Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business

by Neil Postman

Other authorsAndrew Postman (Introduction)
Paperback, 2005

Status

Available

Call number

302.23

Collection

Publication

Penguin Books (2005), Edition: Anniversary, 208 pages

Description

In this eloquent and persuasive book, Neil Postman examines the deep and broad effects of television culture on the manner in which we conduct our public affairs, and how "entertainment values" have corrupted the very way we think. As politics, news, religion, education, and commerce are given less and less expression in the form of the printed word, they are rapidly being reshaped to suit the requirements of television. And because television is a visual medium, whose images are most pleasurably apprehended when they are fast-moving and dynamic, discourse on television has little tolerance for argument, hypothesis, or explanation. Postman argues that public discourse-the advancing of arguments in logical order for the public good, once a hallmark of American culture-is being converted from exposition and explanation to entertainment.… (more)

Media reviews

Mother Jones
A lucid and very funny jeremiad about how public discourse has been degraded.
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Christian Science Monitor
He starts where Marshall McLuhan left off, constructing his arguments with the resources of a scholar and the wit of a raconteur.
Washington Post Book World
A brilliant, powerful and important book...This is a brutal indictment Postman has laid down and, so far as I can see, an irrefutable one.

User reviews

LibraryThing member Steve_Walker
Written in the mid 80's 'Amusing Our Selves to Death' remains a damning indictment of what a runaway entertainment mindset has done to American culture. Things are not better, if anything, things are worse. Celebrity culture has taken over the web and the websites of most major newspapers. What to
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do? Kill your TV. There are tools now so that you can pick and choose what you want to see. Also limit your time online. Read, listen to music, go to a concert, get outside, Join a book club. Don't let Hollywood rent space in your head.
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LibraryThing member RobertDay
A perceptive look at US popular media - predominantly television - dating from 1985, though still relevant more than thirty years later. It takes only a very small adjustment of the imagination to add social media to the analysis, and that analysis still comes up strong.

We are more fortunate in the
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UK (in that we have the BBC, which by not taking advertising does not have to chase the ratings and the eight-minute attention span to the same degree), but we cannot afford complacency. Much of what is in this book I can see in our own media.

Equally, there are other voices in America who are aware of this problem and work against it. But they are a minority.

Interestingly, I'm re-watching 'Battlestar Galactica' (the re-boot) at the moment. It is a well-crafted show, with good plots (at least, until it got to the point where the show-runners ran out of ideas and began making stuff - especially mystical stuff - up as they went along), an interesting premise and a range of issues. But I notice two things about it: 1) episodes are shorter than their equivalents for 'Star Trek' or 'Babylon 5', reflecting longer advert breaks; and (perhaps more importantly), 2) by the story being set in a non-Earth society, the cultural references that the other shows inserted in the scripts - because Roddenberry and Straczinski are/were themselves educated people who wanted to share that
education - are not present. The earlier shows 'sneaked' references into their stories that would take the inquisitive viewer into a wider world of cultural exposure; but by the opening of the 21st century, a science fiction show like 'Galactica' that was complex and demanding in terms of its narrative no longer felt a need to expand its viewers' consciousnesses as well. Postman's hypothesis wins out in the end, it seems.

We see the eight-minute attention span reflected in documentaries in the UK as well - sometimes even in BBC documentaries that are intended to be sold abroad, as they have to conform to a commercial tv pattern (watching
popular BBC documentary shows, I can often pick out where the adverts will go when the show is re-broadcast on a commercial channel). On completely commercially-originated documentaries, this is reflected in the recapitulation of "the story so far" when the show comes back after the commercial break.

I found the chapter on US tele-evangelism very interesting. It suggests one reason why Islam is mis-represented so much in mainstream media, because (on my reading), the messages of Islam do not suggest ways of making yourself feel good, but in doing the right thing. And that can't be reduced to an eight-minute sound-bite that reinforces other, less spiritual messages that the medium wants to promote at the same time.

I'd like to think that UK audiences are sufficiently sophisticated to spot these sort of issues. (Perhaps one reason why there are segments of the UK political world who decry college and university 'media studies' courses, because those courses enable those who have done them to analyse and deconstruct what they are seeing.) (Hopefully.) In a way, the book has told me nothing I didn't already know, but it put it in a context of the development of US television media. The lessons it gives us are equally important for the digital media age. I see just the same forces working in social media to
say "Look over here at THIS" so as to direct attention away from THAT. My one concern is that the book preaches somewhat to the converted, though by spreading the word, the message can sometimes get to new ears.

