I have little uprisings instead of big answers. It is a silent protest against the tide of insignificance, a deliberate attempt to maintain areas in my life for meaningless conversation, ideas that don’t need to be shared, and understanding that develops gradually, like sediment, rather than being gathered in quick, ephemeral clicks. I try to ask myself, when mindlessly scrolling, what specific problem I am trying to solve. When I am mindlessly scrolling, I make an effort to ask myself what particular issue I am attempting to resolve.

In the era of artificial intelligence, his voice is even more important. Postman reminds us that the most crucial discussions are not about the capabilities of a technology but rather about its purpose and the types of people we become as a result of using it. When I want to read a book, I put my phone away. I have attempted to apply this. Years later, as I browse through countless feeds on my phone, his concepts keep coming up. It is a quiet resistance against the tide of triviality, a conscious effort to preserve spaces in my life for conversation that meanders without a point, for thought that doesn’t need to be shared, and for understanding that is built slowly, like a sediment, rather than collected in rapid, fleeting clicks.

His writings continue to be an essential guide for navigating a world he predicted with startling accuracy, providing the knowledge to create a more humane future rather than a map to a bygone era. Postman, a cultural critic who spent decades analyzing the influence of the media on society, continues to address anyone who is confused by the deluge of information that exists today. I was hit hard by Neil Postman’s statement that television was changing our way of thinking in addition to being a source of entertainment.

Neil Postman‘s words hit me like a splash of cold water: television wasn’t just entertainment- it was reshaping how we think. I covered local politics for a community paper and watched council members angle cameras before answering questions. Media literacy courses multiply. Courses on media literacy proliferate. The meeting became theater- governance, the subplot. These are acts of defiance, little proclamations that we won’t bore ourselves to death.

Parents impose curfews on screens. His book suggests that we’ve been so distracted by the modern age that we no longer know how to think for ourselves and make decisions based on reason and logic instead of emotion and sensation. His thesis’ central claim is that there are two categories of messages: high culture and low culture. Knowledge in the print era required patience, quiet focus, and logical argumentation. These days, I’ve noticed how difficult it can be to read lengthy articles or watch an entire documentary.