Neil Postman
Neil Postman | |
---|---|
Born | New York City, U.S. | March 8, 1931
Died | October 5, 2003 New York City, U.S. | (aged 72)
Occupation | Writer, professor |
Education | State University of New York at Fredonia Columbia University |
Period | 1959–2003 |
Subjects |
|
Spouse | Shelley Ross |
Children | 3, including Marc |
Neil Postman (March 8, 1931 – October 5, 2003) was an American author, educator, media theorist and cultural critic, who eschewed digital technology, including personal computers, mobile devices, and cruise control in cars, and was critical of uses of technology, such as personal computers in school.[1] He is best known for twenty books regarding technology and education, including Amusing Ourselves to Death (1985), Conscientious Objections (1988), Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology (1992), The Disappearance of Childhood (1982) and The End of Education: Redefining the Value of School (1995).
Biography
Postman was born in New York City, where he spent most of his life.[2] In 1953, he graduated from the State University of New York at Fredonia and enlisted in the military but was released less than five months later.[3] At Teachers College, Columbia University, he was awarded a master's degree in 1955 and an Ed.D. (Doctor of Education) degree in 1958.[4] Postman took a position with San Francisco State University's English Department in 1958.[3] Soon after, in 1959, he began teaching at New York University (NYU).[4]
In 1971, at NYU's Steinhardt School of Education, he founded a graduate program in media ecology. He became the School of Education's only University Professor in 1993, and was chairman of the Department of Culture and Communication until 2002.[4]
Postman died at age 72 of lung cancer at a hospital in Flushing, Queens, on October 5, 2003. At the time, he had been married to his wife, Shelley Ross Postman, for 48 years. They had three children and were longtime residents of Flushing.[4]
Works
External videos | |
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"Life and Career of Neil Postman", January 14, 1988, C-SPAN |
Postman wrote 20 books and more than 200 magazine and newspaper articles in, for example,
On education
In 1969 and 1970, Postman collaborated with the
In a 1973 address, "The Ecology of Learning", at the Conference on English Education, Postman proposed seven changes for schools that build on his critiques expressed in Teaching as a Subversive Activity.
Later in his career, Postman moved away from his work in Teaching as a Subversive Activity with the publication of Teaching as a Conserving Activity.[12] In it Postman calls for schools to act as a counter to popular culture dominated by television and highlighted the need for an emphasis on literacy education.[13] Postman also argued for the need of teachers to separate themselves from students in dress and speech, offering an alternative role model for children. Postman was concerned with the degradation of the culture caused by technology and saw education as a means of conserving important cultural ideas.
In a television interview conducted in 1995 on
Amusing Ourselves to Death
One of Postman's most influential works is
Technopoly
This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2019) |
External videos | |
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Booknotes interview with Postman on Technopoly, August 30, 1992, C-SPAN |
In his 1992 book Technopoly: the Surrender of Culture to Technology, Postman defines "Technopoly" as a society which believes "the primary, if not the only, goal of human labor and thought is efficiency, that technical calculation is in all respects superior to human judgment ... and that the affairs of citizens are best guided and conducted by experts".
In a C-SPAN interview, Postman described Technopoly as "the tendency in American culture to turn over to technology sovereignty, command, control over all of our social institutions."[15]
Postman argued that the United States is the only country to have developed into a technopoly. He claimed that the U.S. has been inundated with
Postman was not opposed to all forms of technology. In page 7 of Technopoly, he agrees that technological advancements, specifically "the telephone, ocean liners, and the reign of hygiene", have lengthened and improved modern life. In his words, this agreement proves that he is not a "one-eyed technophobe".
In Technopoly, Postman discusses
Selected bibliography
External videos | |
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Presentation by Postman on Building a Bridge to the 18th Century, December 1, 1999 |
- Television and the Teaching of English (1961).
- Linguistics: A Revolution in Teaching, with Charles Weingartner (Dell Publishing, 1966).
- Delacorte Press, 1969).
- "Bullshit and the Art of Crap-Detection" – speech given at National Convention for the Teachers of English (1969)[16]
- The Soft Revolution: A Student Handbook for Turning Schools Around, with Charles Weingartner (Delacorte Press, 1971).
- The School Book: For People Who Want to Know What All the Hollering Is About, with Charles Weingartner (Delacorte Press, 1973).
- Crazy Talk, Stupid Talk: How We Defeat Ourselves by the Way We Talk and What to Do About It (1976). Postman's introduction to general semantics.
- Teaching as a Conserving Activity (1979).
- The Disappearance of Childhood (1982).
- Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (1985).
- Conscientious Objections: Stirring Up Trouble About Language, Technology and Education (1988).
- How to Watch TV News, with Steve Powers (1992).
- Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology (1992).
- The End of Education: Redefining the Value of School (1995).
- Building a Bridge to the 18th Century: How the Past Can Improve Our Future (1999).
- MacNeil, R. (Writer/Host).Visions of Cyberspace: With Charlene Hunter Gault (July 25, 1995). Arlington, Virginia: MacNeil/Lehrer Productions.
See also
- James Sexton (Neil Postman's former research assistant)
References
- ^ Staff (October 12, 2003). "LATimes.com". LA Times.
- ^ "A teacher's life: Remembering Neil Postman". The Villager. Archived from the original on October 18, 2017. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
- ^ a b c "Neil Postman". Britannica. October 2023.
- ^ a b c d Wolfgang Saxon (October 9, 2003). "Neil Postman, 72, Mass Media Critic, Dies". New York Times. Retrieved January 8, 2022.
- ^ "Sunrise Semester begins 13th Season". Lakeland Ledger. September 19, 1976. Retrieved May 11, 2013.
- ^ Neil Postman (October 2013). "ETC: A Review of General Semantics". The Information Environment. 70 (4): 468–479 – via JSTOR.
- ^ a b "3I Program: Proposal, 1970". joshkarpf.com.
- JSTOR 1084165.
- ^ Hu, Winnie (November 12, 2007). "Profile Rises at School Where Going Against the Grain Is the Norm". The New York Times. Retrieved April 6, 2010.
- JSTOR 813650.
- JSTOR 813650.
- ^ "Teaching As A Conserving Activity". Goodreads. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
- ^ Postman, Neil (1979). "Neil Postman – Teaching as a Conserving Activity (1979) Interview". Youtube. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
- MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour(1995).
- ^ "Technopoly".
- ^ In this speech, Postman encouraged teachers to help their students "distinguish useful talk from bullshit". He argued that it was the most important skill students could learn, and that teaching it would help students understand their own values and beliefs.
External links
- The Neil Postman Information Page
- Neil Postman: Collected Online Articles
- Neil Postman, Defender of The Word by Lance Strate
- Discussion on Technology with Scott London (MP3)
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Summary of the book Amusing Ourselves to Death
- Comparative Postman: 1985–2010, 30min. media compilation illustrating the critical merits of technological determinism 25 years later – by Cultural Farming.
- A film clip "The Open Mind – Are We Amusing Ourselves to Death?, Part I (1985)" is available for viewing at the Internet Archive
- A film clip "The Open Mind – Are We Amusing Ourselves to Death?, Part II (1985)" is available for viewing at the Internet Archive
- Neil Postman at Find a Grave
- The Legacy of Neil Postman, College Quarterly Winter 2004 – Volume 7 Number 1