Postman's Prophecies

"I will not burden myself with arguing the possibility ... that oral people are less developed intellectually, in some Piagetian sense, than writing people, or that 'television' people are less developed intellectually than either.  My argument is limited to saying that a major new medium changes the structure of discourse; it does so by encouraging certain uses of the intellect, by favoring certain definitions of intelligence and wisdom, and by demanding a certain kind of content--in a phrase, by creating new forms of truth-telling." -- Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death, p. 27

Postman's study of "television people" was published in 1985 as television was becoming the common outlet for information and entertainment in America.  When I saw the date of original publication, I assumed that his assertions about society would be outdated as he completed his studies in a world that was far less digitized than ours; however, I'm finding the majority of his conclusions surprisingly relevant, in some cases completely prophetic.  His primary claim, as noted in the quote at the start of the post, is that the way in which information is delivered affects the way it is processed.  As society was shifting from a print-based information system to a multimedia--primarily television--platform, Postman was curious about how this would affect our perception of current events.  He wasn't sure exactly how it would impact us, but he was certain that it would impact us.  And he was right.  Television news and internet media have had a profound impact on the way modern individuals digest information--some positive, some negative.  These changes are reflected in the readings from Gladstone, Golden, and Hobbs.

I thought it might be interesting to spark up a running dialogue about the different ways that modern media has affected our consumption of information and our preferences regarding entertainment.  What are some positive effects?  What are some negative effects?  If you don't feel like taking sides, what some of the basic changes that have taken place in these areas since, say, twenty years ago (around the date of Postman's study)?

One positive effect I see is easier access to a range of disparate viewpoints on current events.  It is easier to locate information on the news of the day, and as a result it is much easier to stay informed.

Nonetheless, at the same time, there is so much information that it is easy to feel overwhelmed or oversaturated.  Sometimes I'm not sure what to think about a certain issue because internet resources have given me the ability to see both sides of it.  In this case, I'm not sure if increased access is objectively positive.  That said, am I better off than someone twenty years ago who got his news from the same newspaper day after day?  Hard to say...

I look forward to (hopefully) reading your thoughts on the issue.