A Summary
Neil Postman wrote Technopoly to caution society about the surrender of culture to technology. He begins his book with the legend of King Thasmus entertaining the god Theuth who was the inventor of many things. We learn from Thamus that “new technologies change what we mean by ‘knowing’ and ‘truth’” (12). New technologies alter the things we think about, the things we think with, and the arena in which thoughts develop. Thus, Postman classifies three types of cultures situated in different technological landscapes: tool-using cultures, technocracies, and technopolies.
In tool-using cultures, tools did not “attack the dignity and integrity of the culture into which they were introduced” (23). These are mainly pre-modern cultures and as such, tools are not the primary concern of the people. In a technocracy, society “developed a profound belief in all the principles through which invention succeeds” (42). Objectivity, efficiency, and progress are held up as ideal. The transition from a tool-using culture to technocracy necessitates a subordination of other traditions and symbols. Yet it does not totally eliminate these things and render them ineffectual.
In a Technopoly, all alternatives to itself are eliminated. “It makes them invisible and therefore irrelevant” (48). Technopoly particularly thrived in America because of four main reasons. First, the American character is to distrust constraints. Second, the American capitalists had the genius and audacity in late nineteenth century to thrive in invention. Third, there was overwhelming ‘success’ in the twentieth century where technology provided Americans with great luxuries. Fourth, many old sources of belief came under siege due to a progressive ideology.
Technopoly becomes a state of culture and a state of mind. “It consists in the deification of technology, which means that the culture seeks its authorization in technology, finds its satisfaction in technology, and takes its orders from technology” (71). Similarly, technical experts are given priestly status in their roles as psychiatrists, sociologist, statisticians, etc. They serve a god who speaks of efficiency, precision, and objectivity. In this climate, all concepts of sin and evil disappear.
“One characteristic of those who live in a Technopoly is that they are largely unaware of both the origins and the effects of their technologies” (138). They are unaware that technology is not neutral. Consider the example of medicine. “Technology changes the practice of medicine by redefining what doctors are, redirecting where they focus their attention, and reconceptualizing how they view their patients and illness” (105).
Another aspect of Technopoly that Postman addresses is the issue of Scientism. Within Scientism, there are three interlinking ideas: first, the methods of natural science can be directly applied to the study of human behavior. Second, social science principles can be used to rationally organize a society. Third, faith in science becomes a comprehensive belief system “that gives meaning to life, as well as a sense of well-being, morality, and even immortality” (147). Scientism as part of Technopoly indicates a casting aside of traditional narratives and symbols. In the end, the purpose of Technopoly “is to produce functionaries for an ongoing Technopoly” (179).
Postman ends the book by offering a possible way forward against the worst parts of Technopoly. He suggests you must be a ‘loving resistance fighter’ who “maintains an epistemological and psychic distance from any technology, so that it always appears somewhat strange, never inevitable, never natural” (185). He hopes to accomplish this with education that is idea-centered and coherence-centered. This will require the joining of art and science, the study of past and present. And ultimately this will lead to ‘the ascent of humanity’.
In Technopoly, Neil Postman offers a compelling argument for the surrender of culture to technology. He vividly describes the development of technology from tool-using culture, to technocracy, and finally into a Technopoly. Postman’s depiction of a Technopoly rings true in our Western society. Certainly all things technological have a constant impact on our lives.
