Amusing Ourselves to Death
In this episode of the Growth Equation podcast, Brad and Steve dive into an underground classic from the 1980’s: Amusing Ourselves to Death, by Neil Postman. The main premise of the book is that the medium via which we consume information is a metaphor for the culture; our brains, both as individuals and as a collective, become what we pay attention to and how we pay attention it. At the time Postman wrote the book, he was concerned about how television news was becoming more and more about entertainment and less and less about serious discourse. If only Postman, who died in 2003, could be alive to see the current information environment. Brad and Steve do their best to update Postman’s argument for modern times and share tips and tricks on how you can protect your attention, be a better citizen, and create space for serious and meaningful discussion in a world of nonsense and noise.
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[…] There are quick fixes or “hacks” for everything. There are “hot takes” on all subject matter, from murder to politics to the Royal Family of England. These hot takes happen most on social media, but sadly, they are becoming increasingly common in major publications too. We are, as the cultural critic Neil Postman first wrote in 1985, “amusing ourselves to death.” […]