[Industrialblog,
March 19, 2005]
How the Blogosphere Saved Civilization
The Weekly Standardhas an article that brings up one of my all-time favorite books, Neal Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death.
Here's a quote that describes, pre-Internet, how our civilization was doomed DOOOOOMED! to live out a Huxleyian nightmare, thanks to the pervasive and evil medium, television:
Doomed, I tell you. We were fulfilling that doctrine. And then came the Internet, and then blogs. And then perspective and context and THOUGHT had a fighting chance.
Playing field now leveled, our civilization's fate reverts to our own hands.
Thank God. At least we're reading and writing again.
BTW, this is only slightly tongue in cheek ... I really do believe that television was destroying our culture and our civilization by reducing everything important -- education, politics, news -- to entertainment. Everything was being subsumed to entertainment values, which are emotional.
Nowadays I rarely watch television. A friend of mine, when I hooked up cable, didn't quite understand why I only wanted 15 channels. Because I need TV to watch:
1. The World Series.
2. The NFL playoffs. Lots of fun.
3. The weather if there's a giant snowstorm.
4. CNN news to check up-to-minute scores and spot news.
5. Uh ... that's about it.
Here's a quote that describes, pre-Internet, how our civilization was doomed DOOOOOMED! to live out a Huxleyian nightmare, thanks to the pervasive and evil medium, television:
no Big Brother is required to deprive people of their autonomy, maturity and history. As he saw it, people will come to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think. What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture.
Doomed, I tell you. We were fulfilling that doctrine. And then came the Internet, and then blogs. And then perspective and context and THOUGHT had a fighting chance.
Playing field now leveled, our civilization's fate reverts to our own hands.
Thank God. At least we're reading and writing again.
BTW, this is only slightly tongue in cheek ... I really do believe that television was destroying our culture and our civilization by reducing everything important -- education, politics, news -- to entertainment. Everything was being subsumed to entertainment values, which are emotional.
Nowadays I rarely watch television. A friend of mine, when I hooked up cable, didn't quite understand why I only wanted 15 channels. Because I need TV to watch:
1. The World Series.
2. The NFL playoffs. Lots of fun.
3. The weather if there's a giant snowstorm.
4. CNN news to check up-to-minute scores and spot news.
5. Uh ... that's about it.