Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Debates.
In Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death, he says that when Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas would have debates, many people would go watch them debate as their form of entertainment. Lincoln and Douglas' debates would sometimes last a good six or seven hours. People would sit and watch two people argue, for six or seven hours at a time. These people would not only watch the debates, they would understand, and remember, almost everything Lincoln and Douglas were debating. I found this extremely interesting. Most people today, myself included, are unable to remember what they had for breakfast that morning. Yet people in the nineteenth century could remember a six or seven hour debate. I find it so fascinating how intellectual people were before televisions were invented, and it makes me wonder how much information people of the twentieth century would remember. If you listened to a lengthy debate on any subject, do you think you would remember most of it? Would you even pay attention to most of it?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I also thought that this was incredible. I was especially enthralled by the fact that they spoke in actual complete sentences using proper english. And it wasn't just the intellectuals who spoke like this, but the common people. It was a time when culture centered around knowledge and literature. I highly doubt that anyone in our current generation could ever pay attention, and even more, comprehend debates of that length and complexity. Not with our ever wandering minds and lack of vast vocabulary.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you and I know for a fact that almost no one of this generation could. We would be too distracted by the pings and vibrations all coming from our cellular devices. To able to sit through a regular class period of just talking would be difficult,but seven hours and maybe even more and to actually be interested? That's impossible
ReplyDeleteI also agree that this is very interesting. In AP World History, I, along with others, would find ourselves complaining after a forty-five to one hour lecture. During a lecture of this length, I would constantly find myself zoning out and thinking about subjects completely unrelated to the lecture. Because of this fact, I am confident that I would not be unable to fully absorb a debate of that length.
ReplyDeleteOur generation is so impatient when compared to the people of past centuries. Like Uchechi and Djoure said, we can't even sit through a fifty-eight minute class period and remember everything the teacher says. Our minds doze off and we lose patience and begin fiddling our fingers and tapping out pencils. Before media, such as Lincoln's time, citizens could not watch debates or campaign commercials on television. They had to attend these actual debates to know who they were going to vote for.
ReplyDelete