{"id":2008884,"date":"2023-08-23T03:14:02","date_gmt":"2023-08-23T07:14:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/our-cultural-surrender-to-screens-has-bred-an-entirely-unserious-generation\/"},"modified":"2023-08-23T03:24:16","modified_gmt":"2023-08-23T07:24:16","slug":"our-cultural-surrender-to-screens-has-bred-an-entirely-unserious-generation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/our-cultural-surrender-to-screens-has-bred-an-entirely-unserious-generation\/","title":{"rendered":"Screens have led to a generation lacking seriousness."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Four-cultural-surrender-to-screens-has-bred-an-entirely-unserious-generation%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2008884&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"article-content\">\n<h2>&#8220;We are becoming sillier\u2063 by the minute.&#8221;<\/h2>\n<p>Such was Neil Postman\u2019s judgment in 1985. In <em>Amusing Ourselves\u2062 to\u2062 Death<\/em>, \u2064he warned against the consequences of the decline of a print-based culture in favor of &#8220;a\u2063 television-based epistemology.&#8221; That meant\u200c a retreat \u2064from the mental effort of\u200b traditional literacy in favor of a\u2063 mind-altering\u200b technology. &#8220;As culture moves from printing\u200c to televising, its ideas of truth move with it.&#8221; The truth\u2064 of \u2063things is easily\u200d missed in \u2064the\u2064 screen\u2019s succession of\u2064 images and spectacles \u2062with the lifespan of a mayfly.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;We are becoming sillier by the minute.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h3>By now, <em>silly<\/em> is too mild a \u200cword.<\/h3>\n<p>Cell phones and\u2064 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-this-average-american-is-voting-for-donald-trump\/\" title=\"Why This Average American Is Voting for Donald Trump\">social media<\/a> have done more\u2062 than\u2062 accelerate\u2063 the transformation of reading into viewing. They displaced it. The \u200dswap stunts culture at \u2063its source. The word &#8220;influencer&#8221; is no longer an\u2062 ordinary noun; it has become a career goal. To some 26 percent of today\u2019s young people, \u200dit eclipses occupational choices that require training\u200b and formal qualifications like a\u2063 college degree. The thrill of\u200b online \u200caffirmation, measured in followers,\u2062 crowds out time-honored pride in \u200buseful work.<\/p>\n<h3>One gauge\u200d of American\u200d cultural decline is\u200d the vanishing tally of public\u2062 intellectuals beside a swelling number of wired celebrities.<\/h3>\n<p>Influencers are social media \u200bperformers, \u2064pitchmen for an infinity of purposes from brands to lifestyles. They capitalize on \u200bthe \u200binvestment \u2064of young audiences\u200d in their own self-image as knowing \u2063consumers of attitudes and gear trending in their social scene.<\/p>\n<h3>By contrast, public intellectuals were reflective writers, editors, and trained and tested scholars who addressed an informed, morally self-aware adult \u200caudience.<\/h3>\n<p>Their essential m\u00e9tier was criticism. From the politics of culture to ethics and economics, they presented principled arguments about rights, responsibilities, and \u200bthe health of the social \u200dorder. Such names as Irving Howe,\u200b John Kenneth Galbraith, Dwight MacDonald, Lionel Trilling, Mary McCarthy, C. Wright Mills, Reinhold Niebuhr, Daniel Bell, and Hannah Arendt, \u200bamong others, had an effect on political debates \u200band public affairs. Differences aside, they willed the common \u200cgood and set the intellectual\u2062 standards by which historians judge an age.<\/p>\n<h3>What will historians make of the American mind when they look at their successors?<\/h3>\n<p>Heading the list\u200d of this year\u2019s Instagram \u2063influencers are\u2062 Kylie Jenner (398 million followers), Taylor Swift (270 million), soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo (601 million), and singer Demi Lovato<strong> <\/strong>(157 million). Kourtney, Khloe, \u2064and Kim\u2064 Kardashian boast a combined total of\u200b 898 million followers.\u2062 And that is only Instagram. All influencers \u200bpost across different platforms: TikTok,\u2064 Facebook, Twitter \u200b(recently rebranded as X), YouTube,\u200c and Snapchat.