Neil Postman, an author, educator and social critic whose warnings about the pernicious effects of technology in American society were a constant theme in the 20 books and scores of essays he wrote over a four-decade career, died last Sunday at a hospital in Flushing, N.Y. He was 72.
The cause was lung cancer, according to a spokesman for New York University, where Postman taught for 44 years.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Tuesday October 14, 2003 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 26 words Type of Material: Correction
Neil Postman -- A photograph that ran with Neil Postman's obituary in Sunday's California section was incorrectly credited. The photographer was Josh Meyrowitz, not Jose Meyrowitz.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Friday October 17, 2003 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 36 words Type of Material: Correction
Postman obituary -- An obituary in the California section Sunday of social critic Neil Postman incorrectly stated that his 1979 book, "Teaching as a Subversive Activity," was co-authored by Charles Weingartner. Postman was the sole author.
A professor of media ecology, Postman first gained national attention with the book "Teaching as a Subversive Activity," a critique of rote learning and other traditional education methods, which was co-written with Charles Weingartner and published in 1969.
He later focused his wry intelligence on technology, most notably television and computers, offering a cautionary perspective that caused some critics to regard him as something of a Luddite.
His best-known books in this vein include "Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business" (1985), "The Disappearance of Childhood" (1994) and "Building a Bridge to the 18th Century" (1999).
Postman avoided computers; he wrote all of his books in longhand, generally over bagels and coffee at a favorite diner in Queens. He did not use a cell phone; he did not e-mail. He was probably, by his own proud admission, "one of the few people that you're likely to ... ever meet who is opposed to the use of personal computers in school."
He even spurned the cruise-control option when he bought a new car. "What is the problem to which this is the solution?" he asked the bewildered car salesman, popping the question he had used countless times in his seminars to challenge students.
The car salesman mustered a reply after a moment, suggesting that cruise control was for people who had trouble keeping their foot on the gas pedal. In his many years of driving, Postman countered, stepping on the gas had never been a problem. In his view, there usually was no good answer to his searingly simple question. He always followed up with another zinger: "Are you using the technology, or is it using you?"
"He didn't care if you had a better solution to a problem he never felt was real, and he would make fun of you if you tried to recommend it," NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen, who studied under Postman, said in an essay posted Friday on the Internet magazine Salon.
