Technopoly The Surrender of Culture to Technology

by Postman, Neil

• ISBN13: 9780679745402
• ISBN10: 0679745408
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1993-03-31
• Publisher: Vintage

Summary

In this witty, often terrifying work of cultural criticism, the author of Amusing Ourselves to Death chronicles our transformation into a Technopoly: a society that no longer merely uses technology as a support system but instead is shaped by it--with radical consequences for the meanings of politics, art, education, intelligence, and truth.

Author Biography

Neil Postman was University Professor, Paulette Goddard Chair of Media Ecology, and Chair of the Department of Culture and Communication at New York University. Among his twenty books are studies of childhood (The Disappearance of Childhood), public discourse (Amusing Ourselves to Death), education (Teaching as a Subversive Activity and The End of Education), and the impact of technology (Technopoly). His interest in education was long-standing, beginning with his experience as an elementary and secondary school teacher. He died in 2003.

Table of Contents

Introduction	xi
1. The Judgment of Thamus	3	(18)
2. From Tools to Technocracy	21	(19)
3. From Technocracy to Technopoly	40	(16)
4. The Improbable World	56	(15)
5. The Broken Defenses	71	(21)
6. The Ideology of Machines: Medical Technology	92	(15)
7. The Ideology of Machines: Computer Technology	107	(16)
8. Invisible Technologies	123	(21)
9. Scientism	144	(20)
10. The Great Symbol Drain	164	(17)
11. The Loving Resistance Fighter	181	(20)
Notes	201	(6)
Bibliography	207	(4)
Index	211