Neil Postman Defending Against The Indefensible Summary

In “Defending Against the Indefensible,” author and professor Neil Postman proposes that language has been abused in modern society by people manipulating it and brainwashing the others. Hence, he suggests seven elements for critical intelligence that can help with identifying and avoiding the manipulative use of language: definition, questions, simple words, metaphor, reification, style and tone, and media.
The first principle Postman suggests is that people should reflect upon any definition before accepting it blindly. Definitions are defined by other people rather than by god. The so called definitions can be biased due to different point of views people have. Therefore, Postman suggests students imagine “alternative definitions for every important concept and term they must deal with in school” (23).
The second idea Postman proposes is that all the answers we have come from asking questions. Our knowledge comes from

asking questions. What kind of answer we get depends on the kind of questions we ask. Consequently, he suggests schools to teach students about the art of asking the right question and how to ask questions in different subjects. Then students can get the answers they are looking for.
Third, Postman proposes the idea of simple words.

He thinks that the difficult words in language are actually the simple words, such as true or good. These words can have many different meanings and every use of them can be different. Postman suggests teaching students the full range of meanings in these simple words, so they can discover the true meaning behind each word.
Fourth, Postman talks about the idea of using metaphors. Every subject uses metaphors to present ideas. This idea also applies to politics as politicians use metaphors in their speeches. Without the proper studying, students will not be able to understand the real meanings behind these metaphors.
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

over.
Sixth, Postman asks students to pay attention to the style and tone of language. Each subject in the universe has its own style and tone to address ideas. He finds textbook language as dull so he asks teachers to provide students with different styles and tone of knowledge. Then students will be able to tell the differences between the subjects.
The seventh and final concept Postman suggests is media. He thinks that the medium which we communicate ideas can be essentially biased. These mediums creates different points of view and therefore affects people’s views. The non-neutrality of the media actually transforms our custom and views. Therefore he suggests to have this concept in student’s education, so that they can see the clear image and real story behind the media.
Overall, Postman suggests students to learn the seven concepts he proposed. Then they can have the skills to interpret the information they receives. These are only the beginning and there is a lot more to learn about.