Times change; and as time changes so do people. The developments and instruments introduced to people during a certain era do not define how or why people think the way they do, it only allows people to expand their knowledge. Can television and the Internet destroy Americans ability to read and think critically? Can technology replace reading and critical thinking in society? Yes, to both questions, but like everything else in the world it depends on how these instruments are used.
When thinking about Bradbury's interview with L.A Weekly, Fahrenheit 451 and the question : Has television and the internet destroyed Americans ability to read and think critically?, only one thing came to mind. These instruments have not destroyed our ability to read and think critically, but they have altered them in a beneficial way that helps us adapt to our surroundings. As stated in the L.A Weekly interview," As early as 1951, Bradbury presaged his fears about TV, in a letter about the dangers of radio...Bradbury wrote that," Radio has contributed to our growing lack of attention. This sort of hopscotching existence makes it almost impossible for people, myself included to sit down and get into a novel again." (Bradbury) Now let's rewind time to the 1950's to see things from Bradbury's perspective. Around the 1950's radio was our version of TV and Internet. It was the dominant source of news and entertainment, which included audio theater.
Now according to Bradbury, radio's "hopscotching existence makes it almost impossible for people to get into a novel again". Audio Theater on the radio is another form of a book. Instead of sitting down and reading with your eyes, people would sit down and read and imagine with their minds while listening to radio. The stories on the radio altered people's imagination thus altering their critical thinking. Now lets fast forward to 2010. The TV and Internet does these exact same thing for Americans today. We have the privilege that everyone in the world can combine their ideas and facts on one plane, the Internet. When one thinks about it the Internet is one of the largest libraries in the world. Our new ability to find out what ideas someone else has or facts that someone else knows allows us to change our critical thinking ways. For example, lets say you can not think of a solution to a certain problem. All it takes is a couple clicks of a button and you can find multiple answers. It is then the choice of one to decipher that information and decide for themselves which would benefit themselves. Television, on the other hand, is the 2010 version of radio. People have now taken their imaginations further and put them onto a screen that people can see.
Now on to the question: Could there ever be a time when authorities burn books for our own good? This will never happen. Books will always be apart of human life, but as we see today they will be transformed to adapt with society.Printed books are going out of style. It is now time for the eBook revolution. eBooks are now looking to outsell printed books. http://www.zeta.net/industry-news/ebook-sales-overtake-printed-books.html. In time printed books will be nonexistent, but there will still be eBooks around for people to read. The knowledge that a book brings is valued by all and there are people out there who will not let books be erased from our existence. Even Steven Johnson the author of Everything Bad is Good For You states," The virtues of reading books are "immense ones"."(Johnson 21) That is why books will never be burned, they bring too much value to our society.
In conclusion I do not think Bradbury was right. Americans have adapted their reading and critical thinking styles to the technology that surrounds us. Books only lead down a one way road. Television and Internet allow are minds to take different roads that can lead us to different conclusions. Books will be engraved in our society for centuries, whether they are printed or electronic does not make a difference. The one thing to keep in mind is that these are just opinions, only time will tell if these assumptions will hold true.
When thinking about Bradbury's interview with L.A Weekly, Fahrenheit 451 and the question : Has television and the internet destroyed Americans ability to read and think critically?, only one thing came to mind. These instruments have not destroyed our ability to read and think critically, but they have altered them in a beneficial way that helps us adapt to our surroundings. As stated in the L.A Weekly interview," As early as 1951, Bradbury presaged his fears about TV, in a letter about the dangers of radio...Bradbury wrote that," Radio has contributed to our growing lack of attention. This sort of hopscotching existence makes it almost impossible for people, myself included to sit down and get into a novel again." (Bradbury) Now let's rewind time to the 1950's to see things from Bradbury's perspective. Around the 1950's radio was our version of TV and Internet. It was the dominant source of news and entertainment, which included audio theater.
Now according to Bradbury, radio's "hopscotching existence makes it almost impossible for people to get into a novel again". Audio Theater on the radio is another form of a book. Instead of sitting down and reading with your eyes, people would sit down and read and imagine with their minds while listening to radio. The stories on the radio altered people's imagination thus altering their critical thinking. Now lets fast forward to 2010. The TV and Internet does these exact same thing for Americans today. We have the privilege that everyone in the world can combine their ideas and facts on one plane, the Internet. When one thinks about it the Internet is one of the largest libraries in the world. Our new ability to find out what ideas someone else has or facts that someone else knows allows us to change our critical thinking ways. For example, lets say you can not think of a solution to a certain problem. All it takes is a couple clicks of a button and you can find multiple answers. It is then the choice of one to decipher that information and decide for themselves which would benefit themselves. Television, on the other hand, is the 2010 version of radio. People have now taken their imaginations further and put them onto a screen that people can see.
Now on to the question: Could there ever be a time when authorities burn books for our own good? This will never happen. Books will always be apart of human life, but as we see today they will be transformed to adapt with society.Printed books are going out of style. It is now time for the eBook revolution. eBooks are now looking to outsell printed books. http://www.zeta.net/industry-news/ebook-sales-overtake-printed-books.html. In time printed books will be nonexistent, but there will still be eBooks around for people to read. The knowledge that a book brings is valued by all and there are people out there who will not let books be erased from our existence. Even Steven Johnson the author of Everything Bad is Good For You states," The virtues of reading books are "immense ones"."(Johnson 21) That is why books will never be burned, they bring too much value to our society.
In conclusion I do not think Bradbury was right. Americans have adapted their reading and critical thinking styles to the technology that surrounds us. Books only lead down a one way road. Television and Internet allow are minds to take different roads that can lead us to different conclusions. Books will be engraved in our society for centuries, whether they are printed or electronic does not make a difference. The one thing to keep in mind is that these are just opinions, only time will tell if these assumptions will hold true.
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