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30+ Works 11,136 Members 137 Reviews 24 Favorited

About the Author

Born in Brooklyn, New York, and educated at the State University of New York and Columbia University, Neil Postman is a communications theorist, educator, and writer who has been deeply involved with the issue of the impact of the media and advanced communications technology on American culture. In show more his many books, Postman has strongly opposed the idea that technology will "save" humanity. In fact, he has focused on the negative ways in which television and computers alter social behavior. In his book Technopoly, Postman argues that the uncontrolled growth of technology destroys humanity by creating a culture with no moral structure. Thus, technology can be a dangerous enemy as well as a good friend. Postman, who is married and has three children, currently is a professor of media ecology at New York University and editor of Et Cetera, the journal of general semantics. In addition to his books, he has contributed to various magazines and periodicals, including Atlantic and The Nation. He has also appeared on the television program Sunrise Semester. Postman is the holder of the Christian Lindback Award for Excellence in Teaching from New YorkUniversity. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Works by Neil Postman

Teaching As a Subversive Activity (1969) — Author — 755 copies
How to Watch TV News (1992) 342 copies
Language in America (1969) 17 copies
Language and reality (1966) 8 copies

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I don't necessarily agree with other reviewers about whether this book is "dated," and I think it stands as a useful consciousness-raising exercise. Still, I found myself wondering what the authors would make of the electronic media landscape today....
 
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Mark_Feltskog | 5 other reviews | Dec 23, 2023 |
Thought provoking. A very prescient, for its day, insight into the trouble with technologies, particularly the way we unthinkingly embrace all technology as an advance and sign off progress instead of considering the consequences of a trivialized onslaught of information that is worse than meaningless as it renders us dumb and confused in a world divorced from connection and historical perspective and meaning. Postman cautions the reader to beware of polls (always ask, what was being asked! I.e is it okay to smoke while praying? No. Is it okay to pray while smoking? Yes) all subjects should be taught as history, not just history. He wants to find reverence again in religion but here I think he misses the opportunity for secular faith which will bring us or of our destructive extractive culture…but overall very good and thoughtful. The medium is the message.… (more)
 
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BookyMaven | 19 other reviews | Dec 6, 2023 |
Part one is a brilliant exposition of the history of our media mediums. From print, and the early phenomenal strength of The American literary tradition, to our anti-intellectual rise starting with the “news” snippet culture of the telegraph ( “To the telegraph, intelligence meant knowing OF lots of things, not knowing ABOUT them.” P 70) and the contextless photographic image which culminates (in this book written in 1985) in the age of the television. Well, the thesis has been proven. We are a thoroughly unserious nation in 2022. Worse yet, we long for the days of 1985 television in which at least there was a shared cultural experience. Today in the computer age we are all separate disjointed individuated info consumers, whether that info be true or false matters not. It only matters how we feel about any factum. Huxley was the more prescient dystopian view and we are living in it.… (more)
 
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BookyMaven | 75 other reviews | Dec 6, 2023 |
I don't use the term "life changing" very much at all but this book opened my eyes. I highly recommend it to anyone.
 
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everettroberts | 75 other reviews | Oct 20, 2023 |

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Works
30
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2
Members
11,136
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Rating
4.0
Reviews
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ISBNs
169
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Favorited
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