Postman describes "invisible technologies" in his book:
"Some technologies come in disguise...They do not look like technologies, and because of that they do their work, for good or ill, without much criticism or even awareness. This applies not only to IQ test and to polls and to all systems of ranking and grading but to credit cards, accounting procedures, and achievement tests" (138).
In an interview Neil Postman expands on the concept of "invisible technologies":
I use that term to refer to standardized techniques and procedures that function in a machine-like way. They are, if you will, "mechanistic" but we normally don't think of them as machines. They are I.Q. tests for example, or standardized forms that people have to fill out for one reason or another. Polling techniques are a third. I call them technologies but we don't really think of them as being like automobiles or TV sets. Yet those procedures are as rigid in controlling people's world view as any more conventional technologies that you can think of.
I don't agree with Postman's characterization of statistics and polling as an invisible technology. Postman never elaborates on why he considers statistics and polling as technologies in the first place. Statistics and polling are not technologies, but tools social scientists use in their research. I feel that Postman blows these concepts out of perspective. I find it absurd to believe that statistics and polling control people's world view. I must ask: How?! Throughout his argument, I get the impression that Postman doesn't really understand the use of these two techniques nor represent them.