Smiles lent me his copy of Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death after we were talking about Bowling for Combine. I was talking about Moore's ideas on how the media breeds a constant state of fear in the American public. Smiles handed me this book, as Postman has some similar ideas. This book was written in 1985, in the heyday of the Reagan years. It starts off talking about both George Orwell and Aldous Huxley and their predictions for the future and the downfall of civilization. Postman's premise is that Huxley is more correct in his ideas, that it will be our pleasures, not pains, that ruin us.

One of our greatest pleasures is television. Postman chronicles the history of typography and it's downfall at the hands of television and broadcast media. The problem in television, Postman states, is that everything is there for entertainment, even (and especially) the news. Television is causing our educational system to go down the toilet as children's attention spans deteriorate and the only way they learn is from so called "educational" shows and videos. Postman picks apart a lot of the research done that shows students learn more from television and other visual formats than from the printed and spoken word. Here is a great excerpt from the book.

I really enjoyed this book. Postman has a lot of great things to say. The material is slightly dated, but considering our culture at the moment, it's still extremely relevant. He isn't saying entertainment in itself is bad, but when there is no balance, when that is what everything is about, then there is a problem. I would like to read about what Postman has to say about the internet. As far as news goes, I think the web is counterbalancing TV news as far as keeping people informed. I had to stop making this post because I permed my hair, so I'm back. I lost my the rest of my links, and my train of thought for that matter, so if you want to know more, go to Google. Anyway, this is a great book.