In response to Kim's second question (Mcluhan/Postman)

I do agree with Mcluhan when he describes television as a "cool" medium because now in our day the majority of the population doesn't have the time nor the want to sit down and read something full of meaning, they want to experience it. It is more appealing to the senses and offers more than 1 way of understanding the material, even though it might not be as in depth. I do realize that intellectuals would love to sit down and read and enjoy really getting into what the authors meaning is, but ask yourself is that the majority of the public? I would say no, it doesn't account for people who work and don't have time, it also doesn't account for very many people who are going to school, because the majority of the time they are already reading. I can understand and appreciate that, but there comes a point where you don't need to understand everything in depth, and you just want to know a little bit of information, then if you become interested you may go and read more about it. It is like dipping your toe in the water to see if you like the temperature. Print takes much more interpretation than television does and for that reason it is very likely and easy to misinterpret. Even though you may think you are getting more meaning out of it, how much will you really continue to retain for a long period of time. When you watch television images are transferred through your head and intrepreted visually, which most people recall very easily or easier than print in that case. When we watch television there is less asked of us, we can zone in and out and the program will still be on. An advantage of that is that we can start listening and catch right up. In addition there are commercials in television for a "processing" break, that is not the purpose of commercials, but it can serve as a reflecting time on what you have heard and seen. It better prepares you for more information,and recaptures what you have just learned. Where as print if you take a break you may forget and have to go back and re read or you loose your spot. I believe that it is just as easy to formulate an idea or opinion on a television program as it is when you read it from print, there is no difference there. People will always question things and formulate ideas no matter where they are. During the election, millions of people formulated opinions about canidates that debated on television. If you had read about that in the newspaper, would it have been just as meaningful?? True, yet the requirements are different, truely complex issues cannot be discussed on television because people quickly loose interest, but I believe that would happen anywhere. Complex topics in a book are not as interesting to read because its so technical.