium In Neil Postman’s book, Amusing Ourselves to Death, he argues that a medium will have a large effect on the thoughts and actions of its users. This is because of its powerful influence on the mind that incites them to mold their worldview according to its content (Postman 18). Postman talks a lot about what is known as an epistemology. Epistemology is a difficult word to understand but it generally has to do with the source of what we know. It is relevant to mediums because it has to do with “definitions of truth” and where we get those definitions (Postman 17). It is the reason why the mediums used by a majority of Americans have such great power on their minds and the culture they live in. In Postman’s time, the television was becoming the new medium but he viewed the television as an epistemology that “pollutes public …show more content…
To use this epistemology alone is dangerous. Throughout Postman’s book he gives the negative and positive of mediums such as television and typography. According to him, every medium will give and take away (Postman 29). Throughout history, when a new epistemological medium takes place, it will take and give away from the culture that uses it (Postman 29). Although he claims that the television has negative effects, he acknowledges its “value as a source of comfort and pleasure…” (Postman 28). He doesn’t intend on completely shutting down the television but instead he insists on not completely relying on it for epistemology. Epistemology should be mixed with other forms of media, especially with typography. He thought positively on the medium of print. Typography formed “our ideas about education, knowledge, truth, and information.” (Postman 29). Such a shift in discourse was far more beneficial than destructive (Postman, 29). The internet has shown to be quite beneficial, but just as Postman claimed, it can also be
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