Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology

In Chapter 6, the author explains how the invention and use of medical technology in the United States actually changed how medicine was practiced. Do the same for computers and education. Since the widespread availability and use of the personal computer in the 1980s and 1990s, followed by handheld devices in the 2000s, such technology has been increasingly used in classrooms. How has it changed methods of instruction and even the definition of education itself? What are the advantages and disadvantages of this?

Postman criticizes intelligence tests and the SAT as unable to meaningfully accomplish what they purport to do. Choose either the IQ test or the SAT and review its history. For what purposes was the test created? What decisions went into its design? What inherent flaws or biases does it have, according to critics?

The author discounts the “science” in the social sciences, claiming that while they are treated as science, they are not in reality. What is his basis for this? What arguments do others make who assert that the social sciences are indeed sound science? Which opinion do you agree with and why?

In the last chapter, Postman focuses on education when giving advice for what to do about the problems technology poses. He states that there are other avenues for action, including social and political approaches. Choose one of these alternative avenues and give your own recommendations. What could be done through that particular method to counteract technology’s negative consequences?

Postman points to standardized bureaucratic forms as a technique for controlling information. He claims they rigidly seek specific information but allow for no nuance or complexity. Find an example of such a form. They are often used by governments, for instance, so you might look at your local public library, school admissions or financial aid department, or a government agency such as the Department of Motor Vehicles. Analyze the form’s questions about the topic and how it asks them. What information is omitted based on the questions? How is the information collected limited by the forms the questions take? What is excluded altogether and what detail is lost from that which is included? In your view, is this a good thing or a bad thing for the purpose at hand?

Do you agree with the author that cultural symbols lose their meaning when used too frequently and out of context? If an American flag, for example, is used in advertising, does that necessarily drain its potency as a symbol? Why or why not? What is the alternative, if any? In a free society such as America, should such symbols be protected by law against certain uses?

In Chapter 10, Postman discusses the development of advertising in the United States and how it came to focus on “the fears, fancies, and dreams” of consumers (170). Find a print or video ad that you think illustrates this well and analyze it. What is it selling and how is it doing so? Which aspects of the product or service does it focus on? Which aspects pertaining to the consumer does it focus on? Try to look at it from different angles, such as social class, identity, psychology, and others. 

At the time the book was written, Postman claimed that America was the only Technopoly in the world. Since then, technology has rapidly advanced in a number of Asian countries and they might now be considered Technopolies. A Technopoly devours the culture and replaces it with one that seeks only to further technology. However, nations like China, Japan, and South Korea that are saturated with technology have ancient cultures and might be said to have balanced the past with cutting-edge technology. What are some examples from these countries of retaining their traditional culture? Can they thus be considered true Technopolies?