Postman's Conclusion

     In the concluding paragraph of chapter 11, Postman makes the distinction between laughing and thinking.  Postman is saying that the danger in the age of television is that people no longer know why they are laughing, and they also do not know why they have stopped thinking.  This distinction is crucial to the premice of Amusing Ourselves to Death because it reveals the ultimate result of a decline in the age of typography.  Altogether, as a result of society's ignorance to their lack of thinking, people will just continue to be mindlessly entertained by the meaningless content of their television screens, and completely lose the ability to think for themselves.

My Smoke Signal

On Friday, as we were only allowed to communicate through charades and drawing, my message I was trying to get across was extremely impacted.  For example, I was not able to tell any stories at lunch because no one could understand my drawings.  Also, during lunch, I needed to ask someone what time the Sadies Dance was, and they never understood my question. Overall, my communication was limited due to my medium. Therefore, Postman argues that communication through smoke signals is absolutely incompetent. Any complex message cannot be fully expressed through the sole medium of smoke signals.  This is very similar to the way in which my communication was limited on Friday.

Discontent with Youtube and other Technology...on Youtube

     Neil Postman begins his argument at Calvin College by very simply stating that there is no escaping from ourselves.  His assertion is primarily that the technological changes through today's society has completely made the wisdom of the ages and its sages irrelevant.  Similarly in chapter one of Amusing Ourselves to Death, Postman brings up the truth regarding the effectiveness of different mediums of communication.  More specifically, he argues that smoke signals used in ancient days were nowhere near competent in terms of delivering a clear message.  Also, he argues that the modern day news media is too complex to bring about a clear and efficacious message without political and personal bias.  Today's technology and media, however improved and nice it may be, does not lead to a better end.  As Postman argued in the video, "All our inventions are but improved means to an unimproved end." This quote was originally made by Henry David Thoreau, and is directly related to Postman's purpose in Amusing Ourselves to Death.  Therefore, the medium does affect the message.  Also, Postman argues that with today's bettered technology, the society of today is completely reliant upon technology as a means of communication and entertainment.  However, according to Postman in his book, this is only degrading the quality of society and creating a dependent and incompetent society.  Similar to this argument, Neil argues in his presentation that the worth of humans is going to decrease as society becomes "pets to their own computers."  This statement roots from his theory that the technology of cloning is going to lead to spare human parts, as every human will eventually be cloned.  As a result of society defining these clones as just objects, it is shown that these clones are mere pets, who result from technology.  Altogether, Neil proves that as a result of an increase in television and e-media, typography and other print materials are decreasing, therefore decreasing society's intelligence and concern for each other and increasing its ignorance.

Censorship Strikes Again...or was it more Political Correctness??

     Within the first six words of Chavez's writing, she makes it clear that maintaining one's decorum in a public discussion is important.  Chavez intended to set a standard for the remainder of her essay by stating the importance of behavior within a debate.  This is important in order to have a more effective discourse, along with the fact that it shows one's civility.

     When Chavez said that "bellicose metaphors have been a staple of politics from the beginning," the word 'bellicose' primarily is used to give additional meaning to the metaphors used even in political history.  By definition, bellicose refers to a noun that is demonstrating aggression and ready to fight.  Therefore, it can be reasoned that Chavez's purpose behind using the term 'bellicose' is to confirm that these rhetorical metaphors are, and have always been, words used to express the tension between political parties.  The context in which the word was used proves that these metaphors have always been "fighting words."

     Linda Chavez is attempting to persuade the reader that this concept of always being politically correct and censoring everything is only damaging us as a society.  As the liberal standards in America lead to the continuing censorship, we, as the American people, are becoming more unable to express our true emotions, because the most expressive words are now politically incorrect.  In proving this point, Linda Chavez uses the example of former Washington Mayor Anthony Williams, who used the word 'niggardly' in describing something.  Despite the fact that this word has no relation to the derogatory "n-word," he was still forced to step down from his position.  This example, in my opinion, is her best, because it not only shows how censorship is stifling the diction of Americans, but also the ignorance of those who make these attempts at political correctness.  This proves that censorship will only lead to the ignorance made evident in the aforementioned example.

     I agree with Chavez in that censorship only hinders creativity and ultimately results in ignorance, leading to a future with less knowledge.