The Panther

What we spend our time pursuing says a lot about us; our values, our beliefs, our ideals-all are reflected by what we choose to put into our minds. Our minds operate much in the same ways our bodies do. If we put garbage into our bodies, we cannot expect it to be able to perform for us. The same goes with our mind-"garbage in, garbage out." So it is about time we sit back and truly evaluate what experiences and information we are taking in.

Everyone knows when a newspaper story comes out about a "boring" event on campus, a debate or assembly for example, it is no small secret that, for the most part, it goes unread. When people pick up a news publication or turn on the television, the majority of us immediately want to know the "juicy" stories.

How else can we explain the media's seemingly obsessive fascination with celebrities? Their love lives, their personal hardships, even the circumstances of their deaths are all fair game for the viewing public. We seem to take a distinct pleasure in hearing about or reading about the misfortunes of others.

The truth is, our society loves drama. The fact that tabloids are still big business in a world of print media that is rapidly shrinking is a testament to this. Perhaps it is because our instant media world has detached us from our fellow man-we can read about or watch the misfortunes of Britney Spears (indeed, there are entire news networks devoted to celebritology) and feel absolutely no sympathy. Even when it is something more local-a Prairie View student injured in this way, or a big conflict about this or that, our community seems to soak up the gossip.

The media have begun to evolve into something else because of this cultural phenomenon. Indeed, even reputable news sources (FOX, CNN, and the like) have began to trade away the pride they once held in their objectivity, for the big ratings of the viewing public. The information age has seemingly passed away, and it is being replaced by the infotainment age. We look only for entertainment in information, a sad reality for the human race. The fact that African Americans have seemingly bought into this culture of low standards, little reading, and marginal respect for education is particularly sad.

The great men of our past considered literacy and education the most liberating and powerful forces on the planet. Douglass and Equiano begged for books to speak to them; Malcolm X once mused he could spend the rest of his life in a library, merely satisfying his intellectual interests.

And this cultural illness comes from outward forces. Modern media, movies, news, they all blend into entertainment. But there is a way we can change how it will affect us inwardly As educated people, it is our responsibility to break the cycle of anti-intellectualism. If the trend doesn't reverse, we may sadly find ourselves in a world where there is no difference between information and entertainment, where reading a book is an unheard of and antiquated pastime, and where self-enrichment is reserved only for the ivory tower.

Article Tools