Postman Opportunity

1. I agree with Postman when he says “For on television, discourse is largely conducted through visual imagery, which is to say that television gives us a conversation in images, not words” on page 7. He says that when people try to communicate on television using images, it is not as successful as using words. Deciphering the message through images is much harder to understand than communication through words. When we used the white boards and tried to communicate with our classmates and teachers, they rarely knew what we were saying unless it was a simple question or answer. Like the white board, television cannot successfully and clearly show the viewers the message like words and speech can.
2. “The point I am leading to by this and the previous examples is that the concept of truth is intimately linked to the biases of the forms of expression” (Postman 22). I agree with him here because you cannot successfully communicate the exact point if you have an opinion that contradicts the truth. If a speaker has certain views and opinions on certain topics, they will bend other reasoning and counter arguments to fit their opinion and make their reasoning seem true. Changing around a couple words can change the entire meaning. For example, in the New International Version John 1:1 reads, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” However, when Jehovah’s Witnesses talk about John 1:1, they say ” In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a God.” Adding not even a word, just a letter can change the whole meaning of the point you are trying to make.
3. Beginning in the sixteenth century, a great epistemological shift had taken place in which knowledge of every kind was transferred to, and made manifest through, the printed page” (Postman 33). I agree with Postman on this because books are very good mediums of knowledge. Any kind of print is usually easy to understand and can be deciphered if thought through properly. Writers can completely show the message they are trying to convey through written or printed word. For example, any book being read has a purpose or message that the reader can learn from or the book can teach them something they did not know.
4. “For one thing, its attention span would obviously have been extraordinary by current standards. Is there any audience of Americans today who can endure seven hours of talk? Or five? Or three?” (Postman 45). I completely agree with Postman’s point. Many people in the world today are so busy and always in a rush they barely have time to think. Since they are always running around and multitasking, they barely have any time to just relax. Any group of people from this century could definitely not sit through a three-hour speech, or even more extreme, a seven-hour speech. Most of them would not pay attention, fall asleep or be fooling around with something around them. For example, I as a student can sometimes barely sit through a forty-five minute class period. That is barely a fourth of a three-hour speech. People these days are always on the move and never want to sit and just think.
5. “Its language [the telegraph] was also entirely discontinuous. One message had no connection to that which preceded it or followed it. Each headline stood alone as its own context. The receiver of the news had to provide a meaning if he could… and because of all this, the world as depicted by the telegraph began to appear unmanageable, even undecipherable” (Postman 70). I agree with Postman when he says the telegraph was undecipherable. By just having the headlines, people did not know the back round story to what happened, why it happened, or what was actually being talked about. People were left to figure out the message all by themselves. This method of communication was very confusing and Americans could not get the truth out of the message like they were supposed to.
6. I agree with Postman when on page 90 he says, “Thinking does not play well on television, a fact that television directors discovered long ago.” Many people who watch television are lazy and just want to relax. They do not feel like thinking when they turn on the television. If a show that requires thinking and analyzing what is happening comes on some people change the channel just so they do not have to think. Television has changed our culture into many lazy people. TV directors have changed the way shows are displayed on television so people rarely have to think and they can just be entertained. The problem with this is no one learns to think on his or her own and rely on another person to figure out their problems for the viewers. For example, on the TV show, “CSI” viewers are never required to think for themselves because there is always someone to figure out the problem or mystery entertaining the viewer. All the viewer has to do is sit and watch.
7. “For there, we are presented not only with fragmented news but news without context, without consequences, without value and therefore without essential seriousness; that is to say, news as pure entertainment” (Postman 100). The news of today is very mixed up and is becoming less and less worthy to be on TV. Broadcasters show very unimportant news just to be a form of entertainment. They follow very important stories with Hollywood news that is not important at all and people just like hearing. For example, Fox 2 News could be talking about a serious crime or problem happening in Detroit, and following that newscast will be news about some Hollywood star getting out of rehab or going to jail. Sure, it is interesting, but it is not the most important thing in the world. People should be more informed about problems across the world rather than little mistakes made in Hollywood. The main goal of the news is to entertain, not to inform.
8. “I believe I am not mistaken in saying that Christianity is a demanding and serious religion when it is delivered as easy and amusing, it is another kind of religion altogether” (Postman 121). Christianity is a very demanding and serious religion. It is hard work to follow God’s law and be a good Christian. Christianity requires you to follow many rules, and work hard to form a beneficial relationship with God. Once people stop displaying the religion as difficult and show it as entertaining, they lose the entire message. The truth of the message disappears and worshipers do not understand the message. They receive a message that is made to be entertaining and not educational.
9. “The point is that television does not reveal who the best man is. In fact, television makes impossible the determination of who is better than whom, if we mean by ‘better’ such things as more capable in negotiation, more imaginative in executive skill, more knowledgeable about international affairs, more understanding of the interrelations of economic systems, and so on” (Postman 133-134). I agree with Postman’s point of not knowing the true candidate behind the television screen. Americans cannot determine who is the better candidate by a thirty second commercial. The candidates can explain what their goals are and how they want to change the United States, but voters cannot get the full view of the candidate through TV commercials. Viewers cannot successfully determine the one who will do best in office because the commercials are limitedly informative.
10. “They have argued that there must be a sequence to learning, that perseverance and a certain measure of perspiration are indispensable, that individual pleasures must frequently be submerged in the interests of group cohesion and that learning to be critical and to think conceptually and rigorously do not come easily to the young but are hard-fought victories” (Postman 146). I agree with Postman when he is talking about childhood education. Many kids need to be taught through working with others, working hard and never giving up. These are skills they will use forever and are very important. If they develop these skills when they are young, the harder tasks in life will be easier when they are older.

