In Chapter 11, Postman proposed some form of a solution to the many problems he has discussed throughout the book, manly focusing on education though. Postman believes one way to overcome technology is through education, however it is broken. Education is ineffective because it is broken; there is no unifying story or theme, just different subject that are taught. Education needs to be organized around a theme; maybe this is where “tech” school will become important in the future. Modern education “has no moral, social or intellectual center” (186). Education should “stress history, the scientific mode of thinking, the disciplined use of language and a wide-ranging knowledge of the arts and religion (189).
We need to understand the technology does not, cannot, and never will rule our lives. Postman states, "You must try to be a loving resistance fighter . . . By 'loving' I mean that, in spite of the confusion, errors, and stupidities you see around you, you must always keep close to your heart the narratives and symbols that once made the United States the hope of the world and that may yet have enough vitality to do so again. . .” (182). “A resistance fighter understands that technology must never be accepted as part of the natural order of things, that every technology--from an IQ test to an automobile to a television set to a computer--is a product of a particular economic and political context and carries with it a program, an agenda, and a philosophy that may or may not be life-enhancing and that therefore require scrutiny, criticism, and control.” (184-185).
Is technology truly life-enhancing in the long run?
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Chapter 10: The Great Symbol Drain
In Chapter 10, Postman argues the in the United States education is just another institution that prepared students to be good works of the technopoly era; it is an instrument of economic policy. He also argue there is a “symbol drain”, another problem of information overload, caused by the over exposure to images and symbols being used in the media and in sales ads. We see the same thing over and over and it is starting to lose its effectiveness. Previously symbols were used to connect, support, and add effect to something; today they are just something we see, they have lost their value to emphasize progress, efficiency, and technical capability. Postman said, “no culture can flourish without narratives of transcendent origin and power” (172). Postman also stated that the point of business is to make the consumer feel valuable, not make products of value, something he calls “pseudo-therapy”. I big question from this chapter is, where is education going? We are so caught up in everything else and the things we use and the results that come out of our classrooms, I don’t think we are doing our students any justice.
Chapter 9: Scientism
In Chapter 9, Postman describes the information overload with a different twist, scientology. Scientism is the “illusory belief that some standardized set of procedures called ‘science’ can provide us with an unimpeachable source of moral authority” (162). We have placed too much faith in science to answer every question, we no longer trust historical facts, but long for an illusion of “fell-good” behavior (169-160). The overload and shifted trust is making humans incapable to make-sense of what we should do next. We believe that everything must be proven by science before we can believe. Postman believes society as blurred the definition of what science is and has made it into one of the pillars of Technopoly, but he does not believe the natural science and social science are of the same discipline, and I agree with him. Postman defines natural science as “the quest to find the immutable and universal laws that govern the process of nature.” Social science applies the methods of natural science to the study of human behavior and thus generates “specific principles by which to organize society on a rational and humane basis”. These studies are interesting, but they will not give us concrete answer to the questions we ask. Postman does not believe the social science is a science at all, just because this discipline has the word science in its name does not mean it is a science and does not give it authority other sciences have. I also believe science, give us answers to our questions, not meaning to our lives, but is this all we are asking it to do?
Chapter 8: Invisible Technologies
In Chapter 8, Postman once again surprised me by making me realize something as simple as the number zero could be classified as a technique or technology. And it is also surprising the amount of importance the number zero has on our daily lives. We use the number zero for everything, statistics, polling, IQ tests, percentages, calculating grades in school, award scholarships, entrance exams for colleges, beauty pageants, but we have become accustom to assigning a number value to everything. Numbers are also used as the basis in technology; they have their own set of rules and procedures to regulate their behavior and performance. Numbers are technology disguised as techniques. So, how do we teach our students t use technology and not let is consume their lives?
Chapter 7: The Ideology of Machines: Computer Technology
In Chapter 7, Postman discusses in-depth the significances of letting computers have too much power. There are scary thoughts that a movie such as Transformers or the Matrix may be where we are heading if we continue to let technology run our lives. There are other interesting gadgets like the iBook or the Kindle that are advancing technology, but in a saver way. However, Postman is not saying our problem is with technology, but with the power we give technology and the power we give it over our lives. Friday is a good example where “technology” did not work for me. Thursday night I was setting up my lesson plans for Friday and I could not get logged into my blog to post my bell work, so I gave up. I did not feel good, the tech guy was busy and I wanted to go home, so I printed out a Sudoku puzzle for them to do instead. Here is a perfect example of shifting the blame, the computer didn’t work and I wanted to go home, so I found something else for them to do. It is not the computers fault technology did not work. I probably did something wrong and I need to take responsibility for it. This is one thing computers will never be able to do, make decisions for themselves, think for themselves, they cannot solve problems, these are all still things that humans have to do and computers are just doing what the human is telling it to do. Postman says “artificial intelligence does not and cannot lead to a meaning-making, understanding, and felling creature, which is what a human being is” (113). We need to take responsibility for the computers we are running and not letting them run our lives, but what are we losing by using computers in our daily lives?
