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  3. The trend toward rationality and enlightenment was endangered long before th

The trend toward rationality and enlightenment was endangered long before th

游客2023-08-05  19
问题     The trend toward rationality and enlightenment was endangered long before the advent of the World Wide Web. As Neil Postman noted in his 1985 book Amusing Ourselves to Death, the rise of television introduced not just a new medium but a new discourse: a gradual shift from a typographic (印刷的) culture to a photographic one, which in turn meant a shift from rationality to emotions, exposition to entertainment. In an image-centered and pleasure-driven world, Postman noted, there is no place for rational thinking, because you simply cannot think with images. It is text that enables us to "uncover lies, confusions and overgeneralizations, and to detect abuses of logic and common sense. It also means to weigh ideas, to compare and contrast assertions, to connect one generalization to another."
    The dominance of television was not confined to our living rooms. It overturned all of those habits of mind, fundamentally changing our experience of the world, affecting the conduct of politics, religion, business, and culture. It reduced many aspects of modern life to entertainment, sensationalism, and commerce. "Americans don’t talk to each other, we entertain each other," Postman wrote. "They don’t exchange ideas; they exchange images. They do not argue with propositions; they argue with good looks, celebrities and commercials."
    At first, the web seemed to push against this trend. When it emerged towards the end of the 1980s as a purely text-based medium, it was seen as a tool to pursue knowledge, not pleasure. Reason and thought were most valued in this garden—all derived from the project of the Enlightenment. Universities around the world were among the first to connect to this new medium, which hosted discussion groups, informative personal or group blogs, electronic magazines, and academic mailing lists and forums. It was an intellectual project, not about commerce or control, created in a scientific research center in Switzerland. And for more than a decade, the web created an alternative space that threatened television’s grip on society.
    Social networks, though, have since colonized the web for television’s values. From Facebook to Instagram, the medium refocuses our attention on videos and images, rewarding emotional appeals—’like’ buttons—over rational ones. Instead of a quest for knowledge, it engages us in an endless zest (热情) for instant approval from an audience, for which we are constantly but unconsciously performing. (It’s telling that, while Google began life as a PhD thesis, Facebook started as a tool to judge classmates’ appearances.) It reduces our curiosity by showing us exactly what we already want and think, based on our profiles and preferences. The Enlightenment’s motto (座右铭) of ’Dare to know’ has become ’Dare not to care to know.’ [br] What did Neil Postman say about the rise of television?
选项 A、It initiated a change from dominance of reason to supremacy of pleasure.
B、It brought about a gradual shift from cinema going to home entertainment.
C、It started a revolution in photographic technology.
D、It marked a new age in the entertainment industry.
答案 A
解析 根据题干中的信息词the rise of television，答案线索可以定位至第一段第二句。第一段第二句提到，电视的兴起不仅带来了一种新的媒体，还引出了一种新的言论：印刷文化逐渐转变为影像文化，而这又意味着从理性到情感，以及从阐述到娱乐的转变。选项A中的a change from dominance of reason to supremacy of pleasure是对原文a shift from rationality to emotions，exposition to entertainment的概括，故本题选A。文中未提及影院相关内容，且影院和家庭娱乐都属于娱乐范畴，故排除选项B。文中未提及影像技术的变革和娱乐行业开启了一个新时代，故排除选项C和选项D。
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