This is the review I’d write, but better. I’m glad you’re bringing it to this forum—Postman is underrated and more relevant than ever. I’ve re-read Postman a few times recently, and finally read-to-the-end Brave New World. One thing that I fear: once we’ve amused ourselves into a dangerous situation, we then become open to illiberalism (perhaps all the way to techno-authoritarianism) to guarantee safety (on the rise of cultural safety-ism: see Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff). It seems plausible we risk a Orwellian-Huxleyan hybrid: Huxleyan societies might grasp Orwellian elements for safety, and Orwellian authorities might turn to Huxleyan techniques to pacify.
Thank you for your comment! I’m glad you enjoyed the review.
Before you pointed it out, I hadn’t made the connection between the type of thing that Postman talks about in the book and increasing cultural safety-ism. Another interesting take you might be interested in is by J. Storrs Hall in Where is my flying car? - he argues that increasing cultural safety-ism is a major force slowing down technological progress. You can read a summary of the argument in my review here (search for “perception” to jump to the right part of the review).
This is the review I’d write, but better. I’m glad you’re bringing it to this forum—Postman is underrated and more relevant than ever. I’ve re-read Postman a few times recently, and finally read-to-the-end Brave New World. One thing that I fear: once we’ve amused ourselves into a dangerous situation, we then become open to illiberalism (perhaps all the way to techno-authoritarianism) to guarantee safety (on the rise of cultural safety-ism: see Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff). It seems plausible we risk a Orwellian-Huxleyan hybrid: Huxleyan societies might grasp Orwellian elements for safety, and Orwellian authorities might turn to Huxleyan techniques to pacify.
Thank you for your comment! I’m glad you enjoyed the review.
Before you pointed it out, I hadn’t made the connection between the type of thing that Postman talks about in the book and increasing cultural safety-ism. Another interesting take you might be interested in is by J. Storrs Hall in Where is my flying car? - he argues that increasing cultural safety-ism is a major force slowing down technological progress. You can read a summary of the argument in my review here (search for “perception” to jump to the right part of the review).