The Judgement of Thamus

-Neil Postman

A summary by Rohan Samuel

In ‘The Judgement of Thamus’, Postman uses a story from Plato’s Phaedrus to analyze and determine the
past and future effects of new technologies being used for communication. In the story, Socrates talks about
how Thamus, the king of an Egyptian city, responds to an exhibition of inventions by Theuth. One of these
inventions is writing. Thamus disagrees with Theuth, who believes that writing will improve the wisdom
and memory of the people. Thamus argues that the effects will in fact be the opposite; A change in the
perception of those words which will result in ignorant people who are actually a burden to society.

How do we think about such changes in a technological society? This is the question Postman tries to
answer. He does this by using the analogy of an actual environmental ecosystem. That is, in this
technological ecosystem, an advancement will not add to the pre-existing space but will in turn change
everything. Postman uses Freud’s ‘Civilization and Its Discontents’ to emphasize that while technology
seems like it brightens our lives it may as well be the very thing that destroys us.

“An improved means to an unimproved end.”

Postman also introduces the concept of winners and losers in a knowledge monopoly in relation to the
growth of technology. He says that this growth changes our understanding of common terms which further
allows those who are knowledgeable in the workings of a technology to gain power over those who are not.
He explains this using an example of a blacksmith who thought that his business would be enhanced by the
invention of the automobile but ultimately causes the end of his career.

Postman coins this kind of society- ‘A Technopoly’; a world in which knowledge of the latest technologies
and an idea of how to use them as an influence is considered a form of wisdom. An institutions power and
freedom are defined by its ability to use technology.

“The uses of any technology are largely determined by the structure of the technology itself”

Postman directly references Marshall McLuhan’s “The medium is the message” in explaining how the
implementation of a technology doesn’t depend on its function as media, but on the very form the media
exists in.

In Morrison’s piece about Marshall McLuhan, he introduces a method of analyzing media by asking four
questions. This relates back directly to Postman’s argument that technology isn’t additive or subtractive but
effects the ecology in many ways.

Another way this piece relates to other readings is in Postman’s use of Harold Innis and his concept of
knowledge monopolies. Levitt’s piece on the influence of the KKK can help us understand this concept
better. Universities and realtors, much like the Klavaliers, relied on the people’s lack of knowledge about
themselves to maintain their power and authority. This is similar to how the ‘winners’ of the Technopoly
gain leverage over the losers.

An application of these concepts would be to observe YouTube. A relatively new form of media which
happens to be accessible to almost everyone. For many, it’s also a way to make money. The introduction of
YouTube and the rapid increase of its viewers has affected all media in the current ecosystem.
YouTube has a complex algorithm by which certain content is shown to, or forced upon certain viewers.
This also determines how much money is made. This algorithm is exploitable and largely directs and
influences the kinds of videos that are made famous. It is an example of how the function and content of the
media follow the form and very platform it exists on.

In many ways, those who boast a large following on YouTube also have a large amount of influence and
freedom to express whatever they like. Many institutions are also threatened by their power. They are the
winners of this Technopoly.