I just got the eBook. Published in 1992, and still obviously relevant today in 2022, I see there are comments below less than a year old. Whenever a work endures and is as relevant (if not more so) than when it was written, it seriously deserves our attention. I saw an article for a book on the subject of reclaiming our mental focus the other day and it really struck me that the author, while basically well meaning basically lack the kind of depth that is reflected in Postmans understanding. They basically treat the issue as a technical problem to be solved, which falls into the second element of information control that is outlined in Technopoly: The expert. (and many of them, the author boasts having met 200) As such it is basically relatively shallow and does not seem to address the relationship to culture. I hope whoever reads this comment will look at Technopoly, people say this a lot but it is TRULY a must read. Forget the superficial "spend less screentime" advices, this book will enable you to really understand the depth of the phenomenon and gain some true perspective around the situation.

@raddimusmcchoyber3362

2 ай бұрын

Johann Hari? Yeah, whenever anyone enthuses to me about "Stolen Focus" I direct them to Technopoly.

It's absolutely terrifying how he was able predict the world we would create. I'll have to buy the book.

Love Postmans work and used this book for my thesis.... There is some irony viewing this on KZread... :-)

@omalone1169

3 жыл бұрын

Legend of the game

@soleikam6662

3 жыл бұрын

I wonder how you think about it all now, 9 years later.

Watching the genius Neil Postman talk about these things on KZread is a very strange experience. His books “Amusing Ourselves to Death” and “Technopoly” are prophetic and brilliant.

His insights have become ever more prescient since the fusion of computers, social media, television and the primacy of the National Security Administration in our state of permanent war economy.

This could explain why people are so obsessive about their cell phones. They constantly check it, update their "status" and feel disconnected when not holding it in hand. Break the addiction....

He's a visionary. His words ring true so many years later.

@ThePayola123

5 жыл бұрын

'Was'

@omalone1169

3 жыл бұрын

@@ThePayola123 canibus was a visionary indeed

@deanellis3468

Жыл бұрын

@@omalone1169 “he believed that light could travel in multiples of C”

@omalone1169

Жыл бұрын

@@deanellis3468 the organic super computer

amusing ourselves to death was a great book. one of the best i have read up to date. :)

Wow we are living this

@omalone1169

3 жыл бұрын

In 2021

This man certainly made some pretty brilliant observations- makes one take pause - God bless him that we might take better control over our lives

@omalone1169

3 жыл бұрын

And his book crazy talk stupid talk

People wonder why crime rate is continuously rising, why so many people have "anxiety" as part of their medical history, why we have an "opiod crisis", why the job market has such a shortage of applicants, etc. etc. etc.

If ouija boards worked I'd summon Postman and tell him all about life in 2020 and how we can, as he predicted,, "shop at home, vote at home, express political preferences from home (comment sections, anybody)..." Postman, the Nostradamus of American culture.

I never ever called people a genius, but if this world has seen a genius in the last fw centuries it was Neil Postman. He was one of the few people who still had intelligent and unaltered thoughts. His words are usually closer to the truth than most people in the technological and scientific community will ever be. And most likely he was one of the very very few people who could still call themselves rational thinkers.

Great content, period. Important.,

I haven't read Technopoly yet; but if you just read the books Postman cites, quotes or mentions in his other books you'll give yourself a better education than most USA universities offer.

@muhammadhasham9547

Жыл бұрын

That's true, I felt the same I remember last year as a student of university, I enjoyed reading his book ' The disappearance of childhood ' more than my entire semester

RIP Neil.

absolutely chilling

Was this interview done on a commercial flight???

@MK-ih6wp

4 жыл бұрын

Underwater

this guy is brilliant!

I find his books extremely informative and insightful. Along w/ Mcluhan, you can get a really understanding about media.

@mohamed-2711

4 жыл бұрын

He was way ahead of his time. Bless this Gem and his soul.

Audio??

Who knows what he would think about our contemporary times where internet is now what tv was then.

true that, now to find the book

looks at those bags under his eyes hes definitely thought allot about what he's saying, and it makes sense

His words got a new meaning in Covid

@szymonbaranowski8184

Жыл бұрын

absolutely

The irony of watching this on my smartphone.

