Technopoly, to me, is one of those books where you end up not knowing what you read for a couple pages because it is so bland and straight up not interesting. Though, Neil Postman picked up the pace in the second half of Technopoly, and I became quite interested in what was coming in the next chapters.
Postman commences the second half of the book (Chapter 7) describing the evolution of medical technology in the United States. Much different from European medical practices, the "American medicine was attracted to new technologies. Far from being 'neutral,' technology was to be the weapon with which disease and illness would be vanquished" (p. 97). Postman expands on this concept by realizing that modern doctors perform their procedures differently since they depend on technology because 1) it's more profitable and 2) using machinery to spot the problem of a patient is likely to be more accurate so they won't get sued. However, that is the problem with the American medical system, and it can be simply supported by the fact that "40 percent of the operations performed in America are not necessary" (p. 105). That is the effect of technology, it changes EVERYTHING.
Having my right hand fractured twice, I went to my regular physician, a hand specialist and to the hospital all within a week. All of them wasted my money by taking more than multiple x-rays, despite taking x-rays at the the first doctor's office in which the photos could of been transferred to every other doctor I visited. Beyond the fact that it was clear my hand was broken from the discoloration and swelling it's pretty ridiculous that doctor's are not even asking me questions or analytically observing my hand without the tech tools they use.
Further on, Postman continues on by agreeing and disagreeing to a metaphor on how humans are machines. There are many aspects of a computer that are similar to a human, and Postman interestingly makes a point that "If computers can become ill, then they can become healthy. Once healthy, they can think clearly and make decisions. The computer, it is implied, has a will, has intentions, has reasons-- which means that humans are relieved of responsibility for the computer's decisions" (p. 114).
Vaguely knowledgeable on "scientism," I thought Chapter 9 was fairly interesting on the differences between social science and scientism, as these two concepts contributed into defining a Technopoly. Postman supports his arguments with examples from scholars/scientists like Stanley Milgram, Sigmund Freud and D.H. Lawrence. I found it interesting that unlike social research, the study of science aids the Technopoly to solve subjectivity with straight hard facts.
Postman concludes the last two chapters of this novel by discussing the importance of symbols in a Technopoly and how significant that symbol is. He explains how the computer is now the symbol of a technopoly and how the statue of liberty is the symbol of America's freedom. Most importantly, Postman uses the last chapter to answer, "Can a nation reserve its history, originality, and humanity by submitting itself totally to the sovereignty of a technological thought-world?" (p. 183). He uses this question to answer what technology has done to America, making Technopoly essentially a problem in society. Later in the concluding chapter, Postman reiterates the importance of an education (specifically science and history), and that technology is drastically changing the way students learn and behave in the classroom. Therefore, Postman proposes "a curriculum in which all subjects are presented as a stage in humanity's historical development; in which the philosophies of science, of history...are taught" (p. 199) to better our humanity and not have such a negative effect from this Technopoly.
P.S. Just witnessed a bunch of websites with these algorithms. Amazon.com emailed me about a sale on watches and how there is a sale...I searched watches a week ago!
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