chapter10

抹茶圆子

1. Summary of Content
Chapter 10 critiques how television has reshaped education into entertainment, epitomized by programs like Sesame Street and The Voyage of the Mimi. Postman argues that these shows, while ostensibly educational, prioritize amusement over rigorous learning. Sesame Street conditions children to expect fast-paced, visually stimulating content, undermining traditional classroom values like discipline, sequential learning, and critical thinking. He extends this critique to multimedia educational projects (e.g., The Voyage of the Mimi), where TV dramatizations dictate curriculum content, reducing books and computers to mere supplements. Postman contends that television’s "commandments"—no prerequisites, no perplexity, and no exposition—redefine education as effortless and entertaining, eroding the intellectual demands of schooling.  

2. Key Arguments
Education as Entertainment: Television teaches that learning must be fun, rejecting the traditional view that education requires effort, sequence, and perseverance.  
Hostility to Traditional Schooling: TV’s fragmented, image-driven format clashes with the classroom’s language-based, interactive, and rule-bound environment.  
The Three Commandments of TV Teaching:  
  1. No prerequisites: All content must be instantly accessible, negating the idea of cumulative knowledge.  
  2. No perplexity: Avoid complexity to retain viewer attention, discouraging deep engagement.  
  3. No exposition: Replace reasoned discourse with storytelling and visuals, privileging emotion over analysis.  
Medium Over Message: Projects like The Voyage of the Mimi prioritize televisual appeal (dramas, celebrities) over educational substance, letting the medium dictate curriculum.  
Cognitive Consequences: TV cultivates passive, fragmented thinking, while print fosters inferential, contextual understanding.