Postman's Distiction

In the last paragraph of Amusing Ourselves to Death, Postman makes the distinction between thinking and laughing. He says that people do not know what they are laughing at and do not know why they have stopped thinking. This distinction matters because it shows how the decline in the age of typography has really affected us. Instead of thinking while doing any activity, such as watching TV, we just sit there and veg. We become entertained by the littlest and unimportant shows and ideas that we become ignorant to what is really going on around us. The rise in the age of television has made us unaware of what is going on in the world and stop caring about important things.

Not talking Friday

On Friday it was very hard not to talk. I wanted to talk so bad and I did not realize how much I did talk in school. Before Friday, I thought it was going to be easy because I do not talk a lot in school, but I was very wrong. Whenever I tried to draw something on the board people got confused and did not know what I was saying. I tried explaining but they had no idea. Sometimes people would ask me a question and they would say “Oh, never mind you can’t talk.” At the end of the day when I could finally talk my one friend came up to me and asked me if I was mad at him because all I did was smile when he said something. I tried explaining but he did not know but at the end of the day he understood. People get a very different message when you cannot talk.

Postman on Youtube

In the video, Neil Postman mentions many quotes and arguments that define our world today. He says that, “All our inventions are an improved means to an unimproved end.” People in our society are always looking for new inventions and the “coolest” new idea. We get sick of our old electronics because the new ones can do more, even if it is a very subtle change in the inventions. We always want something bigger and better. In Chapter 1 of Amusing Ourselves to Death, Neil Postman mentions the use of smoke signals. He says that they were once used as a way of communication, but today we just use simpler ways to communicate and all have become lazy. Today, people still have conversations with each other but are almost always texting or doing something else at the same time. We cannot get rid of communicating with speech because we will all become like clones and have a decrease on intelligence and interaction.

Neil Postman mentions in the video that we have all become like clones. We all do the same things, and worry about the same ideas such as appearance and acceptance. He says, “Those without camera appeal are excluded from addressing the public about what is called the news of the day.  Those with camera appeal can command salaries exceeding one million dollars a year.” Everyone today is always worried about how they look and do not focus on the real things that matter. We always hope people accept us by the way we dress, the way we look, or the physical objects we have. None of those things are important and by the decline of typography, we always experience television telling us how to act. People get paid to act a certain way and look a certain way. We should be focusing on people’s personalities and they was they act, not what the latest trend is.

Chavez's Article

1. Chavez’s intent with the first six words is to explain that you should think before you talk and act like an adult when you are speaking in public. You would not want to offend someone with a negative word or hurt them by what you say. She explains this in the first six words to get her point across right away and inform the reader what her opinion is.
2. Bellicose means “inclined or eager to fight.” She uses this word to explain that fighting has been used and is used in politics throughout history. By using bellicose, Chavez describes metaphors and how they derived from war fare.
3. Chavez is trying to persuade the reader into believing that word choice is crucial to civilized speaking but it does not take away from what is being said. She tells us that the meaning of the point the speaker is telling should not be changed because they are using different words to sound civil. “The desire not to give offense has even infected the literary world,” says Chavez. She explains that the literary world is being affected by our word choices. She wants the reader to know that word choice should still give the same meaning as the point intended and should not convey a childlike choice of what is being said. The best example that supports her point is “Civility in public discourse is important, but it should not be used as an excuse to stifle legitimate debate or denude our language of color, passion, or good metaphor.” She tells the readers that if they speak civilized in public, they cannot harm or offend anyone. By knowing the right terminology for everyone to feel respected, the speaker will not be seen as criticizing the readers.
4. I agree with Chavez because she makes a very good point of speaking well in public. If someone did not know what to say to avoid insulting another person, they should not say anything at all. Being educated in terminology would help someone learn to speak well in crowds and speak properly. They can speak properly by knowing the language and knowing what is right to say.  Speakers should not just say whatever they want and hope no one cares. They should take into consideration how other’s feelings when they say offensive words. In “Huckleberry Finn,” the words of the time period’s language change and they are not intended to offend anyone. Literature changes over time and the way Americans speak has, also. Chavez uses very good points to tell readers her message and I totally agree with her.

"Conserve, Reuse, Recycle"

Semrau’s article, “Conserve, Reuse, Recycle”, tells the reader that it is important to use what you have till you cannot use it any longer. He also says if you cannot use it anymore, give it to someone who can make good use of it. He makes the point of, “Quite simply, use what you have until it can no longer function.” In the end of the article, he says that he is going to Harvard Medical School to fulfill his job of using everything to the fullest. He is volunteering his body for the use of science, by giving it to them when he dies. He intentionally leaves this out till the end and it greatly impacts the story. By leaving it out it creates suspense and wonder in the reader and makes the article much more interesting. If you knew he was going to medical school to be a cadaver, the reader probably would not be as interested as if he said he was 75 years old and going to medical school. Him waiting until the end to tell the reader this makes them want to keep reading and find out how he is going to attend medical school.

"Savor of the Nations Come"

The theme of hymn 332 in the Lutheran Service Book, Savior of the Nations Come is praise God for what he has done for you. Jesus came to save us and we should glorify Him for doing so. Luther mentions that He is a wondrous child and that He is “glorious in His light divine.” Luther says that we should praise God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit because They have all done marvelous acts for us. He also says, “Though by all the world disowned, Still to be in heaven enthroned”.  This shows that God loves us so much that He will always be there even if we don’t want to have a relationship with Him. He uses diction very well in this hymn. He uses words like marvelous and glorious to describe God. This makes the meaning so much more powerful because it shows that God is that great He can be called these words.  Luther also uses pathos. He says “captive leading death and hell.” This shows that the Lord can give you eternal damnation but He doesn’t because He loves us. Luther’s hymn shows what God has done for us and how we should glorify Him.