from the subliminal operation of a new medium like television?” 
People have long supposed that bulldog opacity, backed by firm 
disapproval, is adequate enough protection against any new 
experience. It is the theme of this book that not even the most 
lucid understanding of the peculiar force of a medium can head 
off the ordinary “closure” of the senses that causes us to 
conform to the pattern of experience presented. The utmost 
purity of mind is no defense against bacteria, though the 
confreres of Louis Pasteur tossed him out of the medical 
profession for his base allegations about the invisible operation 
of bacteria. To resist TV, therefore, one must acquire the 
antidote of related media like print.

     It is an especially touchy area that presents itself with the 
question: “What has been the effect of TV on our political life?” 
Here, at least, great traditions of critical awareness and