Chapter 6: The Ideology of Machines: Medical Technology
In Chapter 6, Postman describes how technology has redefined culture, emphasizing on medical practices. Postman describes American medicine as being dominated by technology, “the weapon with which disease and illness would be vanquished” (97). And I know the relationship between and doctor and a patient is not what it once was, today the relationship is focused on the disease, not the patient, and whatever can be done to cure the disease, “… doctors do not merely use technologies but are used by them” (105). However, the advantage of technology in medicine is a process, these leaps and bounds did not happen overnight, they have taken time. Because of doctors increasing reliance on technology in medicine, doctors expect more out of the machines and put less enfaces on listening to the patient. I believe this has caused doctors to make more mistakes and prescribe countless prescriptions that are unnecessary and have outrageous side-effects, some of which I have experienced first-hand and it took countless phone call and complaint to get my medication changed. These machines are changing where doctors are focusing their time; they now focus their time on the disease and not the patient. Doctors do not make friendly house calls like they used too.
For the last ten day I have had a migraine that has not broken. I called my doctors nurse three times to discuss this particular headache and the side effects of another medication I am on. The first phone calls nothing happened. During second phone call the put me on some kind of steroid to hopefully break the cycle of this particular migraine. When I went to the pharmacy to pick-up the steroid they told me a side effect was insomnia. A side effect of the first medication is that I can’t sleep and know they want to put me on a drug that causes insomnia! And finally during the third phone call they took me off the first drug and are switching me to a different drug. When I made the first phone call I told the nurse I would be in Sioux Fall, South Dakota on Friday for my MRI and I really wanted to see my specialist, he did not want to see me until he had the results of the MRI and being a teacher, I will not be able to make it make to Sioux Falls until October 29. I really wish my doctor would listen to all the concerns I have about the medication he has put me on, because I am ready to take myself off of everything! Does my doctor have my best interests or the diseases best interest in mind when he is making these decisions?
For the last ten day I have had a migraine that has not broken. I called my doctors nurse three times to discuss this particular headache and the side effects of another medication I am on. The first phone calls nothing happened. During second phone call the put me on some kind of steroid to hopefully break the cycle of this particular migraine. When I went to the pharmacy to pick-up the steroid they told me a side effect was insomnia. A side effect of the first medication is that I can’t sleep and know they want to put me on a drug that causes insomnia! And finally during the third phone call they took me off the first drug and are switching me to a different drug. When I made the first phone call I told the nurse I would be in Sioux Fall, South Dakota on Friday for my MRI and I really wanted to see my specialist, he did not want to see me until he had the results of the MRI and being a teacher, I will not be able to make it make to Sioux Falls until October 29. I really wish my doctor would listen to all the concerns I have about the medication he has put me on, because I am ready to take myself off of everything! Does my doctor have my best interests or the diseases best interest in mind when he is making these decisions?
Chapter 5: The Broken Defenses
In Chapter 5, Postman describes to the reader the control Technopoly has on our lives and the effects of the overload of information has had played on downfall of the importance of religion today. He explains there are three technical methods used to control information in a Technopoly: 1) Bureaucracy, efficiency with no responsibility; 2) Expertise, who claim next to godliness and have no true technical solutions, 3) Technical Machinery, how we generate answers to problems. Technology has redefined the society we live in today because of this information overload. In the past we had social institutions to control the information that was available. But as technology has grown, as well as access, these social institutes, like the church, have lost their power. In the past religion was able to unify the community, weight the options and limit the distractions to its followers, today they lay defenses because of the information overload.
Recently there has been a huge push in the school I teach in to include more technology on a daily basis. Next year we would like to become a one-to-one school, so to prepare for that we are trying to use technology as much as possible, but if there is not a purpose or a benefit to technology in the classroom are we ready to go one-to-one? Are our students ready to go one-to-one to they understand enough about the basics about computer and how to troubleshoot on their own or will teachers to bogged down helping students fix their computer all time. Will students take better care of their computer if it this there to bring home and possible buy after high school. Are we giving our students too much access to information without enough supervision?