"Television shows you someone in a far off place."

“We will reach heaven if we can produce bigger and better machinery and techniques” 😵‍💫

Smart mother......

If anyone is more interested in this topic you should read Crystallizing Public Opinion by Edward Bernays

@muhammadhasham9547

Жыл бұрын

Noted. Thanks for the suggestion.

@oughtssought1198

Жыл бұрын

I've read more than one place that Bernays was one of a select few who "wrote The Book" on steering folks wrong that advertisers, political parties, stock manipulators(?) & etc. Is that The Book? Is Bernays perhaps best regarded as a producer of blueprints whose architectural products Mr. Postman describes.

@jameseldridge3445

Жыл бұрын

@@oughtssought1198 yes he also has a book called propaganda that goes more surface level. There’s a documentary called “century of the self” on KZread, it explains mostly everything him and his uncle Freud did to shift western society. Pretty eye opening

@oughtssought1198

Жыл бұрын

@@jameseldridge3445 thanks, I'll check both out if I can find the book

Can CSPAN post all Booknotes to youtube?

@BookTV

3 жыл бұрын

You can watch Booknotes on our website here: www.booknotes.org and visit booktv.org for all our other programming.

What the fuck is up with the audio?? Is it bothering anyone else?

@HighwayInstrumentals

8 жыл бұрын

making my eyes water lol

@bengrayrouth3029

7 жыл бұрын

Its a fucking nuisance.

@therealfloridaboysoul8794

7 жыл бұрын

yes really fucking bad

@QuixoteX

7 жыл бұрын

Sounds like one side is reverse phase from the other.

@gearsoftheuniverse8316

7 жыл бұрын

I do believe you are correct. Maybe during the interview someone had switched the phase on one of the two mics - that or someone took the mono channel, split it and switched one of the sides.

@noelsview2010 Ha ha! I thought the same thing. KZread can be a good tool if used properly...

@omalone1169

3 жыл бұрын

Explain

How is anyone supposed to hear this? Did yt sabotage the audio because they don't want people to hear this interview?

@drivers99

2 жыл бұрын

I was able to clean up the audio on an iOS device by cutting out one side of the audio. Settings -> Accessibility -> Audio & Visual (in the Hearing section) -> Slide the balance all the way left or right. That helps a lot. (Or the Mono option helps with videos that only have left or right ear working but it makes this one worse because left and right are out of sync. Just don’t forget to turn it back off later.)

Who’s here in 2022?

@dproulx222

Жыл бұрын

I'm here... I intend to use Neil Postman's 'Technopoly' and Michael Pollan's 'The Omnivores Dilemma' in a course I will be teaching to high school students.

@vongolasamurai I!

he steady defined transhumanist culture and behavior.... im shook, tired, about to throw up.

anyone here after joe rogans podcast with tim kennedy saying that he wants trump and biden to come on to the podcast and have a 4 hr debate???!!! that would be great but i dont see biden going on or staying the whole 4 hrs. 9/15/2020 from maui hawaii

Thais Ensemble of Technology that doesn’t imply copresence made our life much easier during the pandemic

A prophet

2021?

and now because guys like this were utterly ignored we have no future. oh what could have been.......:(

Hurts my fucking EAR!

Bad! Audio video

Sadly, his sexy voice is from years of smoking that killed him.

@joenelson3037

5 жыл бұрын

JimboParadox Fair point.

@ThePayola123

5 жыл бұрын

Thus Cigarettes = a Sexy Voice...!!! Another great endorsement for advertising cigarettes...!!!

@h.lhemheur1708

4 жыл бұрын

@JimboParadox You are right, but you refuse to see that the spectacle of medias was used by tobacco companies so as to overcome all these things that you mention. So the real fault could be more attributed to the tobaccos companies and not thanks to studies that were said to be controversial by these companies (while they were not). By the way he does not say statistics are "bad". He says it (with many other things) contributes to redefine words and even thinking. So it is political. And mainly the most powerful will use it ! So, in the end, I claim he is right.

knicks9899 you might say he amused himself to death

Mistitled video.

@BookTV

5 жыл бұрын

Surprised no one has noticed in the 9 years its been up. Thanks for catching it, it should be fixed now!

Amazing...