Knowledge or Entertainment?

After recently finishing Assuming Ourselves to Death, I was intrigued by many of Postman’s claims of how television has affected the ways society communicates. The way Postman views things is that television is harming our abilities to comprehend and critically think about different topics. Technology, even more so now with the internet, fails to educate or inform us and instead focuses more on aspects of entertainment. I feel Postman well informs readers about the negative aspects of technology usage, yet even with his strong claims I do not expect changes to the entertainment aspects of technology for America’s benefit. The way I look at it, though entertainment fails to benefit society it’s strong influence on culture would make it difficult to revert back to our old ways of thinking and comprehending the world. I was considering Postman’s claim about the way American’s entertain each other rather than talk to one another while teaching swim lessons. I found that in lower level swim classes I am required to sing songs and play games with children in order to keep them entertained while learning. I realized that growing up in an era of technology children expect everything to be presented in an entertaining way rather than in a more informing and descriptive way.