McLuhan Meme

Mcluhan

Marshall McLuhan is known his theory that “Medium is the Message.” It doesn’t matter what we see, hear, taste or touch, it is the medium that our senses are reacting from. The message would be obsolete and the importance would be lacking if we didn’t have these devices or “extensions” as he would call it to extract this message from. Mcluhan discusses extensions of different body parts through the usage of differing mediums. For example the phone is the extension of the ear and a keyboard may be an extension of the hand. These devices are just appendages of our senses. These gadgets have become accessories that society cannot live without.

McLuhan compares societies outlook as if they were looking through a rear-view mirror. We focus only on what is in front of us and ignore the entire world around us. This world is something we have become accustomed to and recognize like it was the back of our hands. But only when new environments come into play is when we become aware of our own environment. McLuhan believes because of this we are one-step behind. We become so attached to our nostalgic devices that sometimes we fail to realize that our world is behind.

McLuhan states “Whenever we watch a TV screen or read a book, we are absorbing these extensions of ourselves into our individual system and experiencing an automatic “closure” or displacement of perception; we can’t escape this perpetual embrace of our daily technology unless we escape the technology itself and flee to a hermit’s cave.” Mcluhan believes that these technological trends will suck the human race in without even trying. Society will become so attached, that we will start to look at these object as if they are gods. We view look up to technology as if it is was a higher being. We will become so reliant on these mediums that we wouldn’t be able to live without them. Before technology, the bow and arrow, for example, would be the extension of the hand to hunt and gather food. Now we have the our cellphones where we could order pizza online and have it delivers to our house. Our culture depends on these mediums to feed our needs as to where we had to survive by ourselves.

Common uses of technology in our culture relates to McLuhans ideas of global telepathy which is the universal consciousness of society around you. This is with the help of the computer. McLuhan predicted that the computer would become this multi-purpose machine that some how could connect you to different cultures, making you aware of the world around you. Social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, just to name a few, are extensions of ourselves. These outlets allow us to connect and be a part of someone else's environment. These media passages network you with people you might have never known existed. An example of this a dating website. I mention this from personal experience. I might have never meet my Fiance if these types of websites existed. Having the accessibility of web cams, cell phones, and the interconnected pathway that allows all of this, the internet, I would have never known he existed. People outside of your environment are nonexistent until they are introduced. It is an interesting concept to grasp and a questioning one at that.

Extension- Marshall McLuhan

While reading the entirety of the interview with Marshall McLuhan, I notice that he applies his scholarly opinions on various subjects, yet what prevails through them all is his idea of media being an extension of man. I admire that McLuhan makes it clear in the beginning of the interview that he has “no fixed point of view”; he understands that electric media is expanding faster than any form of media has in the past. He considers media in a very broad sense, such as clothing being the extension of skin or the wheel being an extension of a foot. Since this new electronic media is excelling so quickly comparatively to what has come before, he points out that people do not understand completely what is happening. McLuhan mentions that individuals see a “rear view mirror view of the world”; this means essentially that the common man is unaware of the innovation that is happening around him or her. He realizes that people are not able to fully grasp the new media until it has preceded them; the revolution is just too rapid. The most important concept he reiterates throughout the interview is to remember that it is vital to comprehend the technology that is being created. If we understand it, we are able to control it; yet, if we keep thinking in this conventional, backwards way Western civilization will become slave to technology. McLuhan believes that this electric technology will be the demise of civilization if we do not apply it a correct and healthy way.

Hearing him speak about this topic really made me feel as if this interview could have been conducted this year. He verbalizes as if he is talking about smart phones and the internet, yet the media he focuses on the most is television. His concepts are very ahead of his time and it is interesting to see how correct he was about the future. It is fascinating to think that if he was predicting the demise of civilization due to the mistreatment of media over forty years ago, what would be think about our social environment today? One of the first things he talks about is Narcissus Narcosis, what I interpreted as a trance set upon by an extension of electronic media. It becomes a sort of self hypnosis that many do not realize happens to them. It occurs because users of media are unaware of the social and psychological impact that technology has on them; people are consumed by inventions. I see this today when I look around a classroom, or walking around town and every single person is engrossed in their personal phone or computer. It truly has become an extension of themselves. But, what McLuhan notices is that it is not necessarily the content that it holds as much as the medium itself. The way I look at this is when I scroll through Facebook, it does not matter what is posted to my time line; I would scroll through it regardless of what content was shown. Media has become a state of oblivion for its users. It has started to change the way we perceive the world around us; or maybe we are just becoming ignorant.    