<\/p>\n<p>We still have\u2063 carriers of the older tradition \u2014 Victor Davis Hanson is one \u2014\u2063 but the roster is short, and the audience limited. The\u2062 term &#8220;public intellectual&#8221; is as obsolete as a TV antenna. To a generation weaned onto smartphones, \u200dthe digital world is the real one. A flickering cosmos, it can\u200d erase the foundations of a \u200bcoherent culture \u2014 a civilization \u2014 \u2064with the click of a mouse.<\/p>\n<p>For \u200dadolescents and young \u200cadults with little life experience, the kick of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/our-cultural-surrender-to-screens-has-bred-an-entirely-unserious-generation\/\" title=\"Screens have led to a generation lacking seriousness.\">peer attention trumps knowledge<\/a> of\u2063 the historical inheritance that supports their well-being. Few online\u200b celebrities contribute to the public conversation. Most are digital \u200dspawns of Vance Packard\u2019s &#8220;hidden persuaders.&#8221; No longer behind the \u200dcurtain, they shill openly\u2062 for products \u2014 including identities \u2014 in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/influencer-marketing-report?r=US&#038;IR=T\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">multibillion-dollar<\/a> influencer industry in which persons, too, \u2064become brands.<\/p>\n<p>Intellectual discipline \u2064is increasingly resented. Traditional reading skills are denigrated as elitist, anti-democratic, and even\u2064 racist. Deep reading is too\u2062 slow, too \u2063demanding. Yet no such thing as deep watching makes up the deficit.<\/p>\n<p>The vacuum showed earlier this month in \u200dManhattan\u2019s Union Square when celebrity influencer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.caclubindia.com\/wealth\/kai-cenat-net-worth\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Kai Cenet<\/a> \u200dstaged an event.\u200b The most subscribed Twitch streamer on \u200bthe planet summoned his subscribers to \u200ca giveaway of webcams, PlayStations,\u200c and other paraphernalia for getting in\u200d on the game. The smash-and-grab community showed \u2064up, joined by wannabe influencers. \u200cWhen the freebies dried up, the \u200cmob did what you\u2019d expect from a rudderless, \u2063youthful, \u2063almost entirely male crowd with nothing\u200c to \u2064do in the middle of a workday. \u2063 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/08\/09\/nyregion\/kai-cenat-union-square.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">They rioted.<\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;These young people will emerge from\u200b their basements and swarm the streets for a glimpse\u2064 of a guy who makes his money off of their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-delivers-first-address-to-joint-session-of-congress\/\" title=\"Biden Delivers First Address to Joint Session of Congress\">time spent<\/a> in their basements, but they won\u2019t leave the \u200dhouse to go to work and give themselves \u2064a \u200cshot \u200cat a life as anything other than Kai Cenet\u2019s enablers.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The shot they want is a chance to become another Cenet. They \u200bdream\u200d of \u200bbeing\u2063 &#8220;content creators&#8221; who get paid by subscription plus collaboration\u200b with brand managers. Influencers showcase\u2062 products that promise to make fans\u2064 more\u200b like themselves.<\/p>\n<p>Only 21 years old, Cenet has earned some \u200b$10 million since he\u200b dropped out of college \u200bto hustle &#8220;content&#8221; \u2014 filming himself watching \u2063video \u200bgames and playing pranks.<\/p>\n<p>He uses the lingo and poses of rap culture \u2063to entertain more than 6 million followers on \u2062Twitch and several million more on other platforms. Along the way, devotees eyeball his Tesla \u200dModel Y, his \u200dNike Jordans, and hoodies \u200dby Armani and Burberry. They develop\u200d a taste for Kanye West\u2019s limited edition Yeezy Foamrunners, produced in\u2062 partnership with Adidas.<\/p>\n<p>Advertising is nothing new. Neither\u200b is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/manhattan-district-attorney-candidate-plans-to-offer-alternatives-to-incarceration-for-all-crimes-including-rape-murder\/\" title=\"Manhattan District Attorney Candidate Plans To Offer Alternatives To Incarceration For All Crimes, Including Rape, Murder\">celebrity endorsement<\/a>. What is \u200bnew is the annexation of youthful aspiration by what <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Apocalypse-Sovereign-Self-Recovering-Personhood\/dp\/1621389278\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Gil\u2062 Bailie<\/a> calls \u200b&#8221;the howling \u200cwinds of cultural aimlessness.