I never really thought about the argument of print versus television until I read this article. Neil Postman put up some excellent points on why print is important to our lives. But Camille Paglia had some excellent points of her own. While Postman;s points made me think that books have more reason than television. “By its nature, reading teaches us reason. Television, with its random, unconnected images, works against this linear tradition and breaks the habits of logic and thinking.” It was still Paglias’s argument that Television is often misinterpreted and my biasness to the television that led to Paglia winning me over. Paglia did not have to much to win me over, I LOVE TV.
Early in the defense of television Paglia argued that television is important in everyday life no matter if we like it or not. “Television is the culture”. Paglia also talked about how people mainly adults often talk about children not learning anything from watching television, but children often do recall many of the facts they learn on television rather than what they read from a book. I agree with Paglia when she says “We are born into an imagistic and pagan culture ruled by TV.” To end the article she talks about enlighting the children in our schools, so that can understand the logocentric and apollonian side of their world.
2 comments:
I also love TV and am guilty of watching it mindlessly for hours. But for me, it is because I can engage in such mindless, zoned out activity, that I take such issue with Paglia's argument. The TV is a part of our culture, but if it is relied on to much and the written word is discarded too carelessly, then we will lose our capacity not only for empathy but also for imagination (when you are forced to create your own image and view).
I completely agree with the bias opinion towards television before reading the two arguments. However, putting my bias aside in this argument in particular I just felt that Postman's argument was much more structured and she did a better job defending her argument. I still agree with you though I think the TV, has more effect on our culture and everday life more than print these days. I just feel that I dont know whether that is a positive thing or not.
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