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Summary of Defending Against the Indefensible Essay

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In Neil Postman's "Defending Against the Indefensible", he suggests that our society has been culturally brainwashed. Therefore, Postman has given us seven key elements of critical thinking to help us understand the English language and avoid the manipulation of language: definition, questions, simplicity of words, metaphors, reification, style and tone, and the non-neutrality of media. Postman's first principle is that a definition is only a means of helping us achieve our goals. Definitions do not have the power to stop us from achieving our purposes. Definitions will always have a bias. It is our job to spot that bias and question who wrote the definition, why, and for what purpose. The word "organic" is seen quiet frequently …show more content…

What was considered "right" to Hitler was very contrary to what was right to Churchill during World War Two. Students who can understand the meanings of these small words will be able to understand how the media, politicians, and preachers may try to mislead or cover up. Fourth, students must realize how much metaphors are used in the english language. Not only are metaphors used so commonly, they also greatly influence the way we think about things. All subjects are based on metaphors. Education is currently seen as a business with the students as the clients. Language is a tree with deep roots. Metaphors are a cornerstone to how we grasp concepts and understand the knowledge we have. We really only know things in relation to other things, often by a metaphor Postman's fifth concept is reification. This is the confusing of words with things. It is with reification, that we can manipulate words to help us conceal ideas. Words like ethnic cleansing or final solution make a concept sound like it is a good thing, yet it really involves the massacre of millions of people. Reification displays to us that a person's word choice is profoundly influential to how we perceive a concept. Style and tone is the sixth concept used by Postman. All subjects of knowledge are like genres. They share certain qualities that are distinctive to the subject matter. A man of science could not write about history

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