Otherwise, we shall end up in the world of 'Fahrenheit 451'; and occasionally, I see the underlying ideology of that world - "books are dangerous because they make you feel your own reactions to what you see, rather than what you are required to feel and think' - trying very hard to break through into our reality.
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LibraryThing member ZacAbeel
If Guns Germs and Steel explains where we as humans have been and how we got here, then Amusing Ourselves to Death makes a great argument as to where we as humans are going.

Author Neil Postman begins by comparing George Orwell's 1984 and Alex Huxley's Brave New World. Both books made bold
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predictions about life in the future. In Postman's opinion, Orwell was wrong when he foretold the end of human liberties coming by way of total and brutal government control. Instead, Postman sees the end (or apathy) of humanity coming by way of entertainment and people being happy until the end. To support his opinion, Postman uses his book to point out how TV has significantly changed how we as a society think, debate, and act. In his conclusion, The author is of the opinion that Huxley got it right.

This is a book that changed the way I watch TV, listen to the media, view politics/politicians, understand education in America, think about my own intelligence, and think about the state/fate of the world. It is really thought provoking and very relevant.
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LibraryThing member kjforester
Postman describes television as an ideology that has negatively altered the way Americans communicate by shifting our culture from a literate, thoughtful and well-read people to one that passively absorbs information from non-contextual imagery and sound bites. He likens television to the
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devastating "soma" in Huxley's Brave New World and much closer to reality than Orwell's dark predictions. Fascinating read. You will never look at television news the same way.
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LibraryThing member nesum
I have been recently reading to quite a few articles and listening to several programs on how our modern forms of media are subtly rewiring our brains to be less thoughtful and less able to maintain an attention span longer than the length of the average image on television; that is to say, not
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very long. This is something that a lot of us are seeing today and wondering what to do about it. Neil Postman saw it back in 1984, and his warning should be heeded still. Because of discussions on this topic, this book was loaned to me, and I am thankful for it.

Our instinct is to turn to more intelligent programs rather than watching the fluff on television. But Postman's concern is not the content of what we are watching, but the form. It is not that the History Channel has very many interesting and educational programs. It is that even the History Channel's way of presenting them is doing more harm than good.

Contrary to what we've been taught, the medium used itself carries something with it. Television in particular has come at a high cost by the very fact that it because our source for all information for some time. Postman might write about the smart phone today, if he were alive. The situation was become more dire, since it is no longer a very heavy box in our living room that is controlling the flow of information, but a very light box in our pockets. No longer is work or the restaurant a break from media, but we are very willing to read a text at the table.

The solution here is awareness. It is rather difficult to survive in business anymore without at least a computer, if not a smart phone. These are not things we can do without anymore. But being aware of what is happening to us may change the way we approach things. Our business typically want us to be multi-taskers, jumping from project to project. This book, as well as those other articles I've been reading, have convinced me that maybe it would be very good for my brain to sit down with a book in the evening and read for a while.
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LibraryThing member sriddell
I was a little surprised at how much I enjoyed this book.

Originally published in 1985, the author gives a deep dive into how TV has changed and shaped modern education, political campaigns, news and religion. He gives a very understandable argument that the overall effect of TV as a medium has been
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negative. Information provided in a largely visual format, mood controlled by music, information delivered only by telegenic good-looking people has influenced every aspect of our lives.

And this was long before 24-7 cable news, social media and twitter. Not to mention how we are now all glued to our smart phones. I looked to see if he had written a more recent book with these 21st century inventions, but sadly he passed away in 2003. I would love to see if someone has picked up and continued his work. I think he would have a field day with smart phones!
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LibraryThing member adulau
Starting by reading the introduction, I thought that will be again one of those prophetic books about media and television flying over the top and forgetting about the inner problem of visual media usage. Not at all, the book is incredible and really dig into the issue of our society moving "away"
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from typography for going into visual and short-term visual events. The book is well structured and covering very well the aspects of short-term visual communication. The text written in 1985 is still very valuable and even provides an insightful perspective to our Today's society of entertainment (as somehow defined by Aldous Huxley or by Guy Debord). An interesting reading opening the doors to interesting discussions about media and our society.
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LibraryThing member tkadlec
An important and valuable read, Postman's book was published in 1985, before the explosion of the internet. It's ideas, however, are still very relevant today.Postman argues, very articulately, that television has seriously altered our culture and, in fact, poses a serious threat to it. One might
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think he'd play the role of curmudgeon and point to all the "garbage" on television, but instead, he argues that tv is most dangerous "when it presents itself as a carrier of important cultural conversations". Informative, thought-provoking, and yes, even entertaining, this is definitely a recommended read.
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LibraryThing member francesanngray
Brilliant and visionary. Everyone should read this.
LibraryThing member alissamarie
Sometimes insightful, sometimes frustrating. Nobody gets it all right, but Postman does seem to have a rather idyllic view of early American life, into which slavery never seems to factor. Interesting.

