Claim · Seed idea · last reconsidered September 8, 2026
Every technology carries a bias
Postman's claim that a technology is never additive: it redistributes what is easy, who is expert, and what counts as a problem.
- Territories
- ToolsAppearances
A new technology does not add itself to a culture — it changes everything. It carries a bias toward certain uses, hands authority to certain people, and makes certain problems visible while making others unaskable.
Neil PostmanMedia ecology1992
Connected ideas
derived from
- TechnopolySource
Stated throughout the book.
related to
- HarnessConcept
A harness is a bias made concrete.
responds to
- What should not be automated?Question
The question only has purchase if a tool is not neutral, which is what this claim asserts.
is supported by
- Tools cross a second watershedClaim
Illich gives Postman's bias a threshold at which it becomes irreversible.