THE JAY KESSLER BLOG

"Societies have always been shaped more by the nature of the media by which men communicate than by the content of the communication." Marshall McLuhan    “A new technology does not add or subtract something. It changes everything.”  Neil Postman    The old religion is dead. Technology killed it. Let me explain. Myths are colorful stories that present the values of a people. Oral cultures deliver these by live performances like sermons, songs, and theatre. Local authorities set the narrative. This provides members with a common identity and meaning structure. Writing creates scripture and clergy. Flesh and blood leaders begin to yield to an immortal word. The invention of printing expands literacy, transforming this relay into a quiet, solitary affair. Clergy, the deliverers of the word, become obsolete. Individuals now read, a process relying on concepts and active imagination.  Radio, television, and film turn storytelling from conceptual to perceptual. I...

"We commonly do not remember that it is, after all, always the first person that is speaking."  Henry David Thoreau Autobiography is ideal reading for general education. Reasons:   The worth of any written work is dependent on the character of the author. In fiction and philosophy, one puts forth a view of life. In reference books and how-to guides, one proposes principles, methods, and facts. But what are the fruits of those attitudes and ideas? Who is writing them? Autobiography is by nature an answer to these questions.  When a man, having lived and achieved something of significance, in his view, lays the story of his life before the public, he searches in his memory and finds those moments which were pivotal. I n his poetry, a man might describe a sparrow in flight. I n his textbook, he might expose the mysteries of the atom. But in his autobiography, he  includes only the details that defined his life and determined its course.  It is pure case study....