&#8221;\u2064 They \u200dwhip up an\u2062 appetite\u2063 for online approval that elevates hyping oneself to a life goal.<\/p>\n<p>Being applauded for your personality is proof of\u200b celebrity, a bankable credential. It attracts subsidies from merchandisers\u200b looking to install themselves in the buying habits of a receptive audience.<\/p>\n<p>Consider\u2063 Demi Lovato\u2019s arrangement with <a href=\"https:\/\/us.fashionnetwork.com\/news\/fabletics-to-launch-first-ever-collaboration-with-demi-lovato,824764.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Fabletics<\/a>, a manufacturer of fitness and workout\u2062 clothes, and <a href=\"https:\/\/girlup.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Girl Up<\/a>, a United Nations \u2064Foundation program \u2062for female\u200c empowerment. Girl Up encourages\u200b female adolescents\u200b to see\u2063 themselves as a force to &#8220;change the \u200dface of leadership\u200d for generations&#8221; on matters from so-called menstrual equity and body positivity\u2062 to gender justice, climate \u200bchange, and sustainability.\u200c Girls can signal their status \u200cas world improvers by sporting tops, leggings, bras, and jackets inspired by Lovato\u2019s \u2063music.<\/p>\n<p>The\u200c drag queen look gets a boost from rising makeup stars. Three of the four &#8220;beauty \u2062influencers&#8221; featured by <a href=\"https:\/\/nealschaffer.com\/top-instagram-influencers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Neal Schaffer<\/a>, a\u200c digital marketing consultant, are men in makeup. James Charles, with 22.8 million Instagram followers, was the\u2064 first male spokesmodel for Cover Girl. Manny\u2062 Gutierrez,\u2062 Maybelline\u2019s\u2062 first male model, makes himself up \u200cto chat to 4 million followers about gay issues. Self-described\u2062 nonbinary beauty mogul and makeup artist Jeffree Star began wearing\u2062 makeup to school\u2063 in \u2063junior high.\u2062 Now \u200bhe flutters artificial eyelashes at 14 million Instagram \u200bfollowers, and 16 million YouTube subscribers.<\/p>\n<p>Schaffer urges merchandisers\u200b to leverage \u200cthe mushrooming power of social media. Influencers convey an &#8220;authenticity and human touch,&#8221; an &#8220;emotional resonance,&#8221; that beats conventional print advertising. \u2063Moreover, &#8220;The barriers to content creation \u200band its publication and distribution have never been \u200blower.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The American Influencer Council was launched in 2020 by content creators to advance influencer \u2062marketing. It helps match producers of branded merchandise with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fact-check-does-this-image-show-donald-trumps-aug-21-rally-in-alabama\/\" title=\"FACT CHECK: Does This Image Show Donald Trump\u2019s Aug. 21 Rally In Alabama?\">social media personalities<\/a> who have cultivated a &#8220;relationship&#8221; with their \u2064audience. These present themselves as someone whose image and income their audience aspires\u2064 to emulate.<\/p>\n<p>Four decades ago Postman compared the visions \u2063of George Orwell and Aldous\u200c Huxley:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;What Orwell feared were those \u200bwho would \u2063ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who\u200b wanted to read one. \u2026 Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In the surrender of youth culture to technology, the Huxleyan prophecy has been fully realized.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Neil Postman warned in 1985 that we were growing increasingly foolish. In his book, Amusing Ourselves to Death, he cautioned against the consequences of abandoning print culture for a television-centric way of thinking. This shift meant forsaking the intellectual rigor of reading in favor of a technology that altered our minds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1222,"featured_media":2008885,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2008884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2008884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1222"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2008884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2008884\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2008885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2008884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2008884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2008884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}