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[Villanova University[br]Ignite Change Now]

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[Fatal Amusements Nov 3, 2014[br]Garey Hall - Villanova University]

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[Contemplating Contemporary Media]

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[Dr. Lance Strate[br]Harron Family Chai in Communication]

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[Villanova University does not endorse and assumes no liability for the materials apearing or opinions expressed in this video]

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(Applause)[br](Lance Strate) Well thank you

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I don't think, I don't know, does it [br]matter? Do we need the microphone?

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do we need them

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Can you hear me, you hear me OK?

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OK, so we will set aside this prop and[br]thank you very much I am indeed honored

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to have been chosen as the [br]Haron Family Chair for this year

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and I'd like to thank the NBC family, Provost Mcginty [br]Dean Landmeyer Maurice Hall, of course, (check)

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the chair of the department Heidy Rose and[br]Cheryl Bowen and the rest of the

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Department of Communication, including[br]the ones who really run the place,

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Loretta and Maria.

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It's been a great pleasure to be [br]part of this faculty this semester

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and especially to spend time

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with the wonderful graduate and [br]undergraduate students

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that attend here at Villanova.

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So I think it's, no doubt,[br]it's something of a cliche

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for visitors to begin by making reference[br]to our close proximity

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to the birthplace of the US.

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And far be it from me [br]to break with tradition.

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So let me begin by posing the question: [br]If Benjamin Franklin we're here today,

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what do you think he would make of the[br]possibility of Donald Trump as president?

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(laughter

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Or to put it more generally, what would [br]the founders of the American Republic

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have to say about the State of[br]the Union in the 21st century?

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Now, I hasten to add that when I speak [br]of the Founders, I want to set aside

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all that racism sexism [br]all the other awful isms

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that were part and parcel of their times.

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I just want to consider them [br]as embodiments of the ideals

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that they set forth in their writings.

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And you can say I'm being a romantic [br]but this is my thought experiment

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so you'll have to bear with me, and so [br]I ask you to imagine what these champions

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of reason and rationality, freedom [br]and equality, justice and democracy

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would make of contemporary [br]American culture?

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What would they make of a culture [br]that's been shaped

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by instantaneous communication, [br]that's dominated by the video image,

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transformed by the internet social media [br]and mobile devices?

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What would they make of the ways [br]in which public discourse

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has been altered and influenced [br]by our electronic communications?

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Well, let me suggest to you that some of[br]the words that might come to mind

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might be: disturbed, disappointed, [br]maybe even disgusted.

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And don't get me wrong:

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I do think they'd be duly impressed by all[br]the progress that we've made

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in science and technology [br]over the past 230 years.

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I also think they'd recognize the progress[br]we've made regarding human rights

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over the past two centuries,

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but I do believe that [br]our founders would express

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grave and profound concern [br]about our future

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When Benjamin Franklin uttered the ominous[br]reply regarding the kind of government

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they had created "A republic, if you can[br]keep it,"

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The danger he foresaw was a return to[br]some form of authoritarian government

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but what George Orwell depicted [br]in his novel 1984,

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that would have been more extreme than [br]anything that Franklin had known

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but he would easily understood the basic [br]premise of coercion oppression and fear

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under which totalitarian regimes operate.[br]////

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what franklin never imagined in[br]his wildest dreams that the reports that

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wrote the Republic might be lost

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not by force of arms but by fulfillment[br]of our desire to have fun and he

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therefore would have been baffled by the[br]kind of dystopia depicted in Aldous

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Huxley Aldous Huxley in his novel brave[br]new world but I believe that he would

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agree that Huxley was more prophetic the[br]Norwell a point that Neil Postman

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observed in his best-known book amusing[br]ourselves to death so let me quote to

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you now from the opening of that book[br]postman wrote

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what orwell feared was though where[br]those who would ban books what Huxley

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feared was that there would be no reason[br]to ban a book for there would be no one

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wanted to read one or welfare those who[br]would deprive us of information

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Huxley feared those who would give us so[br]much that we would be reduced to

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passivity and egoism orwell feared that[br]the truth would be concealed from us

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oxley fear the truth would be drowned in[br]a sea of irrelevance orwell feared we

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would become a captive culture oxley[br]feared we would become a trivial culture

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preoccupied with some equivalent of the[br]Feelies the orgy porgy and the

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centripetal bubble puppy as Huxley[br]remarks in brave new world revisited the

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civil libertarians and rationalists[br]failed to take into account man's almost

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infinite appetite for distractions in[br]1984 Huxley added people are controlled

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by inflicting pain and brave new world[br]they are controlled by inflicting

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pleasure in short orwell feared that[br]what we hate will ruin us Huxley feared

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that what we love will ruin us now as[br]you may have noticed the title of my

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talk fatal amusements is a tribute to[br]the book that post published thirty

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years ago and in my thought experiment[br]I'd like to think that Franklin

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Jefferson and company would find a[br]glimmer of hope and postman's

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explanation of how public discourse is[br]shaped by our media of communication and

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since this is my thought experiment I'd[br]also like to imagine that they gain some

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additional encouragement from the[br]footnote and follow-up to post mean that

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I published last year a book entitled[br]amazing ourselves to death in the old

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postman's brave new world revisited I[br]want to believe that

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and in all fairness to benjamin Franklin[br]he certainly would have been familiar

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with the old saying Nero fiddled while[br]Rome burned which is a popular metaphor

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for irresponsible and foolish action in[br]the face of serious events fiddling

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while Rome burns has been used in[br]particular to refer to inaction on the

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part of political leaders in the face of[br]a crisis but as citizens in a democracy

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responsible for governing ourselves[br]there are no solo acts when it comes to

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fiddling around we're all playing in the[br]band fiddling while Rome burns might

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well have been an alternative title for[br]amusing ourselves to death which postman

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wrote not in puritanical condemnation of[br]all pastimes and leisure pursuits nor is

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an elitist screed promoting the poor[br]taste of youth today or the loss of

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manners or moral standards the problem[br]that post man identified is not that we

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seek pleasure or like to have fun or[br]amusements are part of what make us

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human

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the problem instead is one of context in[br]the context of a city on fire

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we ought to expect to serious response[br]from our leaders not a musical one in

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the context of certain activities such[br]as a courtroom trial religious ceremony

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or classroom we ought to expect a[br]certain measure of decorum and behavior

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appropriate to such situations at the[br]very least to prevent their destruction

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and in the context of the vital matters[br]that must be dealt with within a

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democratic society we ought to expect[br]some serious discussion and debate as a

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basis for making decisions

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understanding context is at the core of[br]postman's message and understanding

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eloquently expressed in ecclesiastes to[br]everything there is a season and a time

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to every purpose under heaven postman's[br]argument and is that there's a time for

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amusement and it's time to be serious[br]and as our media and technology of

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expanded our ability to amuse ourselves[br]we've lost the ability

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to distinguish between the two and this[br]blurs the boundaries in favor of

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amusement as a consequence we find[br]ourselves suffering from too much of a

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good thing we know quite well that too[br]much of the food that nourishes us leads

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to obesity that too much of the exercise[br]that strengthens the body can cause it

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damaged that too much of a dose of[br]medicine that cures disease can be

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deadly

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the primary value for any ecological[br]system is balanced and post man

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identified late twentieth-century[br]American culture as dangerously out of

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balance his reference to death in the[br]book's title amusing ourselves to death

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was no mere hyperbole but an indication[br]that our loss of balance had called into

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question the very survival of our[br]culture of liberal democracy and even of

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humanity as a species so whether the[br]tune we imagine Nero playing was a

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raucous fire on the mountain

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rendition of hearts and flowers in the[br]face of such nihilistic soundtracks we

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might invoke an altogether different[br]more hopeful musical that of Fiddler on

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the Roof Inn at musical texture the main[br]character says of himself and his fellow

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villagers that every one of us is a[br]fiddler on the roof trying to scratch

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out a pleasant simple tune without[br]breaking his neck and while he goes on

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to sing about tradition the theme of the[br]play is the need to cope with change

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with modernization in the face of events[br]that would have otherwise been entirely

