The human dilemma is as it has always been, and we solve nothing fundamental by cloaking ourselves in technological glory. Even the humblest cartoon character knows this, and I shall close by quoting the wise old possum named Pogo, created by the cartoonist, Walt Kelley. I commend his words to all the technological utopians and messiahs present. “We have met the enemy,” Pogo said, “and he is us.”
Predictor: Postman, Neil
Prediction, in context:In an Oct. 11, 1990, speech to the German Informatics Society in Stuttgart, social commentator and author Neil Postman says: ”As things stand now, the geniuses of computer technology will give us Star Wars [a missile defense system], and tell us that is the answer to nuclear war. They will give us artificial intelligence, and tell us that this is the way to self-knowledge. They will give us instantaneous global communication and tell us this is the way to mutual understanding. They will give us Virtual Reality and tell us this is the answer to spiritual poverty. But that is only the way of the technician, the fact-mongerer, the information junkie and the technological idiot. Here is what Henry David Thoreau told us: ‘All our inventions are but improved means to an unimproved end.’ Here is what Goethe told us: ‘One should, each day, try to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it is possible, speak a few reasonable words.’ And here is what Socrates told us: ‘The unexamined life is not worth living.’ … And I can tell you – if I had the time – what Confucius, Isaiah, Jesus, Mohammed, the Buddha, Spinoza and Shakespeare told us. It is all the same: There is no escaping from ourselves. The human dilemma is as it has always been, and we solve nothing fundamental by cloaking ourselves in technological glory. Even the humblest cartoon character knows this, and I shall close by quoting the wise old possum named Pogo, created by the cartoonist, Walt Kelley. I commend his words to all the technological utopians and messiahs present. ‘We have met the enemy,’ Pogo said, ‘and he is us.'”
Biography:Neil Postman was a professor at NYU and prolific writer and speaker on the negative impacts of technology and the media on society. He wrote the book “Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology” (1992). (Research Scientist/Illuminator.)
Date of prediction: October 11, 1990
Topic of prediction: Community/Culture
Subtopic: Information Overload
Name of publication: Speech to the German Informatics Society
Title, headline, chapter name: Informing Ourselves to Death
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
www.williams.edu/HistSci/curriculum/101/informing.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney