Hum 176 Week 3

A C Grayling once said, “To read is to fly: it is to soar to a point of vantage which gives a view over wide terrains of history, human variety, ideas, shared experience and the fruits of many inquiries.”  In today’s day and age, there are many forms of entertainment among society but there are only a few forms of legitimate popular culture. Television, music and books have been three of the most commonly used sources that our society uses on a daily basis. Books have been around for over a thousand years and have had a lot of influence on our culture. They contain information about the past, present and future endeavors, they take us to different worlds and different times, and they hold knowledge and documentation of everything that has happened and possibly will happen in the future. Even in today’s technologically advanced world, the format of books has advanced as well with the use of audio books, the Nook, Ipad and even being able to download them to your home computer or laptop. Even with information being so easily available, people still turn to books for research and information on different subjects. Television and music are very entertaining and are also a legitimate form of popular culture. Television, however, has been around for less than a hundred years and a lot of its programs are for entertainment purposes only. There are a few channels that contain factual information but the majority of television programs are used to entertain society and not really teach, inform, or draw its audience into a different time or culture. Music has been around since the beginning of time and it has been used as a source of entertainment as well. It does not really teach society anything or inform society either. It is used to entertain and change a person’s mood. While there are many forms of popular culture in today’s society, books have been, and will always be, one of the most legitimate sources of popular culture.