Postman is trying to show the distinction between education and disaster.  This disaster is the increasing impact and dependency on technology which can be debatably hindering our learning, thinking,and comprending processes.  Entertainment is expected; we laugh although we may not know why were laughing just because we are used to being amused.  It is the goal of television shows.  But with this our thinking has stopped as the accessibility to media consumes our lives.  For instance, rather than trying to figure out something, like the meaning of epistemology based on contex clues, we can quickly google search the answer.

The Expression of the Day

Not being able to talk but use only illustrations or charades to communicate was very difficult.  Observing the reactions of students and teachers who were either confused or understood the message being conveyed was very amusing.  The people that struggled to communicate about a topic, other than a simple yes or no, became frustrated and usually gave up.  In psychology, David was trying to ask me a question about a different class and it took five minutes longer just to decipher  and answer the simple question.  Although it would take less than a minute to verbally communicate, it took much longer through illustrations but when the questions was answered both of us were very happy. This can be related to Postman's reference to the smoke signals because it shows the struggles of expressing details without speaking or writing .

Mike Teevee: Look at me, I'll be be the first person in the world to be sent by television!

  In both the book and the video, Neil Postman has the same attitude towards the increased daily use of technology.  When he discusses the watch and that "it is a man conversing with himself about and through a piece of machinery he created" it parallels later when in the video he says," humans prefer talking to machines than people." He believes that all the unecessary technology is corrupting human relationships.  Society is becoming dependent on technology and uses that for communication rather than with each other.  Soon conversing in ways other than through technonlgy will be rare.  Like Postman said, "we will become pets of computers" and already we are unaware of our dependency on machines.
  Not only are we becoming pets but we becoming obsessed with newer and better technology.  Cloning for spare parts and the possibility of talking door knobs shows the reality of technology becoming apart of everything, even wehen it is not necessary.  Postman wonders how you can remain sane in this speeded up world.  Questions he uses to do this are like: what problem does this technology solve, who's problem is it, who will pay for it etc.  I think Mike Teevee is a good example of the point Postman is trying to convey.  He(Mike) was so eager to experience the new technonlgy of transportation through televisions he did not even consider the consequences of it.  Just like today we are eager to get the new gadget without hesitation, but is it really needed?
 

Civility Not Censorship

  Chavez's intent with the first six words,"civility in public discourse is important," is to point out that public discussions require courtesy to all who may be listening.  Through out the article, word choice or diction is used to emphasize the importance of words and their meanings that are being used today.  Since Chavez is talking about thte contrats of past phrases and words, whose meanings have been altered, she is aware of the words she uses.  Bellicose is an example which reveals her eagerness to state and defend her opinion of the matter. Throughout the article, Chavez is trying to persuade the readers into believing the words were irrelevant to what happened.  An example of this is when she uses the phrase, "took his best shot" to show the contrast of words and intent by showing that a candidate didn't literally shoot his opponent but out forth effort.  Other examples are also used by Chavez to convinve her readers in believing her point and her use of bellicose is see throughout.
  I agree with Chavez especially when she references to Huckleberry Finn saying, "school censors deprives students from learning important lessons about both racism and the social mores of earlier eras."