College Lecture Series - Neil Postman - "The Surrender of Culture to Technology"
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN recommends it to engineers as a skeptical counterweight to technology boosterism, especially for those building AI and consumer tech features.
What it is
Neil Postman's 1997 lecture at College of DuPage, based on his book, argues that Americans treat technology as a national religion and depend on it to solve larger human problems. It includes audience questions.
Recommended by 5 HN commenters across 5 different months, 2014 to 2025.
What Hacker News said
Strong rec jackdoe · 2025-09 · on “Chrome's New AI Features”
I suggest the people working on those features watch Neil Postman's "The Surrender of Culture to Technology": [this video] Part of me is actually excited for the acceleration of the end of the web, I even wrote [LINK] few days ago in frustration. The sooner it ends the better. I really don't want to see "summarization" tokens of other people's tokens.
Recommends dredmorbius · 2014-05 · on “Neil Postman: Things We Need to Know About Technological Change (1998) [pdf]”
There's a related video from a March, 1997 lecture, in which Postman discusses the questions. Though I agree with much of what he says, I also feel he suffered from a bit of failure of imagination in conceiving of what the possible utility of information might be. [this video] Two bits, both in the Q&A, particularly stand out. First: the observation that as the hoi polloi are told they need to acquire technical skills, the ruling class retains its power by learning how to speak and write effectively. Second: "I feel very strongly about this: what is distracting us from solving some of the problems that you mention is a kind of a world view that's being promoted now by computer technology, that th
Recommends fkooman · 2016-06 · on “The Moral Economy of Tech”
> Not necessarily more smarts, but better tech means more affordable connectivity and education, and better education too. This is not true. Neil Postman has something to say about this, already in 1996, in "The Surrender of Culture to Technology". It specifically mentions education and how the "wiring up to the information super highway" was misguided. [this video] It is very interesting in reading/watching Maciej, Neil Postman and also Evgeny Morozov to put things in perspective.
Recommends zulgan · 2020-03 · on “Ted Kaczynski's Manifesto [pdf]”
a bit off topic, but if you enjoy questioning the value of technology and the impact on our society, check out Neil Postman's "The Surrender of Culture to Technology" [this video]
Recommends blueridge · 2023-09 · on “Like privacy? Then smart devices are a dumb idea”
Yes, likewise. We have no smart devices, no TV in the house, no cameras or smart doorbells or Internet enabled appliances. People are always disoriented when they visit because there is no TV and no Echo-like device on the kitchen counter. Here's Neil Postman on using technology to solve problems that no one has, linked to start at 20:03: [this video]