257. The Image by Daniel J. Boorstin Book Summary

<p>Does image-based media make us think less about our principles and ideals, and more about pursuing mere appearances? Daniel J. Boorstin thought so. In his book, <a href= "https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0082XLP7O?tag=kadavyinc-20"><em>The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America</em></a>, Boorstin breaks down why “The Graphic Revolution,” has built a world where our fantasies are more real than our reality. In this book summary, I’ll explain why Boorstin says, “By sharpening our images we have blurred all our experience.”<!--more--></p> <h3>Pseudo-events</h3> <p>The thirtieth anniversary of a hotel is coming up. They reach out to leaders in the community to form a committee: A banker, a society matron, a lawyer, a preacher. The committee plans a banquet to celebrate the thirty years of service the hotel has given the community. They invite journalists to the banquet to take photos and report it in the newspapers.</p> <p>This hotel’s anniversary banquet is what Boorstin calls a “pseudo-event.” Pseudo-events have these four qualities:</p> <ol> <li>Pseudo-events are planned, not spontaneous.</li> <li>Pseudo-events are created so they can be reported.</li> <li>Pseudo-events are only ambiguously related to reality.</li> <li>Pseudo-events are self-fulfilling. The event is evidence of the thing the event was planned to illustrate.</li> </ol> <p>The thirtieth anniversary banquet didn’t happen spontaneously: The hotel created a committee for it. The main reason to have the banquet was to generate press. If the hotel was so valuable, would they have to task members of the community with planning the banquet? It was hardly real. But since this contrived banquet happened, it served as evidence that the hotel was, in fact, valuable to the community.</p> <h3>The Graphic Revolution</h3> <p>Boorstin blames the proliferation of pseudo-events on what he calls “The Graphic Revolution,” or our rapidly-growing ability create and disseminate imagery. The Graphic Revolution was cited, by the way – as a trigger to our departure from lon