Comments on: Amusing Ourselves to Death http://theyomen.com/2008/12/15/amusing-ourselves-to-death/ Reflection on ancient and contemporary worship and literature. Thu, 24 Dec 2009 02:15:25 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: Amira http://theyomen.com/2008/12/15/amusing-ourselves-to-death/comment-page-1/#comment-506 Amira Wed, 17 Dec 2008 01:10:29 +0000 http://theyomen.com/?p=109#comment-506 The book is by Jane Healey called " Endangered Minds, why children don't think and what we can do about it" Amazon , of course , has it. As to the politicians, maybe the best we can hope for are short term decisions, for the very reasons outlined, which do the least harm. I suspect the fairly centrist team coming in in Jan will be quite good at that. Obviously combined with the fact that the country is broke, we may be in for a little common sense. The book is by Jane Healey called ” Endangered Minds, why children don’t think and what we can do about it” Amazon , of course , has it.
As to the politicians, maybe the best we can hope for are short term decisions, for the very reasons outlined, which do the least harm. I suspect the fairly centrist team coming in in Jan will be quite good at that. Obviously combined with the fact that the country is broke, we may be in for a little common sense.

]]> By: Steven K http://theyomen.com/2008/12/15/amusing-ourselves-to-death/comment-page-1/#comment-504 Steven K Tue, 16 Dec 2008 19:32:19 +0000 http://theyomen.com/?p=109#comment-504 Adam, for the same reasons you state above, I fear that the country will only stand behind Obama for so long. Our present problems and situation will take good policies and sound leadership and management to solve, but I think the most abundant ingredient needed in the mix labeled "solution" is time. I fear that the country, though we may be learning to consume less fuel (at the moment) and be more wise with our money and resources, has not yet learned to allow time for healing. The progressive anti-religious side of humanity loves to poke fun at our hope and faith in God, but at the end of the day I think they just have a different messiah (which changes every month). Adam, for the same reasons you state above, I fear that the country will only stand behind Obama for so long. Our present problems and situation will take good policies and sound leadership and management to solve, but I think the most abundant ingredient needed in the mix labeled “solution” is time. I fear that the country, though we may be learning to consume less fuel (at the moment) and be more wise with our money and resources, has not yet learned to allow time for healing. The progressive anti-religious side of humanity loves to poke fun at our hope and faith in God, but at the end of the day I think they just have a different messiah (which changes every month).

]]> By: Adam B. http://theyomen.com/2008/12/15/amusing-ourselves-to-death/comment-page-1/#comment-503 Adam B. Tue, 16 Dec 2008 17:36:44 +0000 http://theyomen.com/?p=109#comment-503 Amira, I have heard of this effect but I have never read anything about it. I will be looking forward to your book. When I try to think about how much politicians understand what they are doing I can't help but conclude that most things are done for the sake of appearance. Good policies get sabotaged by one party so the other party will not get the credit, only to be picked up again by the first when they are in power. Given the complexity of the issues and the seemingly obvious fact that politicians are always trying to manipulate us to stay in power, I can only conclude that even if politicians do understand what they are doing they will still only act based on what the public will perceive to be a good or bad decision. This usually limits them to only making decisions that look good in the immediate future while showing no concern for the long term. Long term thinkers are praised by history but swiftly booted out of office. If it can't be discussed and solved in 30 minutes (minus 8 minutes of commercial breaks, of course) we don't want to hear about it. And you better give us a tax credit in the meantime. Amira,
I have heard of this effect but I have never read anything about it. I will be looking forward to your book.
When I try to think about how much politicians understand what they are doing I can’t help but conclude that most things are done for the sake of appearance. Good policies get sabotaged by one party so the other party will not get the credit, only to be picked up again by the first when they are in power. Given the complexity of the issues and the seemingly obvious fact that politicians are always trying to manipulate us to stay in power, I can only conclude that even if politicians do understand what they are doing they will still only act based on what the public will perceive to be a good or bad decision. This usually limits them to only making decisions that look good in the immediate future while showing no concern for the long term. Long term thinkers are praised by history but swiftly booted out of office. If it can’t be discussed and solved in 30 minutes (minus 8 minutes of commercial breaks, of course) we don’t want to hear about it. And you better give us a tax credit in the meantime.

]]> By: Amira http://theyomen.com/2008/12/15/amusing-ourselves-to-death/comment-page-1/#comment-502 Amira Tue, 16 Dec 2008 05:30:11 +0000 http://theyomen.com/?p=109#comment-502 On the topic of Sesame St and the like, I read a book, which when I get it back I will reference for you, which showed that that type of TV, ie quick 2 second bites of info with high visual impact, actually change your brain, hence the huge increase in ADD etc. Fascinating research. On the topic of Sesame St and the like, I read a book, which when I get it back I will reference for you, which showed that that type of TV, ie quick 2 second bites of info with high visual impact, actually change your brain, hence the huge increase in ADD etc.
Fascinating research.

