I should go so far as to say that embedded in the surrealistic frame of a television news show is a theory of anticommunication, featuring a type of discourse that abandons logic, reason, sequence and rules of contradiction. In aesthetics, I believe the name given to this theory is Dadaism; in philosophy, nihilism; in psychiatry, schizophrenia. In the parlance of the theater, it is known as vaudeville.
In "Amusing Ourselves to Death," Neil Postman critiques television news, suggesting it operates within a surrealistic paradigm that embodies a theory of anticommunication. This theory promotes a discourse that ignores the principles of logic, sequence, and contradiction, leading to a breakdown in rational communication. Postman aligns this disruption with various fields, categorizing it as Dadaism in aesthetics, nihilism in philosophy, schizophrenia in psychiatry, and vaudeville in theater.
Postman's analysis highlights the...
