Hope For The Future Essay Research Paper

Hope For The Future Essay, Research Paper

Hope for the future

A Critique of Chapter 11 in Neil Postman’s Technopoly

In chapter 11 (“The Loving Resistance Fighter”) of the book Technopoly, published in 1992, Neil Postman focuses on a solution to the problems created by Technopoly. A “Technopoly” (a word postman capitalizes throughout the book) is a society that no longer merely uses technology as a support system but instead is shaped by it. Postman proposes that we become “loving resistance fighter(s)” who retain “the narratives and symbols that once made the United States the hope of the world”(p.182). He believes education is to lead the resistance against technology by changing the curriculum to help restore a sense of meaning and purpose lost to the Technopoly. This change in curriculum puts a large emphasis on humanity’s historical development.

As an engaging cultural critic, professor at New York University, and author of numerous books on the themes of education and technology, Neil Postman is well positioned to comment on the relation of technology to culture. The relation as he sees it is one in which culture is subservient to and controlled by both invisible (I.Q. scores, statistics, polling techniques) and visible (television, computers, automobiles) technologies. Technology, Postman admits, is a friend but mostly it is a dangerous enemy that intrudes into a culture, changing everything, while destroying the vital sources of our humanity.

Neil Postman offers direction to those who want to defend themselves from the destructive effects of Technopoly. This direction is based on the idea of the loving resistance fighter. The loving resistance fighter is the perfect balance of admiration for the country and resistance to Technopoly. The resistance fighter is aware of the advantages and disadvantages associated with technology. Technology is therefore seen as unnatural, controlling, and dangerous.

In chapter 11 Postman gives examples of people who resist the American Technopoly. An example of a resistance fighter is a person who ignores a poll unless they know the questions asked and why. As Postman introduced in chapter 8 (“Invisible Technologies”), the form of a question can produce many different answers. It may also restrict us from seeing solutions to problems that may become visible through a question worded differently. Postman shares the story of two priests who write the Pope asking if it was allowable to smoke and pray at the same time. One priest phrased the question “Is it permissible to smoke while praying.” and the response was no because praying should be the focus of ones attention; the other priest asked “Is it permissible to pray while smoking.” and the response was yes, since it is always appropriate to pray. The opinion of almost any issue is a function of the question asked. In the American Technopoly the opinion poll is a strict yes or no answer to an unexamined question. One is therefore unable to share their knowledge and is easily mislead to answer a question in a certain way.

Another example of a resistance fighter is a person who does not allow psychology or any “social science” to pre-empt the language and thought of common sense. This example clearly relates to chapter 9 (“Scientism”), in which Postman expresses his annoyance of the many people who have a strong faith in social science. These people go to experts to find out how to raise children, how to fall in love, and how to make friends, as if they believe that because these subjects are “sciences” that they are getting verifiable, indisputable truths about the world. People believe that the standard set of procedures called “science” can provide them with methods of handling their personal lives. Although social research may be able to provide some suggestions, it cannot provide legitimate answers to everyday life problems. There is no moral authority that can predict the outcome of specific personal situation solely based on data.

Postman states that ones education is helpful not only in advancing the idea of the resistance fighter, but in helping the young understand the meaning of subjects in an idea-centered and coherence-centered manner. Postman points out that it is necessary to change the curriculum of the educational system so it will be able to provide students with an understanding of the Technopoly process. Technopoly is denying the youth of today access to many applicable notions and theories of the past; instead it clutters their mind with many seemingly unimportant events. The change in curriculum will focus on the history of subjects, which teaches students connections: that events are interrelated, building off one another. Teachers should go beyond the event and into concepts, theories, hypotheses, comparisons, deductions, and evaluations. By doing that students should gain a more holistic view of the world they live in (connecting the present with the past) and where technology is leading us.

In addition to the history, Postman states that semantics and comparative religion are also an important part of a curriculum. Semantics is the study of the relationship between words and meanings. The idea of semantics relates to chapter 8 (“Invisible Technologies”), where Postman discusses language as a powerful ideological instrument. When language gives something a name it gives it control, by transforming