Neil Postman
American media critic and educator (1931 to 2003); wrote Amusing Ourselves to Death.
At a glance
Main ideas
Huxley, not Orwell, Technopoly, Information as garbage …
See all 5Books to start with
Teaching as a Subversive Activity, The Disappearance of Childhood, Amusing Ourselves to Death …
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Amusing Ourselves to Death and Future Shock
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Also on this page: Key facts · Links · Sources · Related pages
- Postman was a cultural critic and educator who spent his career at New York University.
- He founded NYU's graduate programme in media ecology in 1971.
- His books argued that television turns serious public life into entertainment and that American culture had surrendered to technology.
- He was critical of personal computers in schools.
Why it matters
- His warnings about entertainment, distraction and technology are the standard reference for anyone worried about what screens do to public life.
Key facts
- Born
- 8 Mar 1931, New York City1
- Died
- 5 Oct 2003, Flushing, Queens, of lung cancer, aged 721
- Education
- SUNY Fredonia (1953); Teachers College, Columbia: MA (1955) and EdD (1958)1
- Career
- San Francisco State University, 1958; New York University from 1959; chaired NYU's Department of Culture and Communication until 20021
- Founded
- NYU's graduate programme in media ecology, at the Steinhardt School, in 19711
- Editor
- ETC: A Review of General Semantics, from 1976 to 19861
- Output
- 20 books and more than 200 articles1
Main ideas
-
Huxley, not Orwell1
The danger is not censorship as in 1984 but a flood of distraction, as in Brave New World.
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Technopoly1
A society that believes efficiency is the goal of human labour and that technical calculation beats human judgement.
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Information as garbage1
So much information that it no longer answers fundamental questions or gives direction.
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Schools as convivial communities1
In 1973 he proposed dropping competitive grading, standardised tests and permanent records.
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Schools as conserving1
Later he argued schools should counter a television-dominated popular culture and teach literacy.
Books to start with
The line under a date fills as it gets older: empty when new, full at 2 years.
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Teaching as a Subversive Activity1
With Charles Weingartner; most school curricula are trivial and irrelevant to students' lives.
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The Disappearance of Childhood1
On how media change childhood.
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Television turns public discourse into show business.
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Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology1
Culture handing its sovereignty to technology.
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The End of Education1
Redefining the value of school.
Connections
Links
Sources
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