The problem is not that television presents us with entertaining subject matter but that all subject matter is presented as entertaining, which is another issue altogether [...] Entertainment is the supra-ideology of all discourse on television.-- Neil Postman
Reflecting further on Postman, it strikes me that many of us are misperceiving the relative effects of electric and print media. Too often we imagine that, since we cannot observe any specific effect caused by electric media within our own, individual behavior, the problems are all overstated.
However, this thinking is deceptive. Just as global warming is not of any concern when judging by a particular day, so too the ways society responds to the presence of electric media will be insignificant as manifest in any one particular person. It is really an effect registered at the level of society, since it alters only the way that culture communicates with and replicates itself.
In climate, if today is one or two degrees warmer than the same day last year, there is no harm whatsoever. But if a decade, or a century, goes up by an average degree, then ecosystems and weather patterns shift, causing great upheaval. So too television and this Internet force out the habitat that sustains our old patterns of thought. When you examine yourself individually for the effects of the diminished literacy, you'll find none. You might even be a reader. But, just as a cold day in January doesn't provide any meaningful data on climate change, the fact that you might read books doesn't mean we don't have problems with literacy.
However, this thinking is deceptive. Just as global warming is not of any concern when judging by a particular day, so too the ways society responds to the presence of electric media will be insignificant as manifest in any one particular person. It is really an effect registered at the level of society, since it alters only the way that culture communicates with and replicates itself.
In climate, if today is one or two degrees warmer than the same day last year, there is no harm whatsoever. But if a decade, or a century, goes up by an average degree, then ecosystems and weather patterns shift, causing great upheaval. So too television and this Internet force out the habitat that sustains our old patterns of thought. When you examine yourself individually for the effects of the diminished literacy, you'll find none. You might even be a reader. But, just as a cold day in January doesn't provide any meaningful data on climate change, the fact that you might read books doesn't mean we don't have problems with literacy.
5 comments:
The use of global warming and human literacy as an analogy seems to be pretty accurate, but also, literacy may just be evolving. Literacy defined can be used a few different ways, the way we see it, reading and writing, may be what media is changing, but also, the media may be changing what we are literate with. Using the Internet or using a cell phone takes somewhat of a learning curve. I think it may just be evolving our literacy from a structural, gramatical experience, to a lax, easy going way of speaking and communicating.
I fully agree that our "literacy" is shifting. But, again, not all media are created equal. When we accept the shift in more "easy going" forms, we must recognize the things we lose, such as sustained and reasonable discourse.
Our quiz is on Thursday right?
The English Language is far from sustained and reasonable, but I agree with part of that, I think that nothing can ever one-up face to face conversation, but i think that paper use could nearly be eliminated, with the use of technology, why not write on a "tablet" PC, very portable, very easy to use, just something else to think about
The point is that profound but contradictory ideas may exist side by side, if they are constructed from different materials and methods. and have different purposes. Each tells us something important about where we stand in the universe, and it is foolish to insist that they must despise each other. Don't become caught up in someone elses preachings, they may be tainted...
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