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This is the subject of an entire book by Neil Postman called "Amusing Ourselves To Death" (1985), including a chapter called "Teaching as an Amusing Activity".

This is the subject of an entire book by Neil Postman called "Amusing Ourselves To Death" (1985), including a chapter called "Teaching as an Amusing Activity". Some excerpts from the book: > “Dr. Ruth Westheimer is a psychologist who has a popular radio program and a nightclub act in which she informs her audiences about sex in all of its infinite variety and in language once reserved for the bedroom and street corners. She is almost as entertaining as the Reverend Billy Graham, and has been quoted as saying, “I don’t start out to be funny. But if it comes out that way, I use it. If they call me an entertainer, I say that’s great. When a professor teaches with a sense of humor, people walk away remembering.” She did not say what they remember or of what use their remembering is. But she has a point: It’s great to be an entertainer. Indeed, in America God favors all those who possess both a talent and a format to amuse, whether they be preachers, athletes, entrepreneurs, politicians, teachers or journalists. In America, the least amusing people are its professional entertainers.” ... > “We may surmise that the ninety million Americans who watch television every night also think so. But what I am claiming here is not that television is entertaining but that it has made entertainment itself the natural format for the representation of all experience. ... The problem is not that television presents us with entertaining subject matter but that all subject matter is presented as entertaining...” ... > “Books, it would appear, have now become an audio-visual aid; the principal carrier of the content of education is the television show, and its principal claim for a preeminent place in the curriculum is that it is entertaining.”

DaiPlusPlus 6y ago
> She is almost as entertaining as the Reverend Billy Graham Can someone explain this to me? Billy Graham is... the last person I’d think of as an amusing figure.
- mensetmanusman 6y ago
  Thirty five years ago is a long time culturally. He was so popular he even got to meet the queen of england when he was in the UK: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bNXzzzvXMuQ https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bNXzzzvXMuQ (This is dramatized in Netflix’s Crown Season 2 Episode 6)
- dmitryminkovsky 6y ago
  I believe part of the attraction of Billy Graham was that many people found him amusing. Postman characterizes him as principally an entertainer. In the chapter "Shuffle Off to Bethlehem," Postman compares the 20th century televangelist with 17th-19th century spiritual leaders: > “Television’s strongest point is that it brings personalities into our hearts, not abstractions into our heads. That is why CBS’ programs about the universe were called “Walter Cronkite’s Universe.” One would think that the grandeur of the universe needs no assistance from Walter Cronkite. One would think wrong. CBS knows that Walter Cronkite plays better on television than the Milky Way. And Jimmy Swaggart plays better than God. For God exists only in our minds, whereas Swaggart is there, to be seen, admired, adored. Which is why he is the star of the show. And why Billy Graham is a celebrity, and why Oral Roberts has his own university, and why Robert Schuller has a crystal cathedral all to himself. ” ... > “It would be a serious mistake to think of Billy Graham or any other television revivalist as a latter-day Jonathan Edwards or Charles Finney. Edwards was one of the most brilliant and creative minds ever produced by America. His contribution to aesthetic theory was almost as important as his contribution to theology. His interests were mostly academic; he spent long hours each day in his study. He did not speak to his audiences extemporaneously. He read his sermons, which were tightly knit and closely reasoned expositions of theological doctrine Audiences may have been moved emotionally by Edwards’ language, but they were, first and foremost, required to understand it. Indeed Edwards’ fame was largely a result of a book, Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God in the Conversion of Many Hundred Souls in Northampton, published in 1737. A later book, A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections, published in 1746, is considered to be among the most remarkable psychological studies ever produced in America.”
- ben509 6y ago
  Amusing probably isn't the right word, probably captivating is better. Preaching is a very well developed art; listen to preachers and they're always telling a story of some sort, the story goes to lows and then up to highs, they draw that story back to the lives of their audience and then finish with a call to action to make their lives better. Even details like the preacher's cadence and the songs and rituals are well thought out and tested to keep people engaged. It also helps that the bible is essentially a collection of stories that touch on fundamental themes of the human condition and that Jesus is a universally relatable figure.

DaiPlusPlus 6y ago

> She is almost as entertaining as the Reverend Billy Graham Can someone explain this to me? Billy Graham is... the last person I’d think of as an amusing figure.

mensetmanusman 6y ago
Thirty five years ago is a long time culturally. He was so popular he even got to meet the queen of england when he was in the UK: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bNXzzzvXMuQ https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bNXzzzvXMuQ (This is dramatized in Netflix’s Crown Season 2 Episode 6)
dmitryminkovsky 6y ago
I believe part of the attraction of Billy Graham was that many people found him amusing. Postman characterizes him as principally an entertainer. In the chapter "Shuffle Off to Bethlehem," Postman compares the 20th century televangelist with 17th-19th century spiritual leaders: > “Television’s strongest point is that it brings personalities into our hearts, not abstractions into our heads. That is why CBS’ programs about the universe were called “Walter Cronkite’s Universe.” One would think that the grandeur of the universe needs no assistance from Walter Cronkite. One would think wrong. CBS knows that Walter Cronkite plays better on television than the Milky Way. And Jimmy Swaggart plays better than God. For God exists only in our minds, whereas Swaggart is there, to be seen, admired, adored. Which is why he is the star of the show. And why Billy Graham is a celebrity, and why Oral Roberts has his own university, and why Robert Schuller has a crystal cathedral all to himself. ” ... > “It would be a serious mistake to think of Billy Graham or any other television revivalist as a latter-day Jonathan Edwards or Charles Finney. Edwards was one of the most brilliant and creative minds ever produced by America. His contribution to aesthetic theory was almost as important as his contribution to theology. His interests were mostly academic; he spent long hours each day in his study. He did not speak to his audiences extemporaneously. He read his sermons, which were tightly knit and closely reasoned expositions of theological doctrine Audiences may have been moved emotionally by Edwards’ language, but they were, first and foremost, required to understand it. Indeed Edwards’ fame was largely a result of a book, Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God in the Conversion of Many Hundred Souls in Northampton, published in 1737. A later book, A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections, published in 1746, is considered to be among the most remarkable psychological studies ever produced in America.”
ben509 6y ago
Amusing probably isn't the right word, probably captivating is better. Preaching is a very well developed art; listen to preachers and they're always telling a story of some sort, the story goes to lows and then up to highs, they draw that story back to the lives of their audience and then finish with a call to action to make their lives better. Even details like the preacher's cadence and the songs and rituals are well thought out and tested to keep people engaged. It also helps that the bible is essentially a collection of stories that touch on fundamental themes of the human condition and that Jesus is a universally relatable figure.