Neil Postman's most popular work, Amusing Ourselves to Death (1985), provided an insightful critique of the effects of television on public discourse in America, arguing that television's bias towards entertaining content trivializes serious issues and undermines the basis of democratic culture. Lance Strate, who earned his doctorate under Neil Postman and is one of the leading media ecology scholars of our time, re-examines Postman's arguments, updating his analysis and critique for the twenty-first-century media environment that includes the expansion of television programming via cable and satellite as well as the Internet, the web, social media, and mobile technologies. Integrating Postman's arguments about television with his critique of technology in general, Strate considers the current state of journalism, politics, religion, and education in American culture. Strate also contextualizes Amusing Ourselves to Death through an examination of Postman's life and career and the field of media ecology that Postman introduced. This is a book about our prospects for the future, which can only be based on the ways in which we think and talk about the present.

Media Ecology: An Approach to Understanding the Human Condition provides a long-awaited and much anticipated introduction to media ecology, a field of inquiry defined as the study of media as environments. Lance Strate presents a clear and concise explanation of an intellectual tradition concerned with much more than understanding media, but rather with understanding the conditions that shape us as human beings, drive human history, and determine the prospects for our survival as a species. Much more than a summary, this book represents a new synthesis that moves the field forward in a manner that is both unique and unprecedented, and simultaneously grounded in an unparalleled grasp of media ecology's intellectual foundations and its relation to other disciplines. Taking as its subject matter "life, the universe, and everything," Strate describes the field as interdisciplinary and communication-centered, provides a detailed explication of McLuhan's famous aphorism, "the medium is the message," and explains that the human condition can only be understood in the context of our biophysical, technological, and symbolic environments. Strate provides an in-depth examination of media ecology's four key terms: medium, which is defined in much broader terms than in other fields; bias, which refers to tendencies inherent in materials and methods; effects, which are best understood via the Aristotelian notion of formal causality and contemporary systems theory; and environment, which includes the distinctions between the oral, chirographic, typographic, and electronic media environments. A chapter on tools serves as a guide to further media ecological research and scholarship. This book is well suited for graduate and undergraduate courses on communication theory and philosophy.

This book brings together a number of prominent scholars to explore a relatively under-studied area of Marshall McLuhan's thought: his idea of formal cause and the role that formal cause plays in the emergence of new technologies and in structuring societal relations. Aiming to open a new way of understanding McLuhan's thought in this area, and to provide methodological grounding for future media ecology research, the book runs the gamut, from contributions that directly support McLuhan's arguments to those that see in them the germs of future developments in emergent dynamics and complexity theory.

Media Ecology: An Approach to Understanding the Human Condition provides a long-awaited and much anticipated introduction to media ecology, a field of inquiry defined as the study of media as environments. Lance Strate presents a clear and concise explanation of an intellectual tradition concerned with much more than understanding media, but rather with understanding the conditions that shape us as human beings, drive human history, and determine the prospects for our survival as a species. Much more than a summary, this book represents a new synthesis that moves the field forward in a manner that is both unique and unprecedented, and simultaneously grounded in an unparalleled grasp of media ecology's intellectual foundations and its relation to other disciplines. Taking as its subject matter "life, the universe, and everything," Strate describes the field as interdisciplinary and communication-centered, provides a detailed explication of McLuhan's famous aphorism, "the medium is the message," and explains that the human condition can only be understood in the context of our biophysical, technological, and symbolic environments. Strate provides an in-depth examination of media ecology's four key terms: medium, which is defined in much broader terms than in other fields; bias, which refers to tendencies inherent in materials and methods; effects, which are best understood via the Aristotelian notion of formal causality and contemporary systems theory; and environment, which includes the distinctions between the oral, chirographic, typographic, and electronic media environments. A chapter on tools serves as a guide to further media ecological research and scholarship. This book is well suited for graduate and undergraduate courses on communication theory and philosophy.

Neil Postman's most popular work, Amusing Ourselves to Death (1985), provided an insightful critique of the effects of television on public discourse in America, arguing that television's bias towards entertaining content trivializes serious issues and undermines the basis of democratic culture. Lance Strate, who earned his doctorate under Neil Postman and is one of the leading media ecology scholars of our time, re-examines Postman's arguments, updating his analysis and critique for the twenty-first-century media environment that includes the expansion of television programming via cable and satellite as well as the Internet, the web, social media, and mobile technologies. Integrating Postman's arguments about television with his critique of technology in general, Strate considers the current state of journalism, politics, religion, and education in American culture. Strate also contextualizes Amusing Ourselves to Death through an examination of Postman's life and career and the field of media ecology that Postman introduced. This is a book about our prospects for the future, which can only be based on the ways in which we think and talk about the present.

"In this volume, Corey Anton and Lance Strate have carefully crafted a collection of comparisons of Korzybski's thoughts to other key philosophers and their ideas. Media, semiotics, imagination, rational thought, cultural studies, and cyberculture are only a sample of the many stimulating topics that come to life in this book...With freshness and vision, this edited collection takes us on a thought-provoking journey connecting us to the essence of Korzybski's contribution. I found it to be a thoroughly enjoyable read."
-Karen Lollar Ph.D.
Chair, Communication Arts and Sciences Metropolitan State University of Denver
Author of The Talk Within: Its Central Role in Communication (2012)
"The collection of essays contained within this book represent a gallant and exquisite attempt to backtrack, as well as to sidetrack and track ahead, and show how Alfred Korzybski's enterprise is indeed aligned not only with various strains and traditions in academic thought and scholarship, but with the work of a host of significant theorists from across the disciplines. As such Corey Anton, Lance Strate, and their contributors have done a great service to Korzybski's legacy, and to the continuation and expansion of general semantics as both an applied and a theoretical system. They have positioned Korzybski and his work as a locus, rather than an outlier."
-Thom Gencarelli, Manhattan College
"Corey Anton and Lance Strate have assembled a 'wild variety' of 16 erudite essays demonstrating the past, present and continuing influence and relevance of Korzybskian general semantics. Academic specialists from diverse fields explore the "connections, intersections, and divergences" between general semantics and assorted topics ranging from phenomenology to psychotherapy to philosophy; from Heinlein to Hayakawa to Heidegger; from matters of time and temporality to the nature of human happiness. "Korzybski And ..." is a collection not to be missed, an example of time-binding at its finest."
-Jacqueline Rudig, IGS Past Vice-President