Recently there has been a huge push in the school I teach in to include more technology on a daily basis. Next year we would like to become a one-to-one school, so to prepare for that we are trying to use technology as much as possible, but if there is not a purpose or a benefit to technology in the classroom are we ready to go one-to-one? Are our students ready to go one-to-one to they understand enough about the basics about computer and how to troubleshoot on their own or will teachers to bogged down helping students fix their computer all time. Will students take better care of their computer if it this there to bring home and possible buy after high school. Are we giving our students too much access to information without enough supervision?
Chapter 4: The Improbable World
In Chapter 4 Postman uses a deck of cards to explain the shift from technocracy to a technoploy. In a technocracy the cards are ordered and predictable, but once the cards are shuffled a few times the represent a technoploy, they are out of place and unpredictable. This represents the true meaning of life- the chaos and confusion we are experiencing now with a technopoly.
Postman refers to the as “information chaos”, with the rise of the printing press, telegraph, photography, broadcasting, and now computers, we are experiencing an information overload. All of the technology was available to the masses, while there were many positive things that could come from this; it was an “information glut” for many. There is too much information with no place to go and no enough people who understand how it all works.
So, what do we do with all this information? Do enough people really understand how it all works? or do they just use it for social networking? As a Christian I am very careful what I put on the internet about myself. I try to use technology to make education in my classroom interesting, but is it enhancing the learning my students are doing or just taking up more time?
Postman refers to the as “information chaos”, with the rise of the printing press, telegraph, photography, broadcasting, and now computers, we are experiencing an information overload. All of the technology was available to the masses, while there were many positive things that could come from this; it was an “information glut” for many. There is too much information with no place to go and no enough people who understand how it all works.
So, what do we do with all this information? Do enough people really understand how it all works? or do they just use it for social networking? As a Christian I am very careful what I put on the internet about myself. I try to use technology to make education in my classroom interesting, but is it enhancing the learning my students are doing or just taking up more time?
Chapter 3: From Technocracy to Technoploy
In Chapter 3 Postman discusses the shift from technocracy to technopoly. He describes Adam Smith’s aggressive transformation, “money, not land, was the key to wealth. . .” (40-41). In the beginning family was everything, and in my eyes still is, my father always says “without your family you have nothing”. Later Postman said, “Technocracy gave us the idea of progress, and of necessity loosened our bonds with tradition. . .” (45). I believe this way of thinking was the beginning of the decline of religious tradition and of the family centered world. Postman also describes technolpoly as “the submission of all forms of cultural life to the sovereignty of technique and technology…” (52). In the technocracy era, people could part with their culture and traditions, people still clung to their beliefs.
Postman believes the transition between technocracy and technopoly began close to the Henry Ford era. There are also four interrelated response for the dominance of Technolopy within America: 1) America provided many opportunities with no limits, 2) the genius and audacity of American inventors, nothing was worth preserving if it stood in the way of technological innovation, 3) the convenience, comfort, speed, hygiene, and abundance was so promising there was no reason to explore anything else, and 4) there is nothing left to belief in but technology. (53-55).
“Alfred North Whitehead summed it up best when he remarked that the greatest invention of the nineteenth century was the idea of invention itself . . . the idea if something could be done, it should be done was born” (42). This idea contributed to the technolopy way of thinking. Postman also states “Time became an adversary over which technology could triumph” (45). You would think that this would leave move time for the working person to spend with their family, but it had the opposite effect. People learned if they still work the same amount of they could get more done/make more money. I believe this led people to become more greedy, since we already know money, not land gave people more power. And with this people spend even less time with their family and worshiping god. Technopoly was delved to make life easier, now it is used to make more money. Why have we allowed our society to get so far out of control and our priorities so messed up?
Postman believes the transition between technocracy and technopoly began close to the Henry Ford era. There are also four interrelated response for the dominance of Technolopy within America: 1) America provided many opportunities with no limits, 2) the genius and audacity of American inventors, nothing was worth preserving if it stood in the way of technological innovation, 3) the convenience, comfort, speed, hygiene, and abundance was so promising there was no reason to explore anything else, and 4) there is nothing left to belief in but technology. (53-55).
“Alfred North Whitehead summed it up best when he remarked that the greatest invention of the nineteenth century was the idea of invention itself . . . the idea if something could be done, it should be done was born” (42). This idea contributed to the technolopy way of thinking. Postman also states “Time became an adversary over which technology could triumph” (45). You would think that this would leave move time for the working person to spend with their family, but it had the opposite effect. People learned if they still work the same amount of they could get more done/make more money. I believe this led people to become more greedy, since we already know money, not land gave people more power. And with this people spend even less time with their family and worshiping god. Technopoly was delved to make life easier, now it is used to make more money. Why have we allowed our society to get so far out of control and our priorities so messed up?
