Amusing ourselves to death
January 13, 2014 2 Comments
This is perhaps one of the most striking passages I have read for a while. It describes the modern world with startling accuracy. In our fear of an increasingly authoritarian rule, we have allowed a far more dangerous vision to come true: heedlessness
Below is the foreward of Neil Postman’s book “Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business“, accompanied by a comic illustration of the two ideas. It gives a concise comparison of the two authors views and what they foresaw society will become. But perhaps the remarkable part of this whole story passage lies beyond its lines with us:
Most of us will read this and continue living our life exactly the same way as before
…wake up
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We were keeping our eye on 1984. When the year came and the prophecy didn’t, thoughtful Americans sang softly in praise of themselves…
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The Manuscript 
Interesting!! Andd scary. Brave New World has always frightened me. I have only read passages of 1984 though. I think the passages from Postman’s book make a good analogy of BNW in today’s time. And it’s disturbing. Almost like the Matrix. Only a few of us readers are able to see the Matrix for what it is. The other players in the Matrix are consumed by their roles. How do we show them that there’s more than one face to reality??
That’s a good question and something we’re trying to figure it out. I’m guessing that we should meet them where they are and show them various faces of reality through the platforms that amuse them. I read both books in high school, but I watched the 1984 movie as recent as this past spring. They’re two versions, a 1950 something version and of course a 1984 version. I watched the earlier one, and it was creepy.