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demoralizing disorienting and[br]destabilizing tradition served as a

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much-needed counterweight again

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context is essential under other[br]conditions and unchecked emphasis on

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tradition might lead to a rigid[br]inflexible culture unable to adapt to

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changing circumstances so context and[br]balance or two fundamental elements of

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an ecological approach to understanding[br]media which is to say that they are

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fundamental

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to the field of media ecology a postman[br]introduced the phrase media ecology back

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in 1968 defining it as the study of[br]media as environments and noting that he

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was not inventing the field that it was[br]already in existence and that he was

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just naming it and to this side at that[br]the best known most frequently cited

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media ecology scholar would be Marshall[br]McLuhan and its famous maximum the

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medium is the message can be considered[br]the first axiom or rather the first

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aphorism of our field to put it[br]succinctly the medium is the message

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asks us to pay attention to how we do[br]things because the way that we do things

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as much to do with what we end up doing[br]and with the results of our actions and

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with who we are and who we become idea[br]has been expressed in many different

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ways winston churchill said we shape our[br]buildings there after they shape us and

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the Koolance associate John culkin[br]expanded that as we shape our tools and

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thereafter they shape us back in the[br]nineteenth century Henry David Thoreau

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remarked we do not ride on the rail[br]wrote it rides upon us and Mark Twain

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quipped that when you have a hammer in[br]your hand everything else looks like it

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now you know my mother was fond of[br]saying how you make your bad so you

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shall sleep which has its origins as a[br]15th century French proper course the

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English version is you made your bed go[br]sleep on it which is more go sleep in it

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which is more judgmental s media logical[br]but also in the 15th century the English

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rider and pioneering printer William[br]Caxton published a retailing of Aesop's

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fables that had the first English[br]version of the same ask a silly question

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get a silly answer and it's a[br]fundamental idea and media ecology that

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the kinds of questions we ask have quite[br]a lot to do with the kinds of answers

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that we obtain

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pain but you can find this idea in the[br]Bible as well in the New Testament

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Gospel of Matthew Jesus declares all[br]that live by the sword shall die by the

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sword and in the hundred fifteen psalm[br]of David there's a passage about the

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worship of idols that concludes they[br]that make them she'll be like onto them

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yay everyone that trusteth in while the[br]basic idea is an ancient 11 of the

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direct sources of inspiration from the[br]Coons famous saying came from the

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anthropologist Ashley Montegut who wrote[br]that and I quote in teaching it is the

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method and not the content that is the[br]message and not Montacute went on to

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declare that the quote that education[br]quote does not depend upon the

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transmission of knowledge but upon the[br]manner in which the knowledge is

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transmitted by the teacher so from the[br]media ecology perspective a teacher's a

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type of medium and the student is the[br]message or to put it another way the

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relationship between teacher and student[br]is the medium relationships are media

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and the teacher-student relationship is[br]the most important medium of education

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of all at this point let me acknowledge[br]them trying to provide a brief

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explanation of the field of media[br]ecology but I've already exceeded the

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time limit and given for what's come to[br]be known as an elevator speech is also

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known as an elevator pitch the concept[br]is based on the way in which in elevator

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ride shapes our relationships and[br]discourse given the fact that it's

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characterized by a captive audience a[br]relatively intimate space in the

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relatively brief duration we might[br]contrasted then to the ways in which our

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relationships and forms of discourse are[br]influenced by the characteristics of a

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classroom or a living room or a bar room[br]we might also note how all of these

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instances differ from the relationships[br]we enter into and the forms of discourse

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we encounter when we read a book or go[br]to the movies or you

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use social media as you probably have[br]noticed I'm using a much broader

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definition of the terms media and medium[br]and scholars in other fields use it

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incorporates all of the ways in which we[br]communicate that means and methods we

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use the many modes and codes of[br]communication available to us the

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situations and spaces the contacts and[br]relationships all of the ways in which

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we mediate between each other and with[br]our environment and this includes all

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manner of technology and technique not[br]just those associated with communication

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but communication is a particular focus[br]because it's central to the human

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condition

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language and simple uses what[br]distinguishes us from other species

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giving us what Alfred Krzyzewski[br]referred to as the capacity for time

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finding for preserving knowledge[br]transmitting it to future generations

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and evaluating what we know in order to[br]make progress so media ecology

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scholarship's are often concerned with[br]the differences that distinguish one

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medium or form of communication from[br]another which in turn means that

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different media affect us in different[br]ways as the influence and shape the way

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that we think he'll act use our senses[br]organize ourselves collectively and

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create and maintain cultural[br]continuities this means that the

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introduction of a new medium can have[br]profound effects on individuals and

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societies and that's because media[br]constitute environments that shape and

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influence us in the same way that[br]biological and geological environments

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shape and influence organisms and[br]species it follows that media ecology is

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concerned with the process of change[br]when you introduce a change into an

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interdependent system its effects can[br]give rise to secondary effects and those

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two church sure you effects and so on[br]through many generations of interactive

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facts that's why we understand that the[br]introduction of a new medium has an

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ecological effect not simply added to[br]the old system plus the new medium but

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transformative resulting in a change to[br]the entire system throughout the entire

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system and because of the complexity of[br]ecological strange we should understand

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that some of the effects will be[br]unanticipated on an unpredictable that

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we'll never know for certain all of the[br]consequences of any given innovation

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this means there'll always be negative[br]effects that accompanied the positive

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effects that every benefit will come[br]with a cost and it may well be that the

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benefit is worth the cost but does it[br]really make sense to buy into an

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innovation without first looking at the[br]price tag the old sales slogan buy now

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pay later pretty much sum saw our[br]contemporary approach to technology and

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much like buying on credit we never[br]really know how much will pay for our

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purchases in the end

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given the concern with change media[br]ecology provides us with the way to

0:18:43.640,0:18:45.950
understand human history

0:18:45.950,0:18:50.920
simply put language and speech are basic[br]to the human condition

0:18:50.920,0:18:56.670
systems of notation and especially[br]writing systems are intimately connected

0:18:56.670,0:19:01.900
to the transition from tribal societies[br]to more complex forms of social

0:19:01.900,0:19:09.690
organization cities kingdoms and empires[br]alphabetic writing and particulars what

0:19:09.690,0:19:14.740
gives Western culture what gave Western[br]culture its distinctive characteristics

0:19:14.740,0:19:20.910
the invention of the printing press with[br]movable type is closely associated with

0:19:20.910,0:19:26.600
the shift from the medieval to the[br]modern era in Europe and the electronic

0:19:26.600,0:19:33.180
media brought the modern era to a close[br]moving us into a new era some refer to

0:19:33.180,0:19:38.770
as postmodern of course the spells the[br]end not only of modernity but of almost

0:19:38.770,0:19:44.860
4,000 years of alphabetic culture and[br]that's why mcluhan once pointed out

0:19:44.860,0:19:46.419
pointed to a TV set

0:19:46.419,0:19:52.369
and he said the following this is from[br]one of his biographies quoting do you

0:19:52.369,0:19:57.799
really want to know what I think that[br]thing if you want to save one shred of

0:19:57.799,0:20:02.970
her breakup greco-roman Medieval[br]Renaissance enlightenment modern Western

0:20:02.970,0:20:11.090
civilization you'd better get an ax and[br]smash all the sex is being a bit extreme

0:20:11.090,0:20:17.109
you might say hi and even postman who[br]was often labeled and died would agree

0:20:17.109,0:20:22.230
but the important point is that all the[br]benefits that we've gained from our

0:20:22.230,0:20:27.059
electronic media come with the cost we[br]need to know what the cost has been and

0:20:27.059,0:20:32.340
what it yet might be so we can start by[br]noting that the first form of alphabetic

0:20:32.340,0:20:38.590
writing the Semitic alpha put it as used[br]by the ancient Israelites went along

0:20:38.590,0:20:43.730
with the introduction of monotheism and[br]religion based on a sacred texts with

0:20:43.730,0:20:49.019
the first historical narrative in the[br]first system of codified law and what

0:20:49.019,0:20:53.289
went with it was a generalized[br]conception of justice and human rights

