Era of Non-Response - Not always a bad thing?

According to Baudrillard’s “Requiem for the Media”, we are in an era of non-response or irresponsibility. All too often we are caught simply receiving information and not responding or reacting to make it a two-way conversation. I understand how this could be a problem in that supposedly we become susceptible to Orwell’s totalitarianism where we no longer think for ourselves; however, what is so wrong with just absorbing information? As Maggie mentioned, media “is meant to entertain and keep the listener/watcher involved in the story long enough to understand exactly what happened, but not much else.” But isn’t the absorption of knowledge, whether it is pop culture, historical facts, or just the report on everyday occurrences, the point of education?

I know it may be a stretch, connecting our lack of communication with media to that of education but in a sense it is very similar. A professor once told me that on average we only retain 5% of what we learn in college. What we are really learning is how to problem solve and interpret and understand information as we receive it. Therefore, how different is this than sitting in front of a TV? Obviously the content is quite different but to some extent it is still learning. Besides, in education, we must sit and accept the information we receive. We can discuss it with our peers, but unfortunately, if we want to pass, we have to go along with what we are given. We can’t confront the source. Additionally, when thinking about it a little longer, it could possibly be a problem if we could respond to all messages we received.

I think it would be chaotic if everyone responded to everything equally. As we talked about in class, the Internet, something we consider “new media” has created a two-way communication system – but not for everyone. There will always be a dominant class monopolizing the media, whether it is the computer “geeks” controlling the Internet, or the mega media network corporations choosing what to air on television. The truth is that there will always be ignorant people (ignorant in the sense they may not understand all aspects of everything – no one knows everything) that will need to be led by a more dominant group.