Neil Postman’s Technopoly is not only a frightening interpretation of the past, but also an ominous prediction of the future. In this chapter, Postman explains how the world, specifically America, has gone from old-fashioned values to a Technocracy and then to a Technopoly.
He explains that Technocracy made people stop questioning why they did things, and instead just did things if they could be done. He says, “with [Technocracy], there developed a profound belief in all the principles through which invention succeeds: objectivity, efficiency, expertise, standardization, measurement, and progress.” Although these guiding principles became a part of everyday life, Postman explains that they still allowed the old-fashioned values to exist.
The opposite is true with Postman’s so-called Technopoly. Although it has the same guiding principles, it only allows one narrative to exist - its own. This he says is what our world and nation has come to. This is also the world that exists in the Brave New World.
Not only are people in Brave New World constantly being conditioned, they are conditioned before they are even born, just so that they can fulfill the purpose of society - progress. Postman’s idea that Technocracy and Technopoly “brought into being an increased respect for the average person, whose potential and even convenience became a matter of compelling political interest and urgent social policy,” is the same as the repetitive ideals of Brave New World’s society: “Every one works for every one else. We can’t do without any one. Even Epsilons are useful. We couldn’t do without Epsilons. Every one works for every one else. We can’t do without any one…” (Huxley 74).
The thought that we have the same ideals since the 19th century as the society in Brave New World is terrifying. Postman makes Ray Kurzweil's prediction of a utopian future seem more like a horrific and impending doom. Nonetheless, Postman adds some significant insights into the interpretation of the past and of Brave New World. For example, he writes that Technopoly eradicates alternatives to itself by “redefining what we mean by religion, by art, by family, by politics, by history, by truth, by privacy, by intelligence, so that our definitions fits its new requirements.” This adds to understanding Brave New World’s society and the underlying themes in the novel.
I think the idea to take from this chapter of Technopoly is to be careful, to be aware of yourself and your ideals, and to try not to be too influenced by others. There is still hope in keeping “old-fashioned” ideas alive, considering the fact that they still exist. Although Postman says we are in a Technopoly, I still believe we live in a Technocracy. However, we must be careful in the coming decades because after all, according to Postman, Technopoly is only a “totalitarian Technocracy.”