0:20:53.289,0:20:58.419
and this was followed by the Greek[br]alphabet which made possible rhetoric

0:20:58.419,0:21:04.460
and philosophy theater and theoretical[br]science the first monetary system in the

0:21:04.460,0:21:10.399
first form of democratic government the[br]shift from a reality to literacy vastly

0:21:10.399,0:21:15.859
increased our capacity for time binding[br]opening the door to significant progress

0:21:15.859,0:21:22.980
in all aspects of human life now the[br]printing press amplified the impact of

0:21:22.980,0:21:28.169
the written word well introd introducing[br]new effects of its own so given the fact

0:21:28.169,0:21:33.149
that Villanova is an Augustinian[br]University you no doubt are thoroughly

0:21:33.149,0:21:40.169
familiar with the confessions and what[br]augustine says about the reading habits

0:21:40.169,0:21:45.529
of British Bishop Ambrose but just in[br]case you slipped slipped your mind let

0:21:45.529,0:21:54.009
me remind you quote from it when he was[br]reading his I glided over the pages and

0:21:54.009,0:21:58.640
his heart searched out the sense but his[br]voice

0:21:58.640,0:22:05.610
tongue where I rest we see the fact was[br]that silent reading was greeted with

0:22:05.610,0:22:13.240
incredible astonishment and it's an[br]indication that reading out loud was all

0:22:13.240,0:22:18.360
that people knew about for the almost[br]entirely until the advent of the

0:22:18.360,0:22:25.470
printing is highly legible typefaces[br]which made the process of decoding taxed

0:22:25.470,0:22:30.560
easier and faster print media also[br]amplified the written words biased

0:22:30.560,0:22:35.820
towards individualism and Privacy Act of[br]reading and writing especially when it's

0:22:35.820,0:22:42.260
silent requires a high degree of social[br]isolation as opposed to speaking and

0:22:42.260,0:22:48.000
listening which is a collective group[br]centered activity printing increased

0:22:48.000,0:22:53.320
access to information dramatically[br]leading to a knowledge explosion as well

0:22:53.320,0:22:58.800
as increased specialization and[br]standardization and easy access to the

0:22:58.800,0:23:04.720
accumulated knowledge of centuries past[br]facilitated scholar ship it spyridon

0:23:04.720,0:23:09.220
research and it led to the rise of[br]modern science and with it what became

0:23:09.220,0:23:14.160
known as the age of reason the[br]Enlightenment and printing created a

0:23:14.160,0:23:20.010
reading public which constitutes the[br]basis of democracy increased access to

0:23:20.010,0:23:24.630
political information made it hard to[br]argue that individuals don't know enough

0:23:24.630,0:23:29.670
to govern themselves so the breaking of[br]the state's monopoly of knowledge

0:23:29.670,0:23:35.040
resulted in the democratic revolutions[br]of the modern era as Thomas Carlyle Road

0:23:35.040,0:23:41.460
in the nineteenth century he who first[br]shorten the labor of copyist spy device

0:23:41.460,0:23:48.060
of movable types was disbanding hired[br]armies and cashiering most kings and

0:23:48.060,0:23:54.780
senate's and creating a whole new[br]democratic world I wish I could do in

0:23:54.780,0:24:00.430
English accent is that's really what[br]that requires but printing also fostered

0:24:00.430,0:24:07.060
it did foster centralized political[br]economic and social control and the

0:24:07.060,0:24:09.170
building of colonial empires

0:24:09.170,0:24:13.080
it also made possible the Enlightenment[br]ideals of political emancipation

0:24:13.080,0:24:19.390
self-determination equality before the[br]law along with a new emphasis on

0:24:19.390,0:24:26.590
individualism rationalism and scientific[br]method so out of the typographic media

0:24:26.590,0:24:30.820
environment come we came the[br]Enlightenment and out of the

0:24:30.820,0:24:35.530
Enlightenment result we have resulted in[br]the creation of the American republic

0:24:35.530,0:24:41.070
which is the first nation to be founded[br]on the basis of a reason

0:24:41.070,0:24:47.960
logical argument has put forth in the[br]Declaration of Independence now the 18th

0:24:47.960,0:24:52.270
century media environment was one in[br]which the spoken and written word

0:24:52.270,0:24:56.410
achieved a fruitful but a delicate[br]balance which is why they're given

0:24:56.410,0:25:02.050
special protection in the first[br]amendment freedom of speech freedom of

0:25:02.050,0:25:07.320
the press so what happened to public[br]discourse over the past century and a

0:25:07.320,0:25:13.530
half but we could boil it down to three[br]factors the first involves images from

0:25:13.530,0:25:17.880
the invention of photography to[br]subsequent developments and graphics

0:25:17.880,0:25:26.100
film television and video we do take it[br]into an image culture one in which

0:25:26.100,0:25:31.970
images have replaced and displaced words[br]as the philosopher Susanne Langer as

0:25:31.970,0:25:37.380
explained images do not make claims they[br]don't make arguments they don't put

0:25:37.380,0:25:42.990
forth statements or propositions if I[br]say that it's raining outside right now

0:25:42.990,0:25:48.590
you can look out there and determine[br]whether that's true or false you can

0:25:48.590,0:25:54.700
gather the evidence and image if I show[br]an image though what is it it's a

0:25:54.700,0:26:00.950
concrete representation if I show you a[br]picture of a ring of rain out there it's

0:26:00.950,0:26:06.560
neither true nor false it can be used as[br]evidence but it makes no claim about

0:26:06.560,0:26:07.960
anything

0:26:07.960,0:26:12.430
a picture can be tampered with it can be[br]airbrushed photoshopped but it's not a

0:26:12.430,0:26:18.470
fake until it's attached to a statement[br]the bias of the image as a symbolic form

0:26:18.470,0:26:21.810
favors gut feelings over rap

0:26:21.810,0:26:27.790
coherent organization of ideas it evokes[br]emotional reactions rather than rational

0:26:27.790,0:26:33.750
thought that's the first factor the[br]second is information and the problem is

0:26:33.750,0:26:39.220
that our capacity to transmit and store[br]information has continued to expand over

0:26:39.220,0:26:45.770
the past two centuries so that we find[br]ourselves in a time of TMI too much

0:26:45.770,0:26:52.440
information otherwise known as[br]information overload media professionals

0:26:52.440,0:26:57.140
are well aware of the problem of cutting[br]through all the noise and clutter but

0:26:57.140,0:27:02.320
for audiences the problem is making[br]sense of so much stimuli evaluating the

0:27:02.320,0:27:08.360
messages determining what small amount[br]of them is really relevant to us and

0:27:08.360,0:27:14.760
what small amount of those are[br]actionable the third factor is immediacy

0:27:14.760,0:27:20.180
beginning with the Telegraph electricity[br]made instantaneous transmission of

0:27:20.180,0:27:25.320
messages possible this contributes to[br]information overload and incoherence

0:27:25.320,0:27:29.940
there's no time to sort things out[br]especially as the acceleration of

0:27:29.940,0:27:35.730
communication favors rapid turnover[br]against any type of contextualization

0:27:35.730,0:27:41.310
and speed gives us an abbreviated form[br]of discourse the sort we associate with

0:27:41.310,0:27:46.730
the telegram the newspaper headline the[br]advertising slogan more recently the

0:27:46.730,0:27:52.770
text message status update in tweet[br]contemporary critics such as Nicholas

0:27:52.770,0:27:56.820
Carr know that there's a significant[br]amount of reading the takes place online

0:27:56.820,0:28:01.660
but it's not that deep reading[br]associated with print culture instead

0:28:01.660,0:28:06.700
it's a kind of rapid scanning and[br]skimming accompanied by a good deal of

0:28:06.700,0:28:12.670
linking and clicking speed also places a[br]new emphasis on efficiency which is

0:28:12.670,0:28:17.650
essentially a numbers game based on[br]measurement and statistical analysis and

0:28:17.650,0:28:22.750
in this sense the balance between the[br]spoken and written word comes under