On the Binding Biases of Time and Other Essays on General Semantics and Media Ecology consists of a series of explorations into our use of symbols, language, and media to relate to our environment, and how our different modes of perception and communication influence human consciousness, culture, and social organization. These essays draw upon and integrate the perspectives of general semantics, systems theory, and media ecology, bringing them to bear upon a diversity of topics that include the future of consciousness, identity and meaning, the Ten Commandments, media literacy, The Lord of the Rings, and our relationship to time. Throughout this volume, Strate grapples with the question of what it means to be human, and what the prospects may be for humanity's continued survival. As he concludes in the title essay of this book: "As a species, we are binders of time, bound up by our biases of time; we are moved by our consciousness of time, as we tell time, and as we tell ourselves that only time will tell; as we play for time, and as we pray, as we pray for time."

On the Binding Biases of Time and Other Essays on General Semantics and Media Ecology consists of a series of explorations into our use of symbols, language, and media to relate to our environment, and how our different modes of perception and communication influence human consciousness, culture, and social organization. These essays draw upon and integrate the perspectives of general semantics, systems theory, and media ecology, bringing them to bear upon a diversity of topics that include the future of consciousness, identity and meaning, the Ten Commandments, media literacy, The Lord of the Rings, and our relationship to time. Throughout this volume, Strate grapples with the question of what it means to be human, and what the prospects may be for humanity's continued survival. As he concludes in the title essay of this book: "As a species, we are binders of time, bound up by our biases of time; we are moved by our consciousness of time, as we tell time, and as we tell ourselves that only time will tell; as we play for time, and as we pray, as we pray for time."

"Candy: A Collection To Satisfy Your Sweetest Cravings," is an eclectic collection which ranges from the romantic to the taboo and from the intimate to the voyeuristic. With sensitivity, passion and at times humor, these poems capture the delights of sex, sexuality, love, lust and fantasy.

From the Introduction

]the gratification offered by the form of erotic poetry mirrors the gratification we may gain from its content. And so, we may admire the craft that went into the making of the poem, perhaps even dissect the technique, or we may, at the other extreme, find ourselves in a Pygmalion-like state of arousal, or a Narcissus-like state of narcosis. But above all, the erotic mirror that these poets have fashioned allows us to examine ourselves, our needs and our wants, our experiences and intentions, our minds and our bodies, in all their beauty, and in their unattractive aspects as well. In short, the mirror of Eros allows us to know ourselves, in all of our humanity.

-Lance Strate, author of "Echoes and Reflections"

Reviews

A wonderful celebration of sexual textasy."

-Robert Priest, author of "Reading the Bible Backwards"

"Candy" is better than sweet - it's a sensuous collection of metaphoric, metaphysical, pulsing, pounding, gentle, gossamer erotic poetry.

-Paul Levinson, author of 5 novels including "The Plot to Save Socrates," and "The Pixel Eye"

"Candy" is heated and hardened, sugary foreplay for anybody in need of some sweetness."

-Jeanette Kantzalis, novelist and musician-songwriter for "A Brokeheart Pro"

In an age that hypes the erotic potential of new media, "Candy" is a reminder that language itself remains our principal instrument of desire.

-Joseph W. Slade, author of "Pornography in America," the three volume reference work "Pornography and Sexual Representation," and "Thomas Pynchon" (Writers for the 70's series)

Selections from Science and Sanity represents Alfred Korzybski's authorized abridgement of his magnum opus, Science and Sanity: An Introduction to Non-Aristotelian Systems and General Semantics. This second edition, published in response to the recent Korzybski revival, adds new introductory material and a revised index, providing an accessible introduction to Korzybski's arguments concerning the need for a non-Aristotelian approach to knowledge, thought, perception, and language, to coincide with our non-Newtonian physics and non-Euclidean geometries, to Korzybski's practical philosophy, applied psychology, pragmatics of human communication, and educational program. Selections from Science and Sanity serves as an excellent introduction to general semantics as a system intended to aid the individual's adjustment to reality, enhance intellectual and creative activities, and alleviate the many social ills that have plagued humanity throughout our history.

This volume of original research contributes to the renewal of interest in Marshall McLuhan and his work. In Section One, four chapters provide a general discussion of McLuhan's work. The chapters in the second section present the reactions of five media professionals to McLuhan and his work. The third section explores topics that go to the heart of McLuhan's theories; the linearity of written communication, perception as it is reflected in artistic expression, and media semiotics. Section Four emphasizes the humanistic basis of McLuhan's thought and its applications. Chapters in the fifth section cover the sector of scholarship for which McLuhan is best known. Chapters in the final section examine his work in light of theory and research on the new media of the past two decades.

This book uses television news coverage of the 1993 Midwest flood as a case study to analyze the intersection of television news and nature, with specific focus on how this intersection must be examined within the context of place.

This book brings together an impressive collection of essays that explore the growing complexity, range, and reach of media commercialism in today's world. From the corporate conglomeration of today's media giants to the effects of advertising on politics, society, and the individual, this collection provides a comprehensive and insightful critique of both the impact and the limits of media commercialism.