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Tuesday, August 19, 2014
How do we face our problems?
Reading chapter seven of Amusing Ourselves to Death was an eye opener to the fact that we may not be so far off from a society similar to that of the World State. In this chapter, Postman argues that the idea of "Now...this" that is displayed on television is hurting society as it separates everything causing our minds to think differently. This can be seen on the news as it adds a sense of randomness and doesn't really go into too much detail, something that Nicholas Carr argues is hurting our ability to think critically. Postman constantly brings up the fact that the number one goal of television is to entertain and make us watch more. Yet the most amzing part of the chapter was when Postman brought up Robert MacNeil's observation that " Television is the soma of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World." This is a brilliant observation that I personally think is completely valid. I find many people, including myself, watch television to get away from my problems much like those in the World State use soma to deal with their problems in emotions. It is truly amazing how similar we are. Which way is our society headed? Is Brave New World, The Shallows and Amusing Ourselves to Death suggesting that the worst is yet to come? Would Aldous Huxley consider televison to be our form of soma? If so, are we going to transform into the World State? Is technology to blame and can it even be stopped if it is?
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Huxley would definitely agree with you and Robert MacNeill that television is the soma of today. Huxley's world was based around the idea that what we love will lead to our demise, and America sure does love television.
ReplyDeleteI never thought about television and other technologies being an escape from our problems, but it's true! I know I often go on Facebook to "take a break" when I'm stressed out. Facebook actually doesn't accomplish anything except momentarily distract me from what I'm supposed to be doing. In fact, it probably makes my problems worse because I become even more stressed out about how much time I have wasted while on Facebook! I would feel so much better if I actually faced my problems and made headway in solving them.
As for whether or not America will become a Brave New World 2.0, that remains to be seen. I guess it depends on whether or not we continue down our current path. Considering how much we love what is hurting us, our future doesn't look too bright, but we can all still hope for change.
I agree with both of you. Television and social media sites are a way for people to relax and get away from their problems. On top of that, I want to add something that I believe resembles soma more than television: the use of anti-depressants and drugs.
DeleteThere are so many people in our world today that take anti-depressants constantly, even when it isn't necessary. Somebody may feel just a bit a sad and they turn to these tablets/pills to ease away their stress. Some people deal with their stress by taking drugs and smoking.
The way people today are dealing with their problems is not healthy. They may harm themselves with drug abuse and cancer from smoking. Also, it's not good that in our society people don't know how to face their problems. People need to find solutions to their problems and not avoid them with the soma of today.