Culture or Habit? Media Broadcast Form and Content as well as its Influence on Personality and Participation in Culture

Tomasz Kozłowski

English version of the article

The article analyses media broadcast and its influence on social life. The author, based on Postman and McLuhan, indicates that media are not transparent and the condition the way people view the world. Based on theories from psychology and modern economic processes as well theories of social and historical psychologists, he shows that we can talk about the new type of ego, conditioned by information society specificity. At the same time, he attempts to delineate the laws of the broadcasting system, basing on evolutionary psychology terminology. The author proposes a hypothesis that the media, constantly feeding us content harmonizing with the mind's natural needs, change our way of thinking about the world and the way we participate in social life. Basing on Postman's (description and show business eras) and Rifkin's (ownership era vs. show business era) typologies, the author creates his own typology, in tune with the above, that of thought culture and habit culture.

KEYWORDS

media epistemology, description era, show business era, access age, evolutionary psychology, culture goods industry, ego, self consciousness, post-modern personality, thought culture, habit culture