Postman’s opinionated views continue throughout the whole book. Like the first half, he gives readers insight into his views and explains why he thinks certain things are yet other reasons technopoly is becoming predominant. Postman does a really good job to point out how he feels about medical advances, symbols, and statistics, in particular. He criticizes Americans for being so reliant on machines, especially when it comes to machines used in the medicinal world. I understand that it can be seen as lazy or even brainless, but when it comes down to it, I do not see a problem with this as long as this technology is serving to help people and change people’s lives. Postman also believes that we are forgetting the significance of symbols, tradition and myth, and that they must fight to stay recognized and keep their meaning. I believe that technology has only furthered our curiosity and with information and instruments so easily available, we are able and more willing to look up and find more things out about these symbols and tradition which hold such value in our culture.
Another one bothersome of Postman’s is that society is infatuated with statistics and numbers. He explains how everything can be turned and broken down into data. Now, even intelligence can be determined by a set of numbers. Postman views statistics as useless, for the most part. He claims that the important stuff has become too mixed in with the inadequate. In many ways, I can see where Postman is going with this argument. An issue that is arising with technology is information overload. With new technology comes new information, and too much of it, for that matter. There is so much information to go through to find what we are really looking for. Although I found Postman to come across as rather insistent and adamant, he raises some good points. Postman believes that people hold computers in very high esteem and they need to take a step back. Technology has been put on a pedestal, and for a very good reason. It has been able to figure things out in minutes that would take humans days.
It’s hard to realize the risks when there are so many great opportunities that coincide with using the internet, but Postman’s work has opened my eyes to the evil side of technology and helped me raise some questions of my own. Society, especially this generation, relies so much on the internet, so what would happen if it crashes? We have becomes extremely accustomed to and comfortable with using technology as a part of our daily lives, it is hard to imagine life without it.
Are we being overexposed? Though it is our choice, technology can be blamed for the lack of privacy nowadays. Whether we put it up there ourselves or not, there is a significant amount of readily available personal information on the internet. This creates a somewhat daunting and potentially dangerous view of technology.
Also, could new technologies be making us less patient? With easy access and in minimal time, we are able to gain so much new knowledge. I think this generation’s attention spans are beginning to decrease. Patience was needed for dial-up when using AOL. Now, I find myself getting frustrated when I webpage takes longer than 10 seconds to load. This generation has become all too familiar with the term “multi-tasking”. As new forms of media emerge, we quickly adjust to using them along with what we already have.
What effect are social networks, emailing, texting and instant messaging having on face to face communication? It now seems close to impossible to get in touch with someone without having access to these technologies, but it was clearly done before these inventions. Facial expressions are being replaced by emoticons. Feelings are portrayed through the amount of exclamation points one uses. Building relationships is given a whole new definition.
Postman sees technology as dominating our behaviors and trusts that our captivation with technology making it too easy to become lost. But Postman has given readers solutions to prevent of from succumbing to technology. He believes that we must remain aware of these changes but also not taking them too seriously. He requests that educators continue to instill learning of all areas, and that we should not take things for granted. While I agree with Postman, in some sense, while still recognizing society’s achievements. We are given these tools and we need to utilize them. Although I do not think that society has become subservient to technology, as Postman does, I do believe technology does have its downfalls. But evidently, as times change, we must adapt.
P.S.
I recently discovered myself caught in the trap of an algorithm. Recently, I was browsing through a selection of boots to buy. I did not think anything of this, nor did I realize that this would have an effect on my screen’s sidebars for the rest of the day. On almost every single website I visited after that, black boots, similar to the ones I was interested in purchasing, discretely appeared. Although I have heard of using algorithms for sites such as Pandora, I have never thought of using them as a way to facilitate advertising and marketing. This concept is very fascinating, but brilliant. I like when choices are made for me. I like that my computer can recognize my likes and dislikes. I do not believe it hinders my creativity, but enhances it. Algorithms give the opportunity to explore things one may have never been able to discover before.
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