Warning: From 1995 (25 years ago!)
Today the term “cyberspace” sounds silly (perhaps “internet culture” comes closest) but here’s a 10-min clip of Neil Postman talking about it.
My first observation is his prescient (and today, contrarian) comments:
- people becoming “information junkies“
- globally connected world leading to a “reversion to tribalism” instead of bringing people together
- people retreating away from public forums, and a reduced ability to solve problems together
- “… am I using the technology, or is it using me?” (!)
My second observation is the format of this interview itself!
How rare it is now, to see a discussion like this, question-and-answer, uninterrupted every five minutes by an advertisement, without dramatic inflection.
Where could this even happen? Who would today’s equivalent of Charlayne Hunter Gault be? It certainly wouldn’t happen on TV! (The closest things come to this today are in “long-form podcasts”, like Joe Rogan or Lex Fridman)
Abacus Noir 