Media culture brings great uniformity to behavior, but without a socially-enabling coherence.

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Today, we are more likely to take our cues on how to behave from the media than from traditional forms of culture.  We think nothing of comporting ourselves in ways that are radically different from the ways our parents behaved, yet the minute somebody in a popular situation comedy starts using an expression like "yadda-yadda-yadda," virtually everyone is saying it.

While the behaviors we copy from the media may help us posture in ways we find personally appealing, they have none of the proven history of social utility that comes with the actions called for by traditional cultures.  We thus end up with a high degree of uniformity in our behavior, but without the advantages of social coherence and liveability that more traditional cultures bring.

(c) COPYRIGHT 1998 ROBERT WINTER.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.