Symposium Series: Amusing Ourselves to Death
Symposium Series:
Amusing Ourselves to Death
Format
This is a guided, peer-to-peer discussion for people who have read Amusing Ourselves to Death and want to think seriously about its ideas together.
We’ll move past summaries and focus instead on the larger questions Neil Postman raises, especially media, entertainment, technology, attention, and what happens when public life is reorganized around amusement rather than meaning.
The discussion will be moderated, open, and rigorous, with an emphasis on shared inquiry, intellectual honesty, and good-faith conversation.
The Book
Postman’s book asks what happens when a culture no longer needs censorship or force to limit thought, because people willingly surrender depth, seriousness, and coherence in exchange for constant entertainment.
Rather than warning about overt repression, Amusing Ourselves to Death argues that a society can be undone by distraction.
Questions to consider while reading
In what ways does Postman’s critique of television apply to today’s digital and social media landscape?
How does the medium through which information is delivered shape what we are capable of understanding or caring about?
Where does entertainment genuinely enrich culture, and where does it begin to replace seriousness altogether?
What happens to politics, education, and religion when they are forced to compete for attention?
At what point does convenience or engagement undermine truth, depth, or wisdom?
Are there areas of modern life where we have already accepted Postman’s warnings as inevitable rather than avoidable?