The following essay examines authors Neil Postman and Todd Gitlin’s views of society and technology. Both authors express concern regarding modern day society’s reliance and eagerness to embrace technology and change. Postman, describes the feeling tone of the situation saying, “Something has happened in America that is strange and dangerous, and there is only a dull and even stupid awareness of what it is-in part because it has no name. I call it Technopoly.” (Postman, 1992, p. 20) This essay will also take a look at American icon Mark Twain’s visionary example. Through thoughtful observation of society during Twains lifetime, the mid to late 1800’s and present day society, one can form a more realistic and objective opinion answering the question, “Are we really living in Postman’s proclaimed strange and dangerous society?”
Technology critics Neil Postman author of Technopoly (1992) and Todd Gitlin author of Media Unlimited (2002), have a strong belief that technology, scientific progress and inventions just may be exactly what our society doesn’t need. Gitlin, suggests that we live in an “information society, but no less, if less famously, a society of feeling and sensation.” (Gitlin, 2002, p.36) Gitlin’s observation of society is accurate, but also raises the question, hasn’t society always been one of feeling and sensation? Where along the way did society transform from a dull, sensation-less experience into one of vibrancy? Gitlin suggests that human desire may perhaps be the cause of this information society. The root of this explanation may be best explained with the idea that humans have always possessed desire. It is a common trait, and even though it may not always be met, it will still exist. The difference between modern day societies (information society) versus society 100 years ago, is that we now have the ability to fulfill our desires more readily. If an individual in the early 20th century were to want to know how the pages on a book were printed, he would have to make a journey to a print shop and observe the process. Today, however, curiosities can simply be met by a Google search for “how books are printed,” within seconds, video, audio, images and text are at one’s disposal providing endless information on the topic of choice. According to Gitlin, “all these human desires in their complexity and contradiction are indulged in the vast circus maximus, our cultural jamboree of jamborees.”(p. 27) If asked about human desire and society, in his time, famous American author, Mark Twain would most likely agree with Gitlin, possibly stating that, “A human being has a natural desire to have more of a good thing than he needs.” (Mark Twain, n.d.) This is not to say that it is a bad thing. Desire often fuels advancement, industry and positive change.
Mark Twain (original name Samuel Clemens) once said that “Inventors are the creators of the world, after God.” (Mark Twain, n.d.) Best known for his famous books, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), Mark Twain is a true example of an open-minded visionary with a true love for science and technology. Twains early years were spent in Hannibal, Missouri during the mid 1800’s. Twain participated in a variety of odd jobs that included working in as an apprentice to a printer, journalist, and Mississippi river boat captain, these positions would eventually help shape him into the well-rounded, humorous and eccentric individual as well as, one of America’s most inspiring authors and critics. Time Magazine wrote in 2008 that Twain,
…represents a vital tradition in American politics and culture: the comedic commentator on serious matters, the funnyman as our collective conscience who can utter uncomfortable truths that more solemn critics evade. In an election year when so many Americans are getting their news from nontraditional sources, Twain is the godfather of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert as well as the comic voices who influenced them, from Lenny Bruce to Richard Pryor to Kurt Vonnegut. And Twain, with Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, created the literary DNA that helped shape race relations in America over the past century.” (Stengel, 2008)
Twain’s overall curiosity about the world around him spawned a deep fascination for science and technology, eventually forming a friendship with inventor Nikola Tesla. Twain invested in an early version of the printing press and was also an inventor himself. “Twain patented three inventions, including an “Improvement in Adjustable and Detachable Straps for Garments” (to replace suspenders) and a history trivia game. Most commercially successful was a self-pasting scrapbook; a dried adhesive on the pages only needed to be moistened before use.” (J. Niemann, 2004, p.53)
Mark Twain is an excellent example of an individual who clearly demonstrated a love for both older traditions, ways of life, and new frontiers and technology. When asked in a letter to be a spokesman for an advertisement for the typewriter, Twain replied the following,
Please do not use my name in any way. Please do not even divulge the fact that I own a machine. I have entirely stopped using the typewriter for the reason that I never could write a letter without receiving a request by return mail that I would not only describe the machine but state what progress I had made in the use of it, everything, et cetera, et cetera. I don't like to write letters, and so I don't want people to know I own this curiosity-breeding little joker. (Flatow, 2010)
The argument over technology being to invasive in and involved in today’s society creates the image of a game of tug ‘o’ war, technology on one side and a simpler traditional way of life on the other. Postman describes how Twain was a man dabbling on both sides of the rope.
“We may get a sense of the interplay between technocracy and Old World values in the work of Mark twain, who was fascinated by the technical accomplishments of the nineteenth century. He said of it that it was ‘the plainest and sturdiest and infinitely greatest and worthiest of all the centuries the world has seen.” (Postman, 1992, p.46)
Mark Twain was well known for being a curious type, dabbling in a variety of real world experiences, and then transforming his attained knowledge into written word for the rest of the world to understand. Twain once described a bit of a technological hiccup that might be what Postman and Gitlin are getting at when they relish in their longings for a less technological society. Twain wrote, “Isn't it odd that we should take a spasm, every now and then, and go spinning back into the dark ages once more, after having put in a world of time and money and work toiling up into the high lights of modern progress?”(Mark Twain, n.d.) Twain’s words are clear evidence that although he found solitude on the quiet banks of the Mississippi watching the water and listening to the birds, he equally relished in the excitement of the rolling steamboats and paddle wheelers, printing press, and typewriters that represented a new world, one of advancement, one of excitement with endless possibilities and new beginnings.
References
Flatow, Ira (interviewer) & Lichtman, Flora (interviewee). (2010). Mark Twain and Science: It’s Complicated. [Interview Transcript]. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130268526
Gitlin, T. (2002). Media unlimited: how the torrent of images and sounds overwhelms our lives. New York: Metropolitan Books.
J. Niemann, Paul (2004-11). Invention Mysteries (Invention Mysteries Series). Horsefeathers Publishing Company. pp. 53–54
Mark Twain Quotes. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.twainquotes.com/Invention.html
Postman, N. (1993). Technopoly: the surrender of culture to technology. New York: Vintage Books.
Stengel, Richard. (2008). The Mark of Twain. Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1820141,00.html
Image Source: http://www.sundancechannel.com/sunfiltered/2011/01/photo-of-mark-twain-holding-tesla-light/
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