0:28:22.750,0:28:28.660
assault from another direction in the[br]form of counting and calculation were

0:28:28.660,0:28:33.740
caught then between two extremes of[br]image and number of the irrational

0:28:33.740,0:28:39.320
and the hyper rational so images[br]information and immediacy come together

0:28:39.320,0:28:44.570
as never before with the medium of[br]television with television language

0:28:44.570,0:28:49.550
takes a back seat to the image as the[br]medium allows us to see what is

0:28:49.550,0:28:55.809
happening for ourselves as it is[br]happening the verbal report is no longer

0:28:55.809,0:29:00.210
the main source of information as it was[br]previously it

0:29:00.210,0:29:06.130
newspaper reports and even with radio[br]but now the purple report is reduced to

0:29:06.130,0:29:11.610
commentary coming after the fact of the[br]live image the difference between a

0:29:11.610,0:29:16.270
televised experience in the report can[br]be seen especially in the sports program

0:29:16.270,0:29:22.130
as Walter on pointed out the voice on a[br]live television sports broadcast lags

0:29:22.130,0:29:28.490
behind the audience's perceptions on[br]also argues the sense of immediacy is

0:29:28.490,0:29:34.470
central to the television forum I quote[br]not all television presentations are

0:29:34.470,0:29:41.200
simultaneous with reality but in a way[br]to pull television presentation seem to

0:29:41.200,0:29:46.590
be the fact that the instrument is[br]capable of such presentations defines

0:29:46.590,0:29:52.990
its impact so whereas for example the[br]motion picture always communicates in

0:29:52.990,0:29:57.620
the past and it's always something that[br]has happened already

0:29:57.620,0:30:03.970
the television broadcast communicates in[br]the present tense instilling in a very

0:30:03.970,0:30:10.940
strong form of present mindedness now[br]over the three decades that followed the

0:30:10.940,0:30:15.890
publication of amusing ourselves to[br]death Tirmidhi environment has evolved

0:30:15.890,0:30:20.070
through the vast expansion of the cable[br]and satellite and through the

0:30:20.070,0:30:24.440
popularization of the internet the[br]introduction of the web social media

0:30:24.440,0:30:30.280
media mobile technology and some had[br]hoped that our new media would counter

0:30:30.280,0:30:35.190
the negative effects of television but I[br]want to suggest that in many ways they

0:30:35.190,0:30:41.919
have much in common and as further[br]elaborations of electronic media but

0:30:41.919,0:30:46.970
let's consider our longest running[br]reality

0:30:46.970,0:30:51.780
shun series you know the one that with[br]the slogan that goes outwit outplay

0:30:51.780,0:30:59.710
outlast you know that one if you think[br]I'm referring to survivor the mistakes

0:30:59.710,0:31:04.200
understandable when actually referring[br]to could be called who wants to be the

0:31:04.200,0:31:08.080
president it's easy to confuse the two

0:31:08.080,0:31:14.970
both conclude with all but one player[br]being voted off the island and when so

0:31:14.970,0:31:19.159
much of our political campaigning is[br]played out on television is it any

0:31:19.159,0:31:23.700
wonder that the host of another reality[br]series The Apprentice could be our next

0:31:23.700,0:31:28.480
president this is despite the fact that[br]donald Trump has no government

0:31:28.480,0:31:34.500
experience offers platitudes in the[br]place of campaign platform and is not by

0:31:34.500,0:31:40.020
any traditional standards eloquence or[br]even all that coherent but he has a

0:31:40.020,0:31:45.860
decade of experience hosting The[br]Apprentice and long before that can

0:31:45.860,0:31:52.100
spent considerable time and effort on[br]publicity and self-promotion simply put

0:31:52.100,0:31:59.549
he knows and much like ronald reagan our[br]movie star turn president from the

0:31:59.549,0:32:06.840
eighties donald Trump knows how to look[br]into look into the camera how to talk to

0:32:06.840,0:32:11.870
the viewers he knows what works and what[br]doesn't work on the television screen

0:32:11.870,0:32:16.299
and this more than anything is the[br]reason for his early success in the

0:32:16.299,0:32:22.000
polls along with a certain ability to[br]use new media it's not to say that being

0:32:22.000,0:32:27.230
telegenic will guarantee victory but it[br]is to say that anyone who's not very

0:32:27.230,0:32:30.140
telegenic will pretty much go down in[br]defeat

0:32:30.140,0:32:36.250
regardless of their qualifications and[br]this includes this now incorporates the

0:32:36.250,0:32:42.559
use of new media and you can think back[br]to 2008 and the Obama girl YouTube video

0:32:42.559,0:32:48.570
and the way that Obama and now Trump has[br]very effectively used interacted with

0:32:48.570,0:32:53.380
campaign supporters through Twitter now[br]it may be hard to believe nowadays but

0:32:53.380,0:32:56.780
that was a time when appearing on an[br]entertainer

0:32:56.780,0:33:00.860
program was considered beneath the[br]dignity of apollo of a serious

0:33:00.860,0:33:06.500
politician really now it's a part of[br]every candidate's campaign strategy

0:33:06.500,0:33:11.510
fred thompson deter fred thompson just[br]passed away and it's worth noting in

0:33:11.510,0:33:19.360
2008 fred thompson whose previous career[br]was a film and television actor went on

0:33:19.360,0:33:23.500
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno to[br]declare his candidacy for the president

0:33:23.500,0:33:28.060
and he wasn't the first candidate to go[br]that route but he did this instead of

0:33:28.060,0:33:34.910
participating in the Republican primary[br]debate being held that same night as a

0:33:34.910,0:33:38.080
veteran of the big and small screen he[br]knew that a late night entertainment

0:33:38.080,0:33:43.790
program hosted by comedian would provide[br]him with a much better platform for

0:33:43.790,0:33:48.570
launching his campaign than discussing[br]issues with other politicians and who

0:33:48.570,0:33:53.450
can blame them it's simply a matter of[br]choosing which of two forms of

0:33:53.450,0:33:57.380
television programming he should go with[br]and selecting the one that has the

0:33:57.380,0:34:02.520
bigger audience in our current election[br]cycle being a guest on late night talk

0:34:02.520,0:34:03.330
shows

0:34:03.330,0:34:08.230
has become a routine for candidates as[br]routine as taking part in debates and

0:34:08.230,0:34:14.090
running political commercials and once[br]the election is over image politics

0:34:14.090,0:34:19.239
persists as part and parcel of governing[br]promoting policies and political

0:34:19.239,0:34:24.880
advocacy he's back in March of last year[br]President Obama appeared on the comedy

0:34:24.880,0:34:30.830
program hosted by Zach Galifianakis[br]right between two ferns and his

0:34:30.830,0:34:35.550
motivation was to urge young adults to[br]sign up for health care there's no

0:34:35.550,0:34:41.489
question that that program was highly[br]entertaining whole areas there's no

0:34:41.489,0:34:45.590
question that he was able to reach his[br]target audience the question now is

0:34:45.590,0:34:50.070
whether the message he was trying to[br]convey got through it all or whether it

0:34:50.070,0:34:54.770
was lost in the context of comedy in[br]stark has and the overarching question

0:34:54.770,0:35:01.220
is whether the learning of entertainment[br]and politics makes it all possible to

0:35:01.220,0:35:07.590
engage in the serious discourse that's[br]vital to our democracy you know thirty

0:35:07.590,0:35:08.730
years ago

0:35:08.730,0:35:12.830
broadcast journalists working on network[br]news complain that they had less than

0:35:12.830,0:35:17.580
half an hour to report on the day's[br]events they couldn't help but be much

0:35:17.580,0:35:22.370
more than the headline service so now we[br]have cable news channels with 24 hour

0:35:22.370,0:35:26.970
news cycles and we find that the[br]coverage is not that much different as

0:35:26.970,0:35:31.640
it turns out most people to an end to[br]cable stations news stations only for a

0:35:31.640,0:35:36.720
limited time so rather than lose viewers[br]they tend to provide repetition in place

0:35:36.720,0:35:37.430
of death

0:35:37.430,0:35:42.190
the news stories are also kept short out[br]of concern of losing the audience's

