Four
Arguments for the Elimination of Television
by Jerry Mander
Customer Comments
eric_janik@hotmail.com from
Lyons, Colorado, August 5, 1999
If capitalism means blind acceptance
...
If capitalism means we should blindly accept
everything that's put up for our consumption, then this book is anti-capitalist.
Mander's analysis of the mediated experience
is especially valuable. It is a good perspective for examining everything
we do to try to understand our world and enjoy ourselves. That is, do we
accept a pre-chewed reality that somebody sells to us, or do we discover
it for ourselves?
A reader from Austin, Texas,
January 14, 1999
Whatever you do, get this book &
read it!
I have read a bunch of other reviews on
this site & I cannot add much. "Four Arguments" is simply excellent
and fascinating. Get it. Read it. Buy a copy for each of your friends.
It has totally changed the way I view and think about television. Check
out his other books: "The Case Against the Global Economy" (a collection
of essays by Mander & other great writers and thinkers) and "In the
Absence of the Sacred." Both are very, very good. And while you're at it,
get yourself a copy of E.F. Schumacher's "Small is Beautiful." Look for
books by people like Jeremy Rifkin & Kirkpatrick Sale too. If we want
a better, saner world we have to begin by educating ourselves. We must
train our minds to look beyond the hype and BS. The truth is out there...
A reader from NOLA, October
8, 1998
KILL YOUR TELEVISION
It so good to have an intelligent well thought
out set of argument for the elimination of one of the most harmful of human
creation of the century. You can't really argue with the man. He reiterated
a few reasons of my own for getting rid of the tube and came up with a
few more that I hadn't even considered. Such as, man's separation from
the planet. Anyone who wants to argue that TV is just a harmless form of
entertainment should take a look around at all the behavioral problems
that adults and children alike suffer from in our modern society. And then
turn right back around and consider the television. Anyone wondering why
their kid or spouse or whoever can't seem to focus on anything at all for
more than thirty seconds at a shot? Does the answer need to spelled out?
All I really wanted to say is thanks Mr. Mander. I'm passing my copy around
to anyone and everyone I can.
from Speedway, IN USA, September
29, 1998
Wonder why we see what we see in Washington
D.C.? Read This!
Mander's observation of content being replaced
by form in public campaigns keeps proving to be true. What we think we
know, and who we think we know is often just a commercial package - and
most people would bitterly contend that they are basing their beliefs on
something solid! I assert that every journalist (or perhaps more accurately,
every journalist that you have heard of) knows that they are in the entertainment
business. This book gives hope that you can at least defend your mind and
ability to think for yourself. I agree with other reviewers that this book
would make good required reading for citizens of a free society.
A reader from Sackets Harbor,
New York, USA, September 6, 1998
Give up your TV for 30 days or read this
book!
After reading this book I gave up TV for
a while and now can barely stand to watch it at all.
Next time you watch TV take one minute to
count how many times the scene on the screen changes (average show will
be 10-20 times, MTV will probably be over 30 times in 60 seconds). This
is one of Mander's points - TV keeps sucking you in by changing the picture
to keep your eye interested.
Don't have time to read this book? Turn off
the TV!
Erik Haugsjaa (ehaugsja@cs.umass.edu)
from Amherst, MA, July 6, 1998
Suburbanization of the Mind
Wow. This, along with his "In the Absence
of the Sacred" are good starting points for thinking critically about technology.
Some more footnotes could be nice, however (check out a Jeremy Rifkin book
sometime).
In his own words, "The point of the book
was not to argue that there are no good programs on television. It was
to point out that the consequences of television's existence in our society
are far more significant than its program content."
Can be directly applied to the web as well,
since for most, there is not much difference in the passive relationship
they have with TV or the web.
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