J's Pages

Kill your television before it kills you. Actually, that's not really the message of the book. As far as our culture is concerned, TV is already guilty of murder. Mr. Postman shows how television (on the heels of other electronic media) has shaped public discussion in our once literary culture. He argues persuasively that the medium affects the content of what one tries to communicate. Television, which all but demands a moving picture to accompany its words, drives the level of content in the message down. As a result, we don't have the same depth of discussion in our communities--be it politics, religion or education--that we had back in the 18th and 19th centuries. (If you doubt me, go ahead and try to read the stuff they wrote back then.) In a sense, it's a scary book. It offers no real hope of change. And since it was written in 1985, I know that things have not gotten better. But life goes on. Ours is not the only culture in the world, nor, hopefully, the last generation. Maybe God is not done blessing humanity with great thinkers, teachers, statesmen and artists. And if not, one can still light a candle in the darkness. You can always grab the library card instead of the remote and encourage others to do the same. So I encourage you to check it out. 

LibraryThing link

Labels: CheckItOut

// posted by John @ 10:05 PM