0:35:42.190,0:35:49.290
attention and essentially essentially[br]Fox News CNN and Ms MSNBC of all

0:35:49.290,0:35:54.690
discovered they can build larger[br]audiences by providing more entertaining

0:35:54.690,0:36:00.130
programming emphasizing dramatic[br]confrontations confrontations that

0:36:00.130,0:36:06.030
resemble not so much sort of pro and con[br]newspaper op-eds but more like

0:36:06.030,0:36:12.250
confrontations we see on televised[br]professional wrestling programs the old

0:36:12.250,0:36:17.650
adage in TV news was if it bleeds it[br]leads and that perfectly sums up the

0:36:17.650,0:36:22.360
fact that decisions on what stories to[br]report how much time to devote them and

0:36:22.360,0:36:27.490
where to place them in the broadcast are[br]heavily influenced by the presence or

0:36:27.490,0:36:32.440
absence of compelling footage and this[br]trend has been greatly amplified by the

0:36:32.440,0:36:37.240
availability of video recorded by[br]smartphones dashboard cameras

0:36:37.240,0:36:43.340
surveillance video and the like we find[br]that the caught on camera genre has

0:36:43.340,0:36:48.750
become a new kind of news program one[br]whose only rationale is 2% entertaining

0:36:48.750,0:36:54.340
video to attract audiences in this way[br]journalism is reduced to a spinoff of

0:36:54.340,0:36:59.520
America's Funniest Home Videos but why[br]not after all

0:36:59.520,0:37:05.320
television news programs are called[br]shows their show business they have

0:37:05.320,0:37:08.320
theme music is music

0:37:08.320,0:37:14.530
theme music for the newscasters wear[br]makeup they had their hair styled their

0:37:14.530,0:37:19.880
costumes appropriately they become[br]celebrities they appear on talk shows

0:37:19.880,0:37:23.820
the appear in fictional movies and TV[br]episodes

0:37:23.820,0:37:29.210
blurring the line between fiction and[br]nonfiction you know many viewers

0:37:29.210,0:37:35.450
lamented the loss of Brian Williams[br]whose main qualification as anchor the

0:37:35.450,0:37:39.760
NBC News was the fact that he looked and[br]sounded like a traditional network

0:37:39.760,0:37:46.630
anchor and acclaimed TV critic marvin[br]kitman refer to Williams is Brian the

0:37:46.630,0:37:52.020
mediocre and he called it described him[br]as someone a quote

0:37:52.020,0:37:56.130
who came across as a nice guy always[br]well-dressed but more of an actor /

0:37:56.130,0:38:02.980
model playing a newsman course it didn't[br]matter much by that time who took over

0:38:02.980,0:38:07.270
the anchor's chair cuz it was led by[br]that time was longer observed that most

0:38:07.270,0:38:12.460
young adults have been getting their[br]news from the monologues of late night

0:38:12.460,0:38:17.080
talk shows from Jay Leno and David[br]Letterman at the time you know Walter

0:38:17.080,0:38:23.500
Cronkite who anchored the CBS Evening[br]News from 6281 was commonly referred to

0:38:23.500,0:38:29.510
as the most trusted man in America but[br]if anyone could claim that title in

0:38:29.510,0:38:34.330
recent years I think it would be Jon[br]Stewart host of The Comedy Central cable

0:38:34.330,0:38:39.520
program The Daily Show and of course[br]Stewart like leno letterman in others as

0:38:39.520,0:38:45.440
a comedian not a journalist which you[br]know certain got to ask if so many

0:38:45.440,0:38:49.960
people get their news from comedians[br]that mean the journalism has become a

0:38:49.960,0:38:55.110
joke and I think it's particularly[br]telling that when Stewart announced that

0:38:55.110,0:38:59.160
he was leaving the Daily Show earlier[br]this year you know who want to the name

0:38:59.160,0:39:06.680
was mentioned about who might take over[br]forum Brian Williams I should add that

0:39:06.680,0:39:11.750
it's not at all clear that new media[br]provide an adequate substitute Twitter

0:39:11.750,0:39:16.240
simply gives us a new form of[br]telegraphic discourse while YouTube

0:39:16.240,0:39:21.800
Instagram our new manifestations of[br]image culture the internet contributes

0:39:21.800,0:39:27.020
in a major way to information overload[br]and does not provide a forum for shared

0:39:27.020,0:39:32.170
a shared forum for discussion and[br]deliberation really what it does is it

0:39:32.170,0:39:37.870
situates us in isolated silos that[br]intensify the divisions in american

0:39:37.870,0:39:39.450
society

0:39:39.450,0:39:45.940
offer contrast the recent visit of Pope[br]Francis to the united states right the

0:39:45.940,0:39:51.110
leader of the Roman Catholic Church is a[br]serious individual who communicates a

0:39:51.110,0:39:57.460
strong sense of dignity compassion and[br]moral authority he's not someone who was

0:39:57.460,0:40:03.000
chosen because of his ability to perform[br]for the television camera or to share or

0:40:03.000,0:40:08.610
his willingness to share personal[br]details via social media he's not a

0:40:08.610,0:40:14.020
celebrity not an entertainer and I want[br]to tell you that I personally was very

0:40:14.020,0:40:19.940
moved by the Interfaith service that he[br]led at the 911 memorial back in

0:40:19.940,0:40:25.790
September but I have to confess that I[br]watched it on CNN was sitting on the

0:40:25.790,0:40:32.510
couch in the living room wearing pyjamas[br]sipping coffee and eating a bagel and

0:40:32.510,0:40:36.680
when it was over I change the channel

0:40:36.680,0:40:43.020
how different then was that experience[br]from watching appointment moving on HBO

0:40:43.020,0:40:49.150
what happens to religious experience[br]when it becomes televised or tweeted or

0:40:49.150,0:40:55.480
Instagram as Walter on the explains[br]sound is intimately connected to our

0:40:55.480,0:40:58.910
sense of the sacred the human voice

0:40:58.910,0:41:04.420
the most distinct and unique element of[br]the human person is produced by breath

0:41:04.420,0:41:10.250
which is closely associated with life[br]itself in hebrew the words for breath

0:41:10.250,0:41:17.370
and winds are synonymous with spirit and[br]soul both human and divine it is worth

0:41:17.370,0:41:22.170
asking therefore if it makes a[br]difference if the voices heard in song

0:41:22.170,0:41:28.890
and prayer are breathless in a sense of[br]being electronically disembodied the

0:41:28.890,0:41:34.090
problem is always as one of context[br]participating in a religious ritual

0:41:34.090,0:41:39.490
Lisa sauce in a special context that's[br]different from all about context it

0:41:39.490,0:41:44.140
situates us in the distinct media[br]environment one that asks us to play

0:41:44.140,0:41:49.800
different roles and play by different[br]sets of rules whether the location is a

0:41:49.800,0:41:55.950
church a synagogue temple or mosque or[br]outdoors religious experiences Mirchi

0:41:55.950,0:42:02.320
Aliotti explains is characterized by a[br]sense of sacred space and sacred time

0:42:02.320,0:42:08.630
separate and distinct from profane space[br]and time into the deep meaning of

0:42:08.630,0:42:14.700
sanctification and consecration traced[br]back to the Hebrew word Kadosh is to set

0:42:14.700,0:42:20.980
up heart to differentiate so what[br]happens to our sense of sacred space and

0:42:20.980,0:42:27.470
time when congregants in the pews here a[br]cell phone ringing receive text messages

0:42:27.470,0:42:33.790
or even stop to answer them our[br]experience of the sacred is associated

0:42:33.790,0:42:40.810
with the still small voice of God as[br]described in the Bible with quiet and

0:42:40.810,0:42:46.770
silenced many religions incorporate some[br]form of silent prayer in their worship

0:42:46.770,0:42:53.850
services and silences in to grow to[br]contemplation and meditation during the

0:42:53.850,0:42:58.540
20th century especially in the aftermath[br]of the second world war there was quite

0:42:58.540,0:43:05.150
a bit of discussion about concerning[br]what was referred to as God's silence

