The age of showbiz: Why Huxley was right

In the introduction of “Amusing Ourselves to Death,” Postman discusses two dystopian predictions of the future from the books “1984” by George Orwell and “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley. Postman explains, “Orwell warns that we will be overcome by externally imposed oppression.” He goes on to explain how Huxley differs. “As he (Huxley) saw it, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.” Postman sets up his thesis at the end of the introduction, writing that Huxley was right.

First, Postman focuses on different types of communication methods and provides a short history on how they have changed society. “Today, we must look to the city of Las Vegas, Nevada, as a metaphor of our national character and aspiration, its symbol a thirty-foot-high cardboard picture of a slot machine and a chorus girl.” America is the land of entertainment, but it wasn’t always this way.

Postman explains that a “new medium changes the structure of discourse; it does so by encouraging certain uses of the intellect, by favoring certain definitions of intelligence and wisdom, and by demanding a certain kind of content.” The changes in communication have altered the way we think about knowledge. In later chapters he unpacks a short history of exactly how different technologies, like the telegram and photography, have changed news, education and society’s viewpoint of knowledge.

In the second half of the book, Postman focuses on the impact of television. This book was published in 1985, so it is dated, but it still has relevance. Our society has moved even deeper into entertainment with cell phones and social media.The digital medium does not lend itself to serious discourse. “... Viewers also know that no matter how grave any fragment of news may appear…it will shortly be followed by a series of commercials that will, in an instant, defuse the import of the news.” This does not allow for any reflection on the information received. The viewer's mind is bombarded with sensationalized stories and non-realistic content from one frame to the next.

One especially important section is Postman’s argument that education has fallen for entertainment. He saw it at work in his time with more and more digital classroom tools and educational shows like “Sesame Street.” I have seen this at work in my own education. Lectures and articles have been replaced with Crash Courses and kahoots. Teachers seem to believe that entertainment and education can work hand in hand, but all too often learning just turns into amusement.

By Sierra Lastine