Neil Postman Quote

But it is not time constraints alone that produce such fragmented and discontinuous language. When a television show is in process, it is very nearly impermissible to say, Let me think about that or I don't know or What do you mean when you say...? or From what sources does your information come? This type of discourse not only slows down the tempo of the show but creates the impression of uncertainty or lack of finish. It tends to reveal people in the , which is as disconcerting and boring on television as it is on a Las Vegas stage. Thinking does not play well on television, a fact that television directors discovered long ago. There is not much to in it. It is, in a phrase, not a performing art. But television demands a performing art.