0:43:05.150,0:43:11.150
and on suggested that it may not be so[br]much that God is stop start speaking to

0:43:11.150,0:43:16.290
us as it is that our electronic media[br]generates so much noise that we've

0:43:16.290,0:43:21.780
drowned out that still small voice now[br]whether religious spiritual experiences

0:43:21.780,0:43:26.570
conceived of as communion with something[br]greater than ourselves whether it's a

0:43:26.570,0:43:31.900
personal day D or transcendent[br]understanding of the universe whether

0:43:31.900,0:43:37.210
it's just a matter of an inner journey a[br]soul-searching sort simply an effort to

0:43:37.210,0:43:43.130
better understand our own minds and[br]consciousness the loss of silence in the

0:43:43.130,0:43:44.790
constant deluge

0:43:44.790,0:43:50.150
of distractions can be nothing short of[br]devastating to our collective spiritual

0:43:50.150,0:43:56.230
health as well as our prospects for[br]cultural survival now when it comes to

0:43:56.230,0:44:00.110
education schooling has always been[br]about learning to read and write

0:44:00.110,0:44:04.540
television in the electronic media offer[br]us a different and incompatible

0:44:04.540,0:44:09.700
curriculum and so it's worth asking if[br]it's in the best interests of young

0:44:09.700,0:44:14.860
children to spend time playing with[br]tablets and smartphones and watching

0:44:14.860,0:44:23.350
programs such as Teletubbies poop and Yo[br]Gabba Gabba you know cable television is

0:44:23.350,0:44:28.380
given a specialized educational[br]programming via the National Geographic

0:44:28.380,0:44:32.290
Channel The History Channel the[br]Discovery Channel this is private

0:44:32.290,0:44:37.510
provided a wonderful avenue for the[br]dissemination of documentaries but what

0:44:37.510,0:44:44.220
audiences are specially drawn to our[br]programs such as moonshiners ancient

0:44:44.220,0:44:53.770
aliens UFO files and then Estrada mass[br]effect on the Animal Planet channel two

0:44:53.770,0:45:02.270
specials entitled mermaids the body[br]found and mermaids the new evidence he

0:45:02.270,0:45:06.380
gave the cable outlet its highest[br]ratings in its seventeen year history

0:45:06.380,0:45:12.500
and these fake documentaries were[br]assumed to be real by many so many

0:45:12.500,0:45:18.140
viewers so many viewers that they[br]prompted the National Oceanic and

0:45:18.140,0:45:23.450
Atmospheric Administration to issue an[br]official statement stating that mermaids

0:45:23.450,0:45:32.760
do not actually exist it's almost too[br]easy it's just too easy but I'll do to

0:45:32.760,0:45:38.390
mention the learning channel TLC which[br]achieved its highest ratings by turning

0:45:38.390,0:45:45.450
to reality programs such as toddlers in[br]tiaras and its notorious spinoff here

0:45:45.450,0:45:51.730
comes honey boo boo you know the most[br]recent fad in higher education has been

0:45:51.730,0:45:56.410
the massive open online course[br]abbreviated as much

0:45:56.410,0:46:02.080
a move can contain as many as 100,000[br]students that raises the question of in

0:46:02.080,0:46:08.130
what census muka course what sense is[br]the instructor really teaching it's

0:46:08.130,0:46:14.660
revealing I believe that the acronym[br]move is a variation on other new media

0:46:14.660,0:46:23.820
terms such as mmm RPG that stands for a[br]massive multiplayer online role-playing

0:46:23.820,0:46:28.900
game in other words the primary[br]connection is with gaming not schooling

0:46:28.900,0:46:34.090
and came in can be educational but the[br]question is can learning be reduced to a

0:46:34.090,0:46:42.160
game or are we talking about grand theft[br]education well as another in variation

0:46:42.160,0:46:47.270
on the inside that the medium is the[br]message Hannah Arendt insisted that I

0:46:47.270,0:46:54.860
quote there are no dangerous thoughts[br]thinking itself is dangerous so the

0:46:54.860,0:47:00.220
question we're left with is to all of[br]our amazing new media technologies allow

0:47:00.220,0:47:05.870
us the space in the time to pause and[br]reflect and think things over here is

0:47:05.870,0:47:11.120
our ability to think drowned out in a[br]flood of images and noise and pushed

0:47:11.120,0:47:16.230
aside in favor of calculation and[br]automation at this point you might

0:47:16.230,0:47:21.290
imagine that if we could travel back in[br]time and show benjamin Franklin how

0:47:21.290,0:47:26.390
things turned out he might have put his[br]kite back in his closet and not ventured

0:47:26.390,0:47:32.400
out into that thunderstorm to unleash[br]the power of electricity but I think

0:47:32.400,0:47:37.010
it's more likely that he would have sat[br]down to write up some ideas about how we

0:47:37.010,0:47:42.490
might still be able to keep our republic[br]what we would have to do to counter the

0:47:42.490,0:47:47.470
bias ease of the brave new world his[br]discovery would unleash it would begin

0:47:47.470,0:47:53.690
with something along the lines of McCune[br]statement mcluhan wrote there is no

0:47:53.690,0:47:59.480
inevitability as long as there is a[br]willingness to contemplate what is

0:47:59.480,0:48:06.050
happening with you see contemplating the[br]contemporary media environment is one of

0:48:06.050,0:48:08.620
the main purposes of media

0:48:08.620,0:48:14.480
ecology scholarship and as for postin he[br]was well aware of the flaws and failures

0:48:14.480,0:48:20.240
of american society but as a proponent[br]of Enlightenment ideals he believed in

0:48:20.240,0:48:25.090
its promise and potential to do agree he[br]would agree with abraham Lincoln's

0:48:25.090,0:48:29.770
characterization of the American[br]experiment is the last best hope on

0:48:29.770,0:48:36.450
earth but it also echo lincoln's[br]concerned about a nation so on happily

0:48:36.450,0:48:41.650
distracted but now it's not the horror[br]of civil war that has sidetracked us

0:48:41.650,0:48:46.870
rather we find ourselves diverted from a[br]higher calling but a constant stream of

0:48:46.870,0:48:52.750
entertainment information and innovation[br]post comments argument speak to the

0:48:52.750,0:48:58.110
future of humanity in its entirety[br]especially in this era of convergence

0:48:58.110,0:49:03.450
and globalization and again it comes[br]down to the question can we think and

0:49:03.450,0:49:09.080
can we talk about what we're doing and[br]where we're going we live in the midst

0:49:09.080,0:49:14.420
of a temp this by which I refer to the[br]turbulent nature of the electronic media

0:49:14.420,0:49:21.240
environment as it's a digital[br]technologies wave after wave of changes

0:49:21.240,0:49:26.280
to our mode of communication and[br]interaction or tools for thought and

0:49:26.280,0:49:32.080
social action have altered and continue[br]to alter our societies and cultures as

0:49:32.080,0:49:37.210
well as our psyches and ourselves as[br]human beings we are certainly well

0:49:37.210,0:49:42.670
equipped to survive a passing storm but[br]it's far from clear whether we can build

0:49:42.670,0:49:48.770
a sustainable way of life in the midst[br]of permanent upheaval be a natural or

0:49:48.770,0:49:54.200
cultural how are we to survive while[br]keeping our humanity intact that's the

0:49:54.200,0:49:59.050
fundamental question raised by postman[br]and by the field of inquiry he called

0:49:59.050,0:50:04.200
media ecology now there's no turning[br]back the clock no point in arguing that

0:50:04.200,0:50:09.330
we abandon our media and technology and[br]try to retrieve an earlier age or less

0:50:09.330,0:50:15.620
advanced way of life nor does it make[br]sense to deny that there are legitimate

0:50:15.620,0:50:19.260
benefits that are inventions have[br]brought us what we need to do

0:50:19.260,0:50:24.230
then is to engage in concerted[br]evaluation of what we're doing how we go

0:50:24.230,0:50:29.180
about doing it to carefully weigh the[br]costs and benefits of our technologies

0:50:29.180,0:50:35.240
to consider what are the appropriate[br]uses of our media and what uses might be

