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The central thesis of Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business is that although television has taken over as our main medium for disseminating information, it can only produce superficial entertainment. As a result, they become oblivious to what is actually happening in their immediate environment. According to Postman, America has descended into a What did neil postman books Postman think of television. Marshall McLuhan, a media theorist, taught under Postman at the Fordham University Graduate School of Education.

Yale University, Cornell University, the City University of New York, and New York University were among his other academic positions. Postman taught writing at Ohio State University during the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s. Apart from his work as a college instructor, Postman was the director of New York University's School of Communications for four years. Postman makes a strong case for the perils of entertainment culture in Amusing Ourselves to Death.

According to his theory, television has turned public discourse into a kind of entertainment because of its focus on visual spectacle and shallow interaction. His observations are especially relevant in the current digital era, as social media and streaming services still place a higher value on interaction than in-depth analysis. He contends that this change undermines critical thinking and serious discourse, creating a society that values entertainment over knowledge.

A walk without earbuds, a conversation without a gadget on the table, or a Sunday morning spent with a newspaper and coffee, allowing ideas to develop at their own pace are just a few of the small but meaningful spaces that that straightforward act of interrogation has helped me reclaim. I've noticed this in my own habits: when I write by hand first, my thoughts feel more deliberate. Additionally, Postman guides me through the guilt that many of us feel about living a digital life in a nuanced rather than strict manner.

According to him, the human mind typically functions in a routine way. For instance, most people repeatedly read the same kind of story or article rather than carefully and meticulously going over each one. It is less necessary to focus or concentrate when reading this way. When are we most affected by what we read or hear? Lippmann argued that people don't give the news they read or hear enough thought. And, as a result, alters society's social structure and values.

His book Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology was released posthumously in 1994.