Gunther Spore
Mr.Kubiak
AP Eglish 3
2/9/15
Metaphors
In Neil Postman's, "The Medium is the
Metaphor", Postman makes a lot of claims and asks questions that are intended
to make the reader think about his argument. Postman does this to allow the
reader to reach his way of thinking without blatantly telling the reader what
to think. On page 15, Postman asks a series of questions to the reader,
designed to make the reader question how much images impact our existence: “Where
do our notions of mind come from if not from metaphors generated by our tools?”
Postman’s point is that images tell us what the mind is like. Without images we
could not comprehend what the mind is actually like. By using metaphors/images
such as “genetic codes” or “biological clock” we are able to understand what
the mind is like. This brings us to Postman’s concluding thesis “Our metaphors create
the content of our culture”, after reading Postman’s essay I would agree with
his thesis. Some strong points he uses
to sway the reader is that we cannot see intelligence or human nature as a
physical object but instead we use language to visualize such abstract things.
Postman’s then uses logos to further explain his argument to the reader.
Language=media=metaphors=content of our culture. Postman’s weakest points I believe
is when he brings up a point to the reader but then does not fully go into the
topic to make sure the reader understands it. For example, when Postman talks
about time and God he brings up a valid point about humans becoming ignorant of
God: “the clock may have had more to do with the weakening of God's supremacy
than all the treatises produced by the philosophers of the Enlightenment”.
Postman unfortunately does not explain what he meant and it leaves the reader
feeling unsatisfied. I found Postman’s
style of arguing very similar to Gwen Wilde’s “Why the Pledge of Allegiance
should be revised”. Like Postman, Wilde uses a lot of examples as well as
numbers to make a rational logos argument. Wilde uses examples to make the
reader think about the historical arguments for why the pledge should be
revised. In addition to examples she uses numbers to show the reader a logos
point of view on the issue: “70 or even 80% of Americans say they are affiliated
with some form of Christianity”. While Postman does not use numbers he
organizes his words into an equation effectively making a strong logos
argument.
Your analysis contains many quality points throughout and for that I commend you. However, I beleive that you may have missed Postman's argument. You write that his concluding thesis is that "our metaphors create the content of our culture." While I agree that has something to do with the argument, it is not the entirety of it. His argument is more about whether our shift to a culture that relies on technology for communication is a good thing or not. Check out my blog for more info on that. Also, you mentioned that Postman does not explain what he means by the God example. Well, I think I have an answer for you. He uses this example to show the connection between the media of the culture and the quality of the culture. Again, my blog explains this concept in more detail. In conclusion, I enjoyed reading your blog post. Even though parts were underdeveloped I think you, have some very interesting ideas.
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