0:50:35.240,0:50:40.890
inappropriate to proceed with caution[br]understanding that our innovations will

0:50:40.890,0:50:44.900
always result in unanticipated affects[br]many of them

0:50:44.900,0:50:50.170
undesirable and to provide just a few[br]practical suggestions we need to

0:50:50.170,0:50:56.050
strengthen our commitment to the spoken[br]word to conversation public speaking and

0:50:56.050,0:51:02.230
oral performance and reading out land as[br]well we need to place greater emphasis

0:51:02.230,0:51:07.450
on the written word on literacy and the[br]practice of deep and sustained reading

0:51:07.450,0:51:13.810
that requires significant periods of[br]quiet time at which takes effort so one

0:51:13.810,0:51:19.350
example is the pioneering efforts of the[br]movement to observe a weekly technology

0:51:19.350,0:51:23.510
sabbath write a day when you turn[br]everything off

0:51:23.510,0:51:27.640
ultimately though what's needed is[br]cultural change and that ought to

0:51:27.640,0:51:32.400
include strengthening the four[br]cornerstones of the American American

0:51:32.400,0:51:37.680
experiment all of which were products of[br]literate culture and the typographic

0:51:37.680,0:51:43.380
media environment that is democratic[br]politics a free press

0:51:43.380,0:51:50.620
religion and schooling as Shakespeare's[br]play The Tempest includes the line 0

0:51:50.620,0:51:55.470
brave new world that has such people in[br]it and that's where huxley took the

0:51:55.470,0:52:01.420
title of his prophetic novel[br]shakespeare's main character prospero is

0:52:01.420,0:52:07.430
a powerful sorcerer living in exile and[br]like prospero we possessed extraordinary

0:52:07.430,0:52:11.320
powers through the use of media and[br]technologies that are nothing short of

0:52:11.320,0:52:17.810
magical shakespeare concludes his play[br]with prospero finally willing to give up

0:52:17.810,0:52:23.830
his sorcery in order to embrace the[br]world of rationality and reconciliation

0:52:23.830,0:52:29.780
with family and community can we do the[br]same perhaps not entirely abandoning or

0:52:29.780,0:52:32.130
gifts but being mindful of their[br]contacts

0:52:32.130,0:52:39.290
and our need for balance to once again[br]invoke ecclesiastes there is a time to

0:52:39.290,0:52:44.890
weep and a time to laugh at time to[br]mourn and a time to dance time to

0:52:44.890,0:52:50.920
embrace and a time to refrain from[br]embracing a time to keep silent and a

0:52:50.920,0:52:58.100
time to speak but promised that the[br]electronic media environment we inhabit

0:52:58.100,0:53:06.500
in that environment the time is always a[br]uniform 24 7 365 and the season never

0:53:06.500,0:53:11.450
changes so can we make the time and can[br]we create what mcluhan referred to as

0:53:11.450,0:53:17.240
counter environments safe spaces where[br]the biases of the electronic media to

0:53:17.240,0:53:23.500
not hold sway such as can be found in[br]sanctuaries and sacred spaces in schools

0:53:23.500,0:53:30.070
classrooms and sites devoted to art and[br]creative expression against the fact

0:53:30.070,0:53:35.250
that we've been fiddling around as we[br]are amusing in forming an amazing

0:53:35.250,0:53:42.160
ourselves to death can we find the means[br]the method the way to start speaking and

0:53:42.160,0:53:47.910
thinking and teaching ourselves back to[br]life that's the question I leave you

0:53:47.910,0:54:35.660
with thank you very much

0:54:35.660,0:54:49.240
well I think that when you talk about[br]journalist says as people some are some

0:54:49.240,0:54:55.450
of them are are very much on the side of[br]cultural change some of them lament the

0:54:55.450,0:54:56.869
situation

0:54:56.869,0:55:01.390
postman's book amusing ourselves to[br]death was one of five books that tom

0:55:01.390,0:55:06.809
brokaw he was the guy who was the anchor[br]of NBC Nightly News before Brian

0:55:06.809,0:55:12.440
Williams the email listed five books[br]that every journalist should read and

0:55:12.440,0:55:17.180
amusing ourselves to death was the only[br]book that wasn't specifically about

0:55:17.180,0:55:23.910
journalism so I and that critique was[br]very popular among serious journalists

0:55:23.910,0:55:30.270
but you know the problem they face is[br]that is organizational where they're not

0:55:30.270,0:55:38.299
able to do what they want to do so I[br]wouldn't put the blame on on journalists

0:55:38.299,0:55:43.990
but I get there is this kind of[br]technique that goes with the whole

0:55:43.990,0:55:52.460
organization of media industries that[br]pushes them towards working with the

0:55:52.460,0:55:59.160
bias of the media not against it so I[br]mean the answer from a democratic point

0:55:59.160,0:56:04.220
of view is it's us we're the ones who[br]you know I was a Gundy said be the

0:56:04.220,0:56:09.289
change you want to see in the world and[br]I think you know also echoing post

0:56:09.289,0:56:14.829
minute and others education is very much[br]a part of it that it starts through

0:56:14.829,0:56:20.119
education it's what we try to do and[br]what we try to instill in our students

0:56:20.119,0:56:27.680
the you know anyone to hold out some[br]hope because in some folks take from

0:56:27.680,0:56:32.470
this you know conclude that it is[br]hopeless I think it's difficult it may

0:56:32.470,0:56:39.529
take something catastrophic to wake[br]people up but at the very least there's

0:56:39.529,0:56:45.740
the idea of let's preserve something of[br]you know in the sense of when you have

0:56:45.740,0:56:49.170
dark ages at least let's have some[br]places

0:56:49.170,0:57:29.210
those where people are still enlightened[br]and and certainly it starts with schools

0:57:29.210,0:57:35.670
thanks you know I I try I felt like I[br]was saying I was writing this I felt

0:57:35.670,0:57:41.550
like how many times should I say that[br]there are benefits and it's i mean but

0:57:41.550,0:57:49.710
and the problem is that the benefits are[br]clear to people for the most part and

0:57:49.710,0:57:57.080
the problem is recognizing the cost but[br]certainly access to information can be

0:57:57.080,0:58:05.460
very advantageous and can be with[br]parading the ability for people to

0:58:05.460,0:58:14.070
organize I think it is a very powerful[br]benefit of the new media so that people

0:58:14.070,0:58:19.990
who are there's a kind of empowering[br]people who are on the margins and able

0:58:19.990,0:58:26.210
to to organize themselves for political[br]action so I mean I think there are

0:58:26.210,0:58:35.760
definite benefits that what you're[br]asking and it but I think that you know

0:58:35.760,0:58:39.870
again I mean what we find is that people[br]really to do all those benefits i mean

0:58:39.870,0:58:43.870
you know how many times have you heard[br]how much access to know how wonderful it

0:58:43.870,0:58:49.460
is that you can say hey Google and get[br]whatever the answer to any question you

0:58:49.460,0:58:58.690
have everyone knows that that's that's[br]that's easy you know and I perhaps less

0:58:58.690,0:59:03.260
obvious but I think you know certainly[br]significant is the fact of people being

0:59:03.260,0:59:08.400
able to connect with one another and[br]especially for individuals who feel

0:59:08.400,0:59:13.980
isolated from one reason or another that[br]that's a powerful boon for the problem

0:59:13.980,0:59:18.170
really comes down to how to find that[br]balance and how to say no because we

0:59:18.170,0:59:22.230
just have this tendency to just keep[br]going in the same direction and keep

0:59:22.230,0:59:23.820
going and keep going

0:59:23.820,0:59:31.300
Joseph wise and pound he was the head of[br]a professor of computing at MIT back in

0:59:31.300,0:59:36.440
the sixties he created one of the first[br]artificial intelligence programs little

0:59:36.440,0:59:38.350
program called allies

0:59:38.350,0:59:44.520
mimicked a psycho rosier aryan[br]psychotherapist and just reflected back

0:59:44.520,0:59:48.200
what people were saying and he found any[br]thought that this was just like a goof

