Web Date Vol. Some things are so big most folks do not notice them any more than fish notice the ocean. Neil Postman, an NYU sociology professor and author of some twenty books, has noticed a development so huge it is mistaken for normality by smaller-minded observers and goes unremarked by most Christian commentators, yet which is of great significance to the church.
Postman points out that a sea-change has occurred in our information environment.
After the Fifteenth Century invention of the printing press, Western society became centered around communication that flowed through books, newspapers and other printed texts. The changed information environment has changed the way people think. It has not merely changed people s opinions on specific issues, but has profoundly altered the way the wheels and gears turn between people s ears. For starters, a book forces its reader to think in a manner dictated by the medium of print. The reader must exert himself to get information from the page.