]]> By: Amira http://theyomen.com/2008/12/15/amusing-ourselves-to-death/comment-page-1/#comment-501 Amira Tue, 16 Dec 2008 00:15:50 +0000 http://theyomen.com/?p=109#comment-501 I think Steve said it right. I would say I was well informed by todays standards, 3 weekly magazines from 3 viewpoints and 2 newsources also from different viewpoints, but do I really understand what is going on? Do I understanad the ins and outs or am I just regurgitating opinions and other peoples ideas? I suspect most everyone has next to no idea of the complexity of the issues. There is too much involved and it would take just too much time. The scary thought is, do the politicians really take the time to find out the ramifications of their decisions or are we really being ruled by one or two in the know people who understand how to manipulate the rest, or worse still do any of them understand?? Great to see you last week... I think Steve said it right. I would say I was well informed by todays standards, 3 weekly magazines from 3 viewpoints and 2 newsources also from different viewpoints, but do I really understand what is going on? Do I understanad the ins and outs or am I just regurgitating opinions and other peoples ideas? I suspect most everyone has next to no idea of the complexity of the issues. There is too much involved and it would take just too much time. The scary thought is, do the politicians really take the time to find out the ramifications of their decisions or are we really being ruled by one or two in the know people who understand how to manipulate the rest, or worse still do any of them understand??
Great to see you last week…

]]> By: Adam B. http://theyomen.com/2008/12/15/amusing-ourselves-to-death/comment-page-1/#comment-500 Adam B. Mon, 15 Dec 2008 22:36:18 +0000 http://theyomen.com/?p=109#comment-500 I feel like it is inevitable that in the current climate SNL and the Daily Show would come up in this discussion. Your comment is all the more apropos because in Postman's conclusion he argues that satire is the only way to teach people about the negative effects TV is having on public discourse. The Daily Show is especially good at making fun of the media and its 24 hour news cycle that is forced to fill its time with non-news and analysis by people who have no business being on TV. I feel like these shows, despite the fact that they distort the truth in the same ways as the rest of the media, have begun to teach us how stupid we have all become and how ridiculous our entertainment news system truly is. (For more on the news as entertainment check out <a href="http://strangeconnections.blogspot.com/2008/12/we-dont-need-news-news-needs-us.html" rel="nofollow">Konet's post</a> on the subject.) I feel like it is inevitable that in the current climate SNL and the Daily Show would come up in this discussion. Your comment is all the more apropos because in Postman’s conclusion he argues that satire is the only way to teach people about the negative effects TV is having on public discourse. The Daily Show is especially good at making fun of the media and its 24 hour news cycle that is forced to fill its time with non-news and analysis by people who have no business being on TV. I feel like these shows, despite the fact that they distort the truth in the same ways as the rest of the media, have begun to teach us how stupid we have all become and how ridiculous our entertainment news system truly is.
(For more on the news as entertainment check out Konet’s post on the subject.)

]]> By: Steven K http://theyomen.com/2008/12/15/amusing-ourselves-to-death/comment-page-1/#comment-499 Steven K Mon, 15 Dec 2008 22:25:18 +0000 http://theyomen.com/?p=109#comment-499 "we do a little dance instead until someone misses a step." I liked this line. I definitely felt like this watching the last few debates of the past election. Actually, my confession is that I would usually become fed up with the back and forth banter about 15 minutes in and would reserve the remainder of my week's political attention to the SNL parody of the debate, which, much like Sesame Street, did a very fine job of presenting facts in an entertaining way. An individual I know has a tendency to spout political opinions and criticism when in group and I always felt that they must do nothing else but study political news when alone, until one day I caught an excerpt of the Daily Show and realized they were just regurgitating news blips. Watching the Daily Show "rant" is a lot of fun, but it's also difficult because I find that many of the topics and quotes that are covered in it are either good but given bad presentation in the show or good but taken out of context. It's irritating knowing that many take these nicely packed rants (which take place everywhere and on both sides of the political spectrum, I just used the Daily Show as one example), and regurgitate them in arguments and insert them, without refine, into their own opinion bases. The book is correct in that we're on information overload. It would take me reading and studying every free moment to get even a piece of a valid fact or point about many political issues. I can choose to be swayed and get fired up over short rants, but they have little to do with real facts and much to do with frill (something I know you don't go for). “we do a little dance instead until someone misses a step.” I liked this line. I definitely felt like this watching the last few debates of the past election. Actually, my confession is that I would usually become fed up with the back and forth banter about 15 minutes in and would reserve the remainder of my week’s political attention to the SNL parody of the debate, which, much like Sesame Street, did a very fine job of presenting facts in an entertaining way.

An individual I know has a tendency to spout political opinions and criticism when in group and I always felt that they must do nothing else but study political news when alone, until one day I caught an excerpt of the Daily Show and realized they were just regurgitating news blips. Watching the Daily Show “rant” is a lot of fun, but it’s also difficult because I find that many of the topics and quotes that are covered in it are either good but given bad presentation in the show or good but taken out of context.

It’s irritating knowing that many take these nicely packed rants (which take place everywhere and on both sides of the political spectrum, I just used the Daily Show as one example), and regurgitate them in arguments and insert them, without refine, into their own opinion bases.

The book is correct in that we’re on information overload. It would take me reading and studying every free moment to get even a piece of a valid fact or point about many political issues. I can choose to be swayed and get fired up over short rants, but they have little to do with real facts and much to do with frill (something I know you don’t go for).

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