I didn’t use to be, but now I’m part of the 2% of U.S. households without a television. With its near ubiquity, why reject this technology?

The Beginning of my Disillusionment

Neil Postman's book Amusing Ourselves to Death radically changed my perspective on television and its place in our culture. Here's one illuminating passage:

We are no longer fascinated or perplexed by [TV's] machinery. We do not tell stories of its wonders. We do not confine our TV sets to special rooms. We do not doubt the reality of what we see on TV [and] are largely unaware of the special angle of vision it affords. Even the question of how television affects us has receded into the background. The question itself may strike some of us as strange, as if one were to ask how having ears and eyes affects us. [In the 1960s], the question [...]

---

Outline:

(00:14) The Beginning of my Disillusionment

(01:47) A Man who was Crazy Enough

(03:15) A Mountain of Evidence

(07:48) I’m not an addict, am I?

(08:55) Struggling with Quitting

(10:36) A Quiet Place

---

First published:

Source:

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.