309danellefeeling

About 309danellefeeling

Neil Postman, who was he?

I now realize that it was an odd blend of postmodernist theory and popular media, but it was perfectly within the purview of cultural studies and television. I was not familiar with Postman at the time. His writings had a far bigger influence on a different generation of academics who were born after television became a business but before the Internet became popular. Postman’s own disinterest in the state of television may have been the primary factor dividing the generations.

My dissertation on television history and culture had just been accepted for publication (in 1999 in a series on cultural history published by the University of Illinois Press) when I read Amusing Ourselves to Death during my final year of graduate school. Outrage is more valued by social media algorithms than subtlety. according to Postman..This is what Postman referred to as Even well-meaning innovations, such as educational apps, frequently reduce learning to metrics that can be measured.

For example, efficiency takes precedence over exploration in GPS systems. Social media algorithms reward outrage over nuance. He made the case in Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology (1992) that technologies are more than just tools; they represent prejudices and values. It allows you to take a moment to consider the defaults that are ingrained in our digital lives. Once you internalize his message, it has a profoundly liberating effect. But that argument misses the spirit of his work.

He always advocated for thoughtful adaptation rather than opposing it. That performance is now everyone’s job thanks to social media. Several times, I’ve caught myself on the verge of posting something trivial, only to pause and consider why I felt the need to share it. I’ve heard people dismiss neil postman books as an alarmist over the years, claiming that younger generations are accustomed to new media. Postman’s description of the television personality – the person who exists because they are seen – is frequently the source of that impulse.

His significance is found in his ability to help us ask better questions that respect our focus, memory, and capacity for wonder rather than in possessing all the answers. We inherit media ecologies, yes – but we can also tend them, prune them, and sometimes, plant something new. Postman offers a third approach: thoughtful stewardship, in an era where discussions about technology frequently veer between utopian hype and dystopian panic.

That’s why he perseveres. Not as a relic, but as a mentor who realized that the most significant technologies aren’t the ones we create, but rather the mental habits we develop while using them.