After reading “The Peek-a-Boo World” in Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death, I have to partially disagree with a point he made of the overflow of “irrelevant” information available to us as a result of telegraphy. Postman presses that because of the telegraph, the “information-action ratio” has virtually vanished (68). He claims that any news given that is not closely associated with our daily lives and boundaries is unnecessary as we would not take action upon them and be left with unfulfilled opinions.
I believe these claims to be flawed and haphazard. I disagree that the access of extensive information elsewhere is irrelevant to my circumstances. (Postman also adds that with this "irrelevant" information, people create diversions to amuse themselves because they have nothing else to do with it. I think this is true depending on the content presented.) Sure, with such information, one can choose to do nothing, but people are not totally helpless in that they cannot do anything. What is the harm in bearing such information? Is one so self-contained that they care not for the world around them? Why would you want to live your life unknowing of the events and tragedies happening about? This is what I contemplated while reading Postman’s approach.
I then pondered: In this day and age, would Postman think otherwise? Today, the whole world is substantially connected. Being oblivious to global issues is becoming more inconvenient as the world becomes more interdependent. What we continue to learn about current events can potentially benefit us in the future. It all comes down to how we use that information at any point in our lives. Do you think otherwise?
Lara May Bacani
I agree with all that you have said because when I too read that chapter of Amusing Ourselves to Death I disagreed that there is nothing to be done about the events around the world. However, I was conflicted by the fact that the news in fact is always changing. Yes we have never been more connected but the over load of what we call news impedes on how people use the information that is brought up to them because people can not live there everyday lives and remember all of the events that have happened along with incorporation the effects they bring. To conclude, I just believe that Postman couldn't judge today as he did then although was realistic in the sense that because we can't act on all of the information that comes from the news, it eventually because obsolete.
ReplyDeleteI agree that being well-informed on the events that are currently happening around the world is much more useful than being oblivious. However, the majority of the information that is circulated around the world is largely irrelevant. For instance, a few months ago, CNN reported that President Trump got two scoops of ice cream while everybody else got one. Personally, I don't see how that kind of information is important in any way, and I think that Postman was mainly referring to this type of information when he was talking about the overflow of irrelevant information on TV. Even information regarding substantial political and economic issues can be considered irrelevant when it doesn't affect the area or country you live in. In addition, most of news on television is biased in one way or another, so the information you receive may be inaccurate as well as irrelevant.
ReplyDeleteMax has made a valid point, that Postman may only be referring to irrelevant information such as the Trump event of having ice cream, which play no major role or altercations to society nationwide. I believe that irrelevant information is shown on television to entertain the audience of a story that the producers are striving in search for. While there is no news for the world, the producers must find something to keep the audience streaming on their network and keep their interest in watching it. Irrelevant information of celebrities, politicians, funny videos, and the ideal diet comes in handy when news reporters have nothing important to say about what is occurring in the world. In addition, reporters try their best to find that the information being portrayed on television is known to be amusing to the audience as well as a form of entertainment. Without entertainment, viewers are significantly reduced to a scarce amount.
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