Entertaining ourselves to death book12/9/2023 Here are my chapter-by-chapter thoughts/reactions: But I think the book does good justice to Postman's work in decades past and Strate does a good job helping update the conversation and draw the contribution of other voices in alongside Postman's. There are some interesting implications liturgically and societally which I'd love to toss around. I'm looking forward to picking it apart and discussing it in an upcoming seminar. In the end, I greatly enjoyed the book and found its contents quite thought-provoking. The relationship between medium and message is nowhere more poignant than in the church. I think pastors would also benefit from reading this, especially if they find themselves utilizing or wrestling with transmitting their services or sermons. No quarters are spared and almost every corner of society is touched upon. The research is rich and the analysis incisive. I would encourage teachers and educators to read this book - just be prepared, it's a mouthful. It was intriguing reading this book after having just finished Postman's Technopoly, which is referenced rather frequently in this book (though not as much as Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death). This is definitely the sort of book I enjoy, and its exploration of our culture and technology's transformative effect upon it was insightful and illuminating. Stepping back from the book, a slight grin plays at the corners of my mouth. This is a book about our prospects for the future, which can only be based on the ways in which we think and talk about the present. Strate also contextualizes Amusing Ourselves to Death through an examination of Postman’s life and career and the field of media ecology that Postman introduced. Integrating Postman’s arguments about television with his critique of technology in general, Strate considers the current state of journalism, politics, religion, and education in American culture. Lance Strate, who earned his doctorate under Neil Postman and is one of the leading media ecology scholars of our time, re-examines Postman’s arguments, updating his analysis and critique for the twenty-first-century media environment that includes the expansion of television programming via cable and satellite as well as the Internet, the web, social media, and mobile technologies. Neil Postman’s most popular work, Amusing Ourselves to Death (1985), provided an insightful critique of the effects of television on public discourse in America, arguing that television’s bias towards entertaining content trivializes serious issues and undermines the basis of democratic culture.
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