Amusing Ourselves to Death

Reviews the book “Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Showbusiness” by N. Postman (1985).

In the following review, this paper will summarize Postman’s main arguments and share some of his examples of how television is the dominant mode of conversation and thought in 20th century North America. This paper will also address some of Postman’s own unexamined assumptions and consider how these function to prevent Postman from developing a more critical perspective about social agency and intellectual participation, invention and interpretation.