As a freshman at Medaille, every student is required to read a book entitled Amusing Ourselves To Death, by Neil Postman. This book is basically the focus of your Gen110 class, which is required as part of the core curriculum of the college. Postman argues that technology in general is interfering with direct communication, and cites the negative effects of watching television, sending an e-mail, etc. He argues that personal interaction is becoming less and less due to these advances and warns his readers not to fall into the trap.

Tuesday, November 6, one of Postman’s former students, Lance Strate, came to Medaille to give a lecture called “Amazing Ourselves To Death,” reflecting on the relevance of Postman’s ideas. He also met with a group of Honors students to talk about “Neil Postman: Teacher, Colleague, and Friend.” It was really interesting to talk to someone who actually knew Postman as a person. I spent a semester reading and dissecting Postman’s work, so learning a little about his personal life was pretty cool. I would have never known that he was a college basketball star, or that he liked the fax machine, and played Minor League Baseball. Did you know he went to Fredonia State College? Learning these facts made the author seem a lot more real.

I think it’s really awesome that the Scholars Program is able to present these type of events that give a completely different insight into what we are learning in the classroom. Strate’s talk was informative and interesting, and could not be learned by simply picking up Amusing Ourselves To Death.