Chapter 32

In this chapter, Jack Solomon shares his views on the postmodern world. He argues that new age technologies, one being television, has robbed people of the narratives that make life worth living. People now see the world through a "postmodern eye", viewing the world as a television camera views it. The perception created is that of one big variety show. Narratives, he argues, give meaning to life and because of these new digital technologies, our lives have become "decentered". He goes on to say that narratives have the power to make order out of chaos and create meaning from the blur of events that make up a person's life. Without these narratives, none of the events throughout life contain meaning anymore. This is why he believes life has become "meaningless". I think, along with many of the chapters in this book, this chapter is very radical. I do think new technologies have changed how people view the world, however I do not think life is meaningless because of it. In most cases, it has helped us better understand many of the things happening in the world today.