The main differences between modernism and postmodernism can be summarized by the idea of skepticism. Postmodernism challenges the basic assumptions of the modern era used to guide the basic understanding of the human condition. The postmodern society is not ok with just accepting the “grand theories” of the modern time but instead tries to pursue more localized and contingent ideas.

Modernism comes along with a certain set of ideals and beliefs in the realm of society. First off, the modern society holds to a master narrative or singular idea in the aspects of history, culture, identity and origin. The postmodern society develops suspicions and grows to reject the ideas of master narratives and tries to create new counter ideas of origins.

Another main dividing issue between the two ideals is the idea of unity. Modernism holds to hierarchy and order and favors a more centralized control of power. Modernism wants to promote a sense of unified identity and a collective whole. Modernism looks on the idea of “the family” as a central unit for social order and wants to follow the middle class family model. The postmodern ideal breaks away from this. Postmodernism is led by a desire for fragmentation from the centralized control and promotes the philosophy of contrasting and conflicting idea and identities existing together. Alternatives to the accepted model for family units appear in postmodernism and the system of molds breaks down.

The idea of media and its influence can be analyzed between modernism and postmodernism ideals. For instance, the modern society holds faith in the “real” aspect of thing beyond the media representations and recognizes the authenticity of originality. Whereas in a postmodern society, virtual and hyper realities are seen as more powerful than the “real” and usually represent themselves as individualistic with no connection to the prior “original”. Media in the modern system is a very centralized one to many broadcast system where the media has all control in the distribution of propaganda. The postmodern system is much more interactive, giving the public more freedom to move in between the mediums of media to consume the information that they desire.  Also in modernism, the book and test is a sufficient bearer of the information and a library is the system for printed knowledge, whereas in postmodernism hypermedia transcends the physical limitations of print and the internet becomes the centralized hub of knowledge and information.

Finally in modernism there is a clear barrier between the ideas of organic and inorganic. There is always a clear difference between human and machine and there is no crossover between these ideas. Postmodernism blurs the dividing line and makes way for a cyborgian mixing of organic and inorganic beings.  Human, machine, and electronics all live and coexist and become to grow closer and closer to each other until the inevitable crossover occurs, which the postmodern society is fine with happening.

So in conclusion, modernism can be looked at as the established order with very strong, set ideas about society and the interactions that happen within it, whereas postmodernism tries to break down these conventions to allow for a more navigable society in which ideas and views can be distributed and received with maximum ease.