25. Future Shlock

Neil Postman talks about a modern phenomenon he named "future shlock". He says that future shock is the confusion caused by the inability to accompany the rapid technological advancement, while future shlock is the decrease in intelligence caused by the former. Human intelligence can be diminished. Such is the case of 1930s Germany, where the people began to reject the praise of intelligence. Scholars left, while those who stayed, submitted to barbaric ideas. The U.S. was once considered the "Empire of Reason", where intellect was praised and used as a foundation to build the country. America, however, is now the "Empire of Shlock," where intelligence is less valued. Postman realizes that America is like the tribe from the movie, The Gods Must Be Crazy, in which the people forgot their responsibilities when they came upon a Coca-cola bottle, a new technology. He also uses the movie, The Producers, which tells the story of a play that depicts Hitler as amusing and fun, to illustrate how, like the audience of the movie praising the play, America has begun to praise what is merely entertaining. Entertainment that we welcome and love is the demise of intelligence's admiration. Television, for instance, has introduced, into every topic, the need for entertainment. Politics, religion, education, marketing, and daily news have all begun to use it to appeal to their audience and to promote their growth. This distracts people from what is really being shown and even distorts what is being shown. People have begun to rely on pictures to communicate through media, rather than language. The problem, however, is not the forms of communication, but the purpose as to why they present and the manner that they present information.

Postman writes fantastically, while strongly defending his claims. The author's introduction is unique, since it presents the topic of the essay by explaining why he decided to write it. Future shock and future shlock are defined in the introduction and are also an example of clever wordplay. The use of both words add a comedic feel to the essay, while grabbing the attention of the reader. Postman, in order to illustrate the reality of modern America, uses two films as analogies to today's society. In addition, to exemplify how entertainment has been introduced into many aspects of everyday life, the author utilizes a variation of examples, such as politics, religion, and daily news, to prove that entertainment has become ubiquitous. Also, in order to verify that entertainment distracts the reader from what is really being shown to them, mentions a survey he did which demonstrated that Americans barely knew anything about Iran, despite that the story of the Iranian hostage crisis was broadcast numerous times throughout the year. Additionally, at various instances, Postman used references to historical figures, historical events, politicians, and experts, in order to add more volume and credibility to his writing. These references are able to defend the claims he presented.