Are we done yet?

In the closing lines of the last chapter, Postman writes, "For in the end, he was trying to tell us that what afflicted the people in Brave New World was not that they were laughing instead of thinking, but that they did not know what they were laughing about and why they had stopped thinking." Postman makes this distinction to show how people have become accustomed to just laughing when a show has been deemed funny. They don't really know what is going on and are dumbfounded. Nowadays, it seems as if people are just doing whatever they want without even thinking, not just laughing.

Friday Experience

Not being able to talk on Friday was a great way to see how much talking is involved with our lives. Only using dry-erase boards and charades was very difficult especially when trying to ask simple questions like "may I use the bathroom?" My troublesome experience with this was when everybody was asking why I was not talking. It was very difficult to show what it was for without writing any letters on the board. Then if they figured it out, they would try to make me talk, which was quite a pain. I thought that this related to Postman's quote, "the concept of truth is intimately linked to the biases of forms of expression" which suggests that the truth is different to all people. One person's truth may be another person's lie.

Amusing Ourselves to Death...with Niel Postman info!

Neil Postman suggests that society is going from the age of typography to the age of television. The concept of cloning humans was mentioned in his lecture. As he was discussing this topic he stressed the fact that itmade people believe that it was going to be a big deal. The cloning started with animals such as frogs and sheep. This let to the idea of human reproduction and that clones would be useful for extra body parts so that in case of emergency, a man will be able to improve his body. A prevailing view will be that clones will be considered subhuman. So the idea goes beyond the tool. Also in chapter one, Postman mentions a new tool containing a new idea that goes beyond the tool itself, which is the clock.  Back in the day, time was measured by the sun and seasons. Now, time is measured by a machine using minutes and seconds. This changed the metaphor for time changed how we view time itself. These scientific developments will changed how we view one another just as clock as changed how we view time. Both of these advancements have meddled with nature and can only result in humans grading what has value and worth. 

The second example of Postman's parallels is that people have become adapted to talking to machines more then people. He says that we will talk to machines more and even may prefer it in the future. This is closely related to what Postman says in his book when we have succumbed to the philosophy of time. We are so reliant on our watches and clocks that we base most of our decisions and plans on the time. This is similar because we are so dependent on the clock and other technology that we focus on it more then the people. We have created a new way of life with technology but it seems as if the technology controls us instead of us controlling it. This idea is very similar to the idea of Postman and how we talk to machines more then humans.