Postman's Technopoly: a Critique

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Technological advances have come a long way; from the most basics of clothing, fire, hand tools and the invention of the wheel, to the more advanced technologies of today; automobiles, cell phones, and nuclear power plants. These advances in technology have provided benefits to individuals and societies; along with creating situations of adversity and loss to society. Good or bad, technological advances have altered society. In Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology (1992), Neil Postman describes how the advancement of technology has destroyed our societal norms and the loss of our morals through the break down of the information control systems normally utilized. His examples describing this break down consists of courts of law, schools, family, religion, and State. Postman states that these institutions originally provided information control of how much and what type of information can be obtained by an individual. Courts of law provide specific statures on what information is allowed within certain situations (trials, hearings, etc.) In schools, only the information deemed pertinent to the education of students is provided and pushed for. Within the family structure, adults choose the information that children are permitted to learn (not teaching curse words, etc.). Religions provide theological information important only to each religions doctrine and the State gives or takes information based on what they deem as functional necessity. Postman’s position that the ever increasing technological advances are detrimental to our society is based on information control systems losing their abilities to perform as originally designed; society is losing its traditional (moral and spiritual) values. According to Postman (1992) “when the supply of information is no longer controllable, a general breakdown in psychic tranquility and social purpose

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