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Cited by 1,117Utopian, Dystopian, and Speculative FictionCultural Studies and PostmodernismMedia, Communication, and Education

AMUSING OURSELVES TO DEATH†

Postman, Neil·1985·ETC: A Review of General Semantics
DOI 10.66774/etc_4201_013
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Abstract

But we had forgotten that alongside Orwell's dark vision, there was another slightly older, slightly less well known, equally chilling: Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Contrary to common belief even among the educated, Huxley and Orwell did not prophesy the same thing. Orwell warns that we will be overcome by an externally imposed oppression. But in Huxley's vision, no Big Brother is required to deprive people of their autonomy, maturity and history. As he saw it, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.

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  • Through mediatization, the operational logic of the dominant form of media gradually comes to define the broader cultural logic of its era.

    “Through this process of 'mediatization' (Hjarvard, 2008), the operational logic of the dominant form of media gradually comes to define the broader cultural logic of its era (McLuhan, 1994; Postman, 1985).”

    From Social Media Imaginaries and the City: How the Attention Economy Is Reshaping Urban Built Environments (2025) · cites this paper as Postman, 1985

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Authors
Postman, N.
Affiliations
Neil Postman is Editor of Et cetera.
Corresponding author
Postman, Neil
Venue
ETC: A Review of General Semantics
Publisher
Institute of General Semantics
Published
1985
Volume
42
Issue
1
Pages
13-18
ISSN
  • 0014-164X (ISSN-L)
  • 2168-9245
DOI
10.66774/etc_4201_013
OpenAlex
W1586665605
Cited by
1,117
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 14 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 43 · 2022: 26 · 2021: 29 · 2020: 72 · 2019: 56 · 2018: 46 · 2017: 33 · 2016: 25 · 2015: 33 · 2014: 46 · 2013: 28 · 2012: 33
FWCI
71.00
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
ETC.: A Review of General Semantics (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Utopian, Dystopian, and Speculative Fiction
  • Social Sciences › Communication › Cultural Studies and Postmodernism
  • Social Sciences › Communication › Media, Communication, and Education
Keywords
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley, George Orwell, loss of autonomy, loss of history

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