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the era of technology
the era of technology
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The Age of Technology
From the time you are born until the day you die one thing will remain constant and that is the progress of technology. Everyday there is something new brought into our world. Whether it be a revision of an old technology or just a new discovery, it doesn¹t matter, there is always progress. Today we live in a culture where technology has effected everything. Technology has come in to play a role in religion, science, and even the imitation of humankind. Today it is hard to find one thing that technology does not play a role in. With technology there is always progress and until the end of time it will always be in motion.
Recently, I have had to do some research concerning the progress of technology and it¹s effects on humankind throughout history. Throughout my research one thing became obvious to me and that is technology, in a short period of time, has progressed drastically. Whether you agree with the bible that Cain was the first inventor(Genesis 4) or simply believe in the mythological character Thamus, it doesn¹t matter. Somehow and somewhere technology began and since then it has never stopped growing. To research this topic I went to a cultural critic who is an expert in analyzing technology¹s effect on culture. In the technological world Neil Postman is a well regarded as a cultural critic for his opinion and for his view of technology today. He is also known for other books such as, The Disappearance of Childhood, and Crazy Talk, Stupid Talk. The book that I concentrated on was a book entitled Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology. In this book Neil Postman reasons that ultimately the technological world will render us more harm, than benefit. Also, he goes on at length abou...
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...ngulfed him with technology and now lives in a technopoly. Postman went on to show that today for every old world belief there is a technological answer. Man, no longer needs to depend on his culture, rather he could depend on technology. For prayer, he would take penicillin. For reading, just switch on the television and for sin all you need is psychotherapy. You can see clearly that man has left their God entirely. He went from total dependency to total independence, just as Cain did. I believe that throughout the whole book of Technopoly,
Mr. Postman¹s stressed one thing the most and that is that man has left God, has replaced God, and realizes that unless something is done to bring man back, he has surrendered his life to technology.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
TECHNOPOLY: THE SURRENDER OF CULTURE TO TECHNOLOGY. Neil Postman.
Random House Inc. NEW YORK. C1992
In today’s society technology is everywhere, whether it be in a car, on a billboard, a laptop, or even on one’s phone. However, is all this technology a bad thing or is it truly a worldwide phenomenon. Even back during 1992, author Neil Postman wrote about how technology is both a blessing and a burden. Many people believe Postman’s views are arrogant or far-fetched, but there are also those who agree with him about the dangers of technology.
This text was also among my most favorable topics, as I can relate to the generation of technology, its advances and consequences, and its role and influence on society. I evaluated three pieces of texts, all of which presented thorough research. My analysis was an investigation of a book I found to be an outstanding read, amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman. I evaluated Postman’s argument, and incorporated and established my own stance and position towards the consequences of technology today and in the future on our society. I created a persuasive argument connected to Postman’s
...on earlier in the book and finally proposes his idea that Technopoly can possibly be conquered through a new curriculum, although it may be an extreme challenge. As a cultural critic, Postman goes beyond just complaining, but also gives the reader a sense of closure and a suggestion for a possible change. His description of the world as he sees it does force us to ask many important questions-questions about the role of technology and science, our relation to them, how they change us and how we change them. Technopoly is an inspiring book that made me look at the insane way we live our lives, and how dependent we are on technology. Postman stresses where and when technologies took over, without forgetting to give credit for many advances that come from technology. I recommend this book for anyone that has ever questioned technology and the way its leading us.
Postman bases his argument on the belief that public discourse in America, when governed by the epistemology of the printing press, was "generally coherent, serious, and rational" (16) because the reader was required to ingest, understand, and think about the logic of the author's arguments before coming to a verdict. In effect, intelligence in a print-based world "implies that one can dwell comfortably without pictures, in a field of concepts and generalizations" (26). However, with the emergence of television and its rapid ascendancy in our culture, Postman argues that discourse has become "shriveled and absurd" (16). TV, he says, assaults us with fleeting images and disconnected bits of information with no context except for the "pseudo-context" which is manufactured "to give fragmented and irrelevant information a seeming use" (76). In effect, TV demands a certain kind of content-the "medium is the message" in the words of Marshall McLuhan-that Postman believes is suitable to the world of show business and hostile to the print-based world of logical thinking (80). This is not to say that TV ignores important subjects such as current affairs, politics, religion, science, and e...
Neil Postman (March 8, 1931- Octomber 5, 2003) was an American author, educator, ,media theorist and cultural critic, who is best known for his seventeen books, including “Amusing Ourselves to Death”(1985). Postman’s best known book is “Amusing Ourselves to Death”. Since TV replace the written word , Postman belive that people would be more and more attracted to this, but he also argue that television is not an effective way of providing education after all.