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Chapter 2-Postman
In Chapter 2 Postman defines three types of cultures, the first are tool-using culture, technocracies, and technopolies. This chapter focuses on tool-using cultures. Postman defines tool-using societies as thought that used tools solve problems or to serve the symbolic world. He also compared toll-using societies to technocracies. Technocracies were used to strengthen moral s and ideas of mankind. Marx added to this by saying “technologies create the ways in which people perceive reality, and that such ways are the key to understanding diverse forms of social and mental life”. Technology tries to define human morals.
In the beginning tools were not developed attack society or the dignity or integrity of a culture. Tools were governed by law and could not be used to arm Christians. Tools were not introduced to remove God from daily lives, merely to improve the quality of life. Tools were integrated in to cultures in ways that they would not pose significant contradictions to its world-view.
Through reading this chapter I am beginning to understand that Bacon, Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Descartes, and Newton were only trying to improve the condition of life. Bacon understood this concept the best, he understood that science would improve the happiness of mankind and that all knowledge and goodness comes from God. The use of any tools had to be directed to the service of God. Over time, service to God meant less to man, man was more concerned about himself the y the benefits tools had for him.
The first significant step toward technocracy was discovered by Kepler, he hypothesized that the earth was round. This was a clear call for separation of moral and intellectual values, but Kepler still had room for God. Bacon, Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Descartes, and Newton classified their work as hypotheses not as scientific discoveries to stay on the good side of the church.
Science should be used to improve the human condition an advance the happiness of mankind.
In the beginning tools were not developed attack society or the dignity or integrity of a culture. Tools were governed by law and could not be used to arm Christians. Tools were not introduced to remove God from daily lives, merely to improve the quality of life. Tools were integrated in to cultures in ways that they would not pose significant contradictions to its world-view.
Through reading this chapter I am beginning to understand that Bacon, Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Descartes, and Newton were only trying to improve the condition of life. Bacon understood this concept the best, he understood that science would improve the happiness of mankind and that all knowledge and goodness comes from God. The use of any tools had to be directed to the service of God. Over time, service to God meant less to man, man was more concerned about himself the y the benefits tools had for him.
The first significant step toward technocracy was discovered by Kepler, he hypothesized that the earth was round. This was a clear call for separation of moral and intellectual values, but Kepler still had room for God. Bacon, Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Descartes, and Newton classified their work as hypotheses not as scientific discoveries to stay on the good side of the church.
Science should be used to improve the human condition an advance the happiness of mankind.
Chapter 1-Postman
After reading Chapter 1 of Neil Postman’s “Technopoly” I am very concerned about how technology has changed our lives. Before reading this I thought of ‘technology’ as the first computers that were available for home use, not the first computer that was built, but the first computer that was available for mass use. After reading this chapter, I believe ‘technology’ began with the first tools that made human life easier and allowed for mass production. The hammer or the wheel allowed for easier travel and faster building, conserving time. When the mechanical clock was introduced, the monks where able to monitor their time and get more done/ However, technology is neither friend nor foe, merely something that changed our daily lives and we had to adapt to these changes. AS new technologies come out we pay less attention to the old and focus on the new. It does not matter if it is better, only that is it newer. And the inventers of these new technologies are viewed as the people with the power of their day.
Being able to read and write gave everyone the same chance. You just had to get a book to learn, but you had to be able to read, which divided us into the ‘those that can and those that cannot’. Those that cannot are behind again. And now we have a generation so dependent on technology they have lost their creativity, their ability to do simple math, and their ability to communicate with others. Which makes me wonder what will happen to education? Will students go to school and rotate classroom as we do today? will students sit in a wifi hot spot and watch presentations on their laptops? or will they teach themselves via internet classrooms and self directed learning.
Technology has allowed us to stay connected all over the world, but if we had not seen the Eiffel Tower though photographs, television, or the internet would we still want to go visit it?
Being able to read and write gave everyone the same chance. You just had to get a book to learn, but you had to be able to read, which divided us into the ‘those that can and those that cannot’. Those that cannot are behind again. And now we have a generation so dependent on technology they have lost their creativity, their ability to do simple math, and their ability to communicate with others. Which makes me wonder what will happen to education? Will students go to school and rotate classroom as we do today? will students sit in a wifi hot spot and watch presentations on their laptops? or will they teach themselves via internet classrooms and self directed learning.
Technology has allowed us to stay connected all over the world, but if we had not seen the Eiffel Tower though photographs, television, or the internet would we still want to go visit it?
Saturday, June 19, 2010
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