A Critical Assessment of the New Media
Environment 1
Upon reading the first few chapters of “Amazing Ourselves to Death”, it
was evident that there were several issues which were raised, but there are two
points, which distinguished themselves clearly among all the rest. The first
statement is where the author states that “…There is a time for amusement and a time to be serious, and as our media and technology have
expanded our ability to amuse ourselves, we have lost our ability to distinguish
between the two, blurring the boundaries in favor of amusement” (Strate 4). The
statement suggest that we have to be aware of the time in which we must be
serious and the time that in which we can enjoy ourselves.
I found this piece rather informative
after comparing it to current events today. The media, as Strate explains, is
keener on providing information by ridiculing the news headlines to contain a
tint of fluff which does not add value to the readers of the information.
Rather than providing real information, the media paints news in a distractive
colorful sense which obscures real information from being conveyed. Strate’s
additional comment that “it is not unusual for readers to gain an inaccurate
impression of what an author is like from reading his book” also underscores
this fact.
The other point that tends to induce a
feeling of debating over the topic is when the book suggests that writing was
rather impersonal in comparison to other kinds of communication. Contrary to
what is being conveyed in the book, writing is indeed personal. There are
literally hundreds of ways of conveying information that is personal to other
people. I found the point in the book completely inaccurate because writing
creates a soft spot in its readers and this is what constitutes a personal
impression. Though chapter 1, “Fatal Amusements” indeed amused my views on
writing and communication, the information presented in chapter one closely
resembles the information on chapter four.
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