I see the tv as an earlier and possibly more significant culprit. I reread Amusing Ourselves to Death last year and was astonished at how its arguments seem even more relevant today (I have a similar feeling when I revisit DFW’s essays on tv).
But I too am glad I grew up without smartphones or the internet. My parents didn’t even get cabl…
I see the tv as an earlier and possibly more significant culprit. I reread Amusing Ourselves to Death last year and was astonished at how its arguments seem even more relevant today (I have a similar feeling when I revisit DFW’s essays on tv).
But I too am glad I grew up without smartphones or the internet. My parents didn’t even get cable tv until after I went away for college (this was the mid-80s). At the same time, though, I worry about the erosion of my ability to focus for a long period of time and work through difficult writing. So I appreciate reminders like this one about what’s at stake.
I recommend Johann Hari's book "Stolen Focus," the modern day equivalent of Postman's book. Also "World without Mind," by Franklin Foer.
Adults like to point their fingers at social media but the kids are merely aping the behaviors they see in their elders. It's the phone itself, the exit ramp from the world of the senses, the human world.
I see the tv as an earlier and possibly more significant culprit. I reread Amusing Ourselves to Death last year and was astonished at how its arguments seem even more relevant today (I have a similar feeling when I revisit DFW’s essays on tv).
But I too am glad I grew up without smartphones or the internet. My parents didn’t even get cable tv until after I went away for college (this was the mid-80s). At the same time, though, I worry about the erosion of my ability to focus for a long period of time and work through difficult writing. So I appreciate reminders like this one about what’s at stake.
I recommend Johann Hari's book "Stolen Focus," the modern day equivalent of Postman's book. Also "World without Mind," by Franklin Foer.
Adults like to point their fingers at social media but the kids are merely aping the behaviors they see in their elders. It's the phone itself, the exit ramp from the world of the senses, the human world.