0:59:48.200,0:59:54.160
and then he found that a lot of people[br]in this office we're like leave me alone

0:59:54.160,0:59:59.740
I'm talking to allies and and you know[br]and even worse that the American

0:59:59.740,1:00:05.670
Psychological Association hearing about[br]this came out with this idea that

1:00:05.670,1:00:10.680
wouldn't it be wonderful if we had[br]computer kiosks so anyone in need to go

1:00:10.680,1:00:16.930
to one and get psychotherapy and wise[br]and pound said usually worry we don't

1:00:16.930,1:00:23.090
use too much thought you said just[br]because we can to something ought we to

1:00:23.090,1:00:29.950
do it right and that's the question we[br]don't so that's why I mean I think the

1:00:29.950,1:00:36.000
question is what's appropriate what's[br]the appropriate use and I think that's a

1:00:36.000,1:00:38.420
reasonable question what is appropriate

1:00:38.420,1:00:42.080
what's not appropriate

1:00:42.080,1:00:45.950
the other side of it is what's effective[br]and what's not effective in these two or

1:00:45.950,1:00:51.190
not don't go together because sometimes[br]what's effective is you know may be good

1:00:51.190,1:01:48.730
for the immediate purpose but not in the[br]long run so I can see that

1:01:48.730,1:01:57.670
what's appropriate right i mean we all[br]know the phenomenon of spending all your

1:01:57.670,1:02:04.030
time taking pictures and not experience[br]what's what's actually going on so I

1:02:04.030,1:02:14.860
mcluhan in particular so are as as[br]essential and as away as a kind of way

1:02:14.860,1:02:20.370
way to educate ourselves about media[br]because he believed that he argued that

1:02:20.370,1:02:27.590
media were extensions of our senses art[br]speaks to our senses and helps us to see

1:02:27.590,1:02:36.340
how are using our senses so this is not[br]so much about art but you know again we

1:02:36.340,1:02:43.790
wouldn't expect against talk about[br]democracy for example we wouldn't expect

1:02:43.790,1:02:51.740
that a treaty is negotiated on a week we[br]don't find the question of how to deal

1:02:51.740,1:02:59.060
with Iran way out of that threw me[br]through art I mean it's a different it's

1:02:59.060,1:03:03.830
not the appropriate medium or the[br]appropriate approach to do that sort of

1:03:03.830,1:03:10.070
thing so it's not about art so much as[br]it is about knowing when it's time for

1:03:10.070,1:03:13.870
art and when it's time for something[br]else

1:03:13.870,1:03:14.870
22

1:03:14.870,1:03:49.240
be employed

1:03:49.240,1:04:01.100
one hand it's just a progression and[br]it's not that newspapers where three of

1:04:01.100,1:04:07.160
criticism they had their faults as well[br]but then reading the news and print had

1:04:07.160,1:04:12.869
a different set of biases than seeing it[br]on television so it's a natural

1:04:12.869,1:04:19.810
progression from nightly news to comedy[br]programs because they really are about

1:04:19.810,1:04:26.890
eliciting responses gathering audiences[br]eliciting responses rather than trying

1:04:26.890,1:04:35.190
to arrange things in a coherent and[br]logical manner so it's all relative so I

1:04:35.190,1:04:42.880
mean compared to what used to be the[br]nightly news it's it's further sliding

1:04:42.880,1:04:48.880
further downhill but it's not that the[br]nightly news was that was particularly a

1:04:48.880,1:04:54.670
great way to get news either you know[br]there was a time when no serious person

1:04:54.670,1:04:59.420
would say that they got their news only[br]from television if you ever heard of the

1:04:59.420,1:05:04.740
the novel being there by Jerzy Kosinski[br]the movie they made out of it it was

1:05:04.740,1:05:11.410
like the big joke in the novel was that[br]this one fellow says I like to watch and

1:05:11.410,1:05:15.540
that people said it's so refreshing to[br]see someone who says they get their news

1:05:15.540,1:05:19.420
from television actually read it into[br]the character but I don't know if you if

1:05:19.420,1:05:25.520
you remember or noticed a man who is[br]this moment when Katie Couric was

1:05:25.520,1:05:29.100
interviewing Sarah Palin and she says[br]well where do you get your news from

1:05:29.100,1:05:33.530
what newspapers do you read and she[br]couldn't answer to all I read all of

1:05:33.530,1:05:34.390
them right

1:05:34.390,1:05:38.170
could tell she was just bullshitting[br]right i mean that she couldn't answer

1:05:38.170,1:05:45.890
and more recently I forget who was it[br]someone asked a trump you know what

1:05:45.890,1:05:49.680
who are as military involved Bazar what[br]does he get his military advice from an

1:05:49.680,1:05:57.580
800 i watch the shows I mean this is a[br]problem it's also a problem by the way

1:05:57.580,1:06:00.410
as PowerPoint which is also saw the[br]usual

1:06:00.410,1:06:05.030
medium no supe seriously they found this[br]a major problem for the military

1:06:05.030,1:06:10.090
that the pentagon there they look at the[br]power points they don't get the

1:06:10.090,1:06:14.760
explanation and they think they have[br]that's what people say it's also in

1:06:14.760,1:06:20.290
business they say oh I mister talking I[br]C you can you know Casey your PowerPoint

1:06:20.290,1:06:30.580
and its abbreviated its visual but they[br]don't get the context

1:06:30.580,1:06:44.730
condemnation

1:06:44.730,1:08:00.140
story is the latest version and of[br]course what can be harder than trying to

1:08:00.140,1:08:07.470
get a young child to sit still I mean it[br]goes completely against the grain

1:08:07.470,1:08:12.859
you know that's why we have to learning[br]to read and write is completely

1:08:12.859,1:08:18.130
artificial learning to speak and listen[br]isn't that's natural to us reading and

1:08:18.130,1:08:23.080
writing is artificial and its fragile[br]for that great reason to keep trying to

1:08:23.080,1:08:29.680
find ways to make it fun and you know[br]and get some game applications just the

1:08:29.680,1:08:35.109
latest version of that and the problem[br]is that with all these attempts to use

1:08:35.109,1:08:39.810
formats whether it's that or sesame[br]street and posting was an early critic

1:08:39.810,1:08:45.270
of Sesame Street as being all about[br]advertising formats you know that it

1:08:45.270,1:08:48.450
really was more about that than anything[br]else

1:08:48.450,1:08:53.560
it teaches that's what it teaches that[br]you know it's the manner not

1:08:53.560,1:09:00.339
content so it teaches game playing and I[br]love playing games I spent when I was

1:09:00.339,1:09:04.910
younger I spent many a late night on[br]computer games in and I still play like

1:09:04.910,1:09:09.319
plants vs zombies and in some of these[br]other games not angry birds they're

1:09:09.319,1:09:15.920
stupid but you know but they're not that[br]that's what they teach you they teach

1:09:15.920,1:09:20.890
you how to play games and that's very[br]different from learning to read and

1:09:20.890,1:09:25.660
write I tell you when I was two years[br]ago and posting was still alive I was

1:09:25.660,1:09:32.319
teaching and M a class and I had him in[br]as a guest lecturer he was my mentor or

1:09:32.319,1:09:40.500
and really friends and I wanted to play[br]devil's advocate so I and my son was

1:09:40.500,1:09:46.850
just a few years old they said you know[br]he's watching he's watching Sesame

1:09:46.850,1:09:51.149
Street and he's learning letters and[br]numbers from Sesame Street and postman

1:09:51.149,1:09:56.960
said well you know lance and they're[br]only 26 letters in the alphabet and

1:09:56.960,1:10:01.510
children have been able to learn this[br]for thousands of years without the

1:10:01.510,1:10:08.590
benefit of television and that's really[br]the case so you know i mean it's very

1:10:08.590,1:10:09.880
hard to do

1:10:09.880,1:10:18.060
education is very hard so you know where[br]we love to look for technologies to try

1:10:18.060,1:10:23.580
to make it easyer but in the end it's[br]the teacher and the student that's what

1:10:23.580,1:10:24.360
it comes down to