11. "Information creates the illusion of knowing something but in fact leads one away from knowing"
Ex. #2
Like Neil Postman said in Amusing Ourselves to Death, TV can provide information that leads a person away from knowing. For example, on the news a new story is told every few seconds. In this way people aren't given the time to really learn, question or understand the material, and because of this are likely forget it entirely by the end of the day. Although they have been exposed to new information, they have no greater knowledge because of it.
I think that this quote is very related to his idea of "Now... This" which was one of my favorite parts of the book. I honestly never realized how often the news does this, but after reading the book I watch the news in an entire new way. They really do constantly throw distracting things at you, and will show you something devastating then they'll show you a McDonalds commercial. It's absurd that the TV has gotten to the point where we don't even notice this anymore.
ReplyDeletesam's right, although television hardly has any material worth absorbing/understanding. i actually prefer celebrity gossip segments to be brief and forgettable. with the amount of junk on television now, perhaps taking it in small doses is best.
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