Ong believes that some technologies act in the same way that old technologies do. For example, the calculator is an external resource for thinking similar to how writing is an external source for thinking. Moreover, Ong believes that new technologies as well as the old have a power that we are oblivious to. He states, “…writing is utterly invaluable and indeed essential for the realization of fuller, interior, human potentials. Technologies are not mere exterior aids but also interior transformations of consciousness, and never more than when they affect the word” (Ong 32). Technology has a great ability to manipulate the people using it, which can be a positive thing if it is properly interiorized. Instead of degrading human life, as Postman seems to believe, new technology can, on the contrary, enhance it. Postman explains that photography shattered context which lead to the decline of rationality in advertisement. The effect that this has on the public is that it also makes them irrational as well as seek and distribute information that is out of context, as Postman discusses in later chapters of his book. Even so, Ong believes, “The use of a technology can enrich the human psyche, enlarge human spirit, set it free, intensify its interior life” (Ong33). Although Postman seems to believe that writing does this in regards to public discourse but he would
Neil Postman is not convinced that technology would improve our ability to participate in a public discourse. In his book, “Amusing Ourselves to Death”, we are exposed to topics that most people would avoid. Postman believes that technology would only disable our critical minds, forcing us to be mindless followers. Even though we know that television is poisoning our minds with unfiltered content, most of us still prefer television as our primary media of information. Postman acknowledged that this problem lies in the nature of human communication. The current media reveals information in an oral culture instead of printed language, which is why there would be more bias involved. In the foreword of the book, Huxley feared of “those who would
If only but an insignificant counter argument may be made that reading remains to be an everyday activity. However, this requires one to slowly consider the litteratre’s argument and construct thoughts, a sophisticated approved that seems too ancient now. Postman can easily defend himself by assuring that, “...[A] reader must come armed, in a serious state of intellectual readiness” (50). Just as Postman begins with Huxley’s warning, he also ends saying that, “What Huxley teaches is that in the age of advanced technology, spiritual devastation is more likely to come from an enemy with a smiling face than from one whose countenance exudes suspicious and hate” (155). Getting everyone to stop watching television remains hopeless, but to educate people about the dreadful effects could help with understanding what television does. And eventually, the entertainment society of disorited discourse may find the lost culture in which more intelligent discourse is common
Postman’s fifth idea is reification, which is used to confuse people with names and things. A name might not necessarily suggest the real meaning behind it. This is why people use this idea in advertisements and politics so they can lure people into what is actually not there. Postman then suggests students to study reification, so that they could identify the problem and work it
'...The key turned in the lock of his soul and the door was opened. What emerged expunged the Common Man forever.';
In today's world, technology is constantly changing from a new paperclip to an improvement in hospital machinery. Technology lets people improve the way they live so that they can preserve their own personal energy and focus on the really important factors in life. Some people focus their energy on making new innovations to improve transportation and the health of people that may save lives and some people focus on making new designs of packaging CDS. Technology is significant in everyone's life because it rapidly changes what is in the market. But, some new innovations of technology are ridiculous because they serve no purpose in helping mankind.
There are four gods in Postman’s theory that are part of these “False” gods that lead us to and end. Technology, economic utility, consumership, and separatism are the four gods which we work to achieve. Postman says that to achieve economic utility, we go to school to establish a secure career so that we will be able to provide for ourselves, and our family. He thinks that in our society, it is morally important to buy things to be happy, which is his god of consumership. Postman believes that people think that they are not as good as someone else unless they have the same material things. Separatism or “Multiculturalism” is the god that postman believes brings to to an finalized end. Postman believes that it is tribalistic thinking and that through emphasis on ethnicity and learning about different cultures we become actually separate. Instead of pointing out the differences between one ethnicity and another, we should just be who were are as a culture.
Postman’s main argument here is that the power of typography has the ability to control discourse. When language is controlled by print, an idea, a fact, or a claim is the result. And today we have this unrelenting demand to understand and know everything we are presented with. Print gave priority to the intellectual and rational mind, therefore encouraging serious, logical public discourse. Postman supports this claim by arguing that the Thomas Paine’s “Age of Reason”, a written pamphlet that challenged the religious and political institutions of the 18th century, was coexistent with the growth of print culture. Paine scrutinized the Bible and charged its divine claims as false. He did this through careful analysis and came up with logical conclusions. In essence, typography and print created and changed people’s identities and beliefs.
-Albert Einstein (quote). Technology has become an important thing in are daily life. We can’t go out through the day without having to text someone, watch TV, or communicated in some way using some kind of communication devices doing the work for us. Has it gone too far to say is in “Addiction” to are health? It has become a focus to our lives, without it people feel disconnected to the world. Is there a significant effect that texting can distract are thinking ability, and make us less focus in are daily work.
Technology allows culture to evolve by creating solutions to problems by removing constraints that exist. Every invention and concept is expanded on to create the utmost perfect solution. Although this process can take decades, or even centuries, to actually develop a proficient resolution, the end result is what advances society industrially. There are conflicting views, however, if these advances are beneficially or maliciously affecting society (Coget). There are three kinds of people in regards to the attitude toward technology: technophiles, technophobes, and those who aren't biased in either regard (Coget). Technophiles understand that the world adapts to the advances in technology and uses them to improve their lives (Tenner). Technophobes observe technology as damaging or are uncomfortable in using it (DeVany). It is undeniable that technology is ever-expanding, thus peaking curiosity to uncover what fuels the fear behind the technophobes. Our focus is concentrated on the technophiles and the technophobes . I will begin with the latter as they contribute greatly to the ov...