But, as someone who is not a fan of televised news, I nodded a bit in the politics chapter.
LibraryThing member darwin.8u
Don't bother waiting for this book to be made into a TV movie. Get of your ass and read, you lazy, self-absorbed slug. Postman hits our cultural, educational and social malaise over the head. He's a brilliant social and educational critic.
LibraryThing member jaygheiser
Profound book. Although shrill in parts, it echoes a lot of ideas that I've been mulling over. My copy is now heavily commented and highlighted.
LibraryThing member astutz
This book is a phenomenal treatise on society's inundation with mass media, especially television, and it's increasing unawareness of the damaging affects of media on public discourse.
LibraryThing member carterchristian1
Is there a relationship between the decline in education in the United States today and the ever present media entertainment. Cell phones and texting are only making this worse.
LibraryThing member kristianbrigman
A great book. This is the best of his books IMHO (I have read this one, Technopoly, and Building a Bridge to the 18th century...) It is in some ways a polemic against television, but it has good examples of what he feels are tv's failings, and always keeps a balanced and objective tone. Good for
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thinking about not necessarily whether you should own a TV or not (it's not that polemic), but thinking about TV affects the way you live you life, and what TV is good for (or not good for).
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LibraryThing member Davidmanheim
While a bit overly pessimistic (though, scarily, I found it to be particularly realistic,) it stands as the only real refutation of the institution of television that I have read. It was particularly well formulated, while attempting to rely as little as possible on moral judgments, pointing out
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that there has been a shift in the way popular culture behaves that can be traced to the limited modes of discussion used by the public when most Americans receive almost all of their information from television.
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LibraryThing member bsanner
An insightful critique of TV culture (e.g. edu-tainment, media, sound bites, and group think) and its effect on American culture.
LibraryThing member awssu
The book that originally alerted me to the fact that Huxley, not Orwell, had seen where things were going. "What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no-one who wanted to read one."
LibraryThing member edwin.gleaves
A book that I have used in teaching in several areas--anything relating to the future of books and reading in an age of mass media. Consider it McLuhan brought up to the eighties.
LibraryThing member morningsidefamily
This book is sort of minor classic about how visual media (particularly TV) inherently differ from literary media. Worth the read for the explanation of how even educational TV offers much less content and critical analysis than a book on the same subject, and for the explanation of commercials as
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parables.
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LibraryThing member Robin661
Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business
Neil Postman
This was a book about how subtle and overtly the way we communicate and correspond have been altered. That we are quickly dumb down ourselves. That when there were debates during the times of the civil war people
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left their jobs after 12 hours of work to go to a hall and listen to the Lincoln-Douglas debates. They went on for hours with a break for dinner and then all reassembled to continue. No one today would do this nor would many understand the discussion. TV has changed the speed of conversations. It was truly an eye opening book. It was a refreshing quick read that was informative, and an education. I would recommend this to others as it was recommended to me. I use the Lincoln-Douglas debates to educate others about this change in our society and culture.
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LibraryThing member yarkan
Most provocative ideas: information that is not relevant to your life is just trivia and most of what we get. Television emphasizes simple images. A lack of abstraction comes from a lack of literary involvement. Need to figure out how this plays out with the internet.
LibraryThing member clmerle


It's amazing how well this book has stood the test of time. We are still amusing ourselves to death, though now we have a new medium, the Internet. Our world is even more fragmented, more information overload, but the Internet restores typography to an extent, in bite size chunks. I wonder what
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Postman would had thought of Twitter.
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LibraryThing member ElOsoBlanco
Although the world Postman writes about is a little dated, the book is still very thought provoking. I would highly recommend this to anyone who is interested in media's effect (and especially television) on society.
LibraryThing member kslade
Good book on the lack of seriousness in America.

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

1985

Physical description

7.7 inches

ISBN

014303653X / 9780143036531
Page: 0.8666 seconds