Marshall McLuhan also focuses on the development and history of media and how it has thus affected the environment. He speaks about the old tribal culture and how the senses were more evenly engaged. The environment was full of oral media, and with all senses involved in an equal matter, McLuhan says that it was easier for a person to be more of an individual. There were not the same kind of extensions to influence man to feel or act a certain way. Those peoples had mostly visual media which McLuhan says is the only sense that allows a person to fully detach. He notes how this all changed when the phonetic alphabet was invented, along with Gutenberg's printing press. These mediums were able to provide structure and unity to the environment. The printing press was the extension of the hand and allowed art and news to be spread to the masses, which allowed the environment to become more unified. Yet, on the other hand, it produced more alienation due to the gap between those who applied the knowledge, and those who did not. As time went on the mechanical age occurred when many more inventions and extensions were created. Technology advanced in different fields and it became possible for many more types on inventions to exist. Yet, during the time of this interview, and even more so in 2015, electric media has changed the way that technology affects the individual. Electric media enhances more than one sense at a time, therefore being a greater extension to the human body. McLuhan believes that this new media externalizes the central nervous system because it allows an individual to participate so fully in both the medium and the content. Hearing Marshall McLuhan's lengthy and sometimes chilling thoughts about the future of technology and its affects on the individual's body and mind, really makes me wonder about human kinds future. If we are not aware of the technological advances occurring today, it is possible to fall victim to it; at least we were given fair warning.  

McLuhan -- Thinking.

After reading through Marshall McLuhan's interview in Playboy, I am left conflicted…

McLuhan's take on the 'western man' seems as much as a diagnosis as it is an observation.
His affection for the rawer emotional states he sees in tribal, pre-phonetic, societies seems unfair to the vast accomplishments and developments that 'rational' thought has afforded us. Where McLuhan draws a line between traditional/tribal thinking and 'post-literate' thinking, I cannot help but feel that McLuhan is deeply infatuated with the idea of a kind of non-thought. Instead of using words to craft logical or rational thought patterns, one can experience these primal and instantaneous emotions in their rawest forms. McLuhan seems to idealize this notion of a man not bound by words, who uses all their senses in 'acoustic space' and does not have necessarily the same inner narration that an alphabet using speaker may have. Is this a good thing? Will this return? McLuhan claims neutrality, although seems to be in favor, which is why I find myself conflicted…

The advent of the printing press, television, the internet and so on have undoubtedly further removed us from feeling these raw emotions, providing us a newer and 'cooler' medium to consume and the means to hyperextend, focus and even analyze our senses. Though with these we have also given the opportunity to refine and develop our communication skills. McLuhan explains tribal communication as 'mesh,' I would describe it as a kind of collective consciousness way of reacting. The tribal man can communicate deeply and intimately with his community, although they are limited to what is in the 'acoustic' world. The tribal man is limited to his god given senses. McLuhan uses the words "emotionally laden," to describe the nature of tribal communications. The literary man, on the other hand, is described as individualistic, logical and ultimately detached. I would actually argue that while the tribal man may be intimate, the medium of television, radio or literature is equally so, if not far more intimate. With the aide of the alphabetic language we are now able to logically and uniformly communicate intense, complex and deep emotional messages unlike ever before. Albeit these emotions may be less raw in the eyes of the expresser, though because the literate man can hyperextend their senses, the perceived emotion may very well be an entire new level of raw. The mediums of television or print or film all allow humans to communicate in entirely new ways that can merge and hyperextend senses that a tribal man may never even comprehend. These insane communicatory mediums allowed immense technological advancement that drastically improved our lives in every conceivable way. McLuhan says himself, without the printing press we don't have mechanized society. Without mechanized society we don't have the means to build the foundation for quality of life we have been granted. One may feel pure emotion and think freely and unhinged in an exclusively verbal community, but would you trust a doctor who knows little outside what your tribe knows? Society may become more 'troubled' with further development of media and communication technology, as MuLuhan claims, but we also begin to further and further rule out natural selection. With technological advances, violence and schizophrenia become the unsolved problems in a world free from polio and smallpox.

Overall, McLuhan makes interesting and intriguing points and there is no denying the importance of being aware of the significant societal changes due to advances and changes in communicatory mediums. Although, the way he diagnoses the 'western man' is upsetting. Even if I agreed with his claims on the adverse effects and psychological wrought that literacy allegedly puts on the human race, the practicality and potential that media allows us FAR outweighs it..

McLong-Winded McLuhan

            Marshall McLuhan is one interesting man and that is by all means an understatement. His ideas are in every way worth the ridicule as they are the acclaim. And this, I should add, was discovered after having read only a page’s worth of his philosophy. The following twenty five only served as reinforcement.

            I’ll admit, there is craze and ignorance to his ideals, but they are nonetheless forever on the brink of genius. This is to say, I almost believe almost everything he’s saying. I should start with his initial point which is hidden in the convoluted mess of words comprising his theory regarding the phonetic alphabet. Briefly, he states that the phonetic alphabet played mother to basically every advent thereafter. Needless to say, this is pretty heavy and the impermeable nature of the seemingly without-conviction McLuhan makes it hard to criticize. But essentially, I agree. I’ve read enough books to have stumbled across the knowledge regarding the way American brains work against the way the Asian brain works. This isn’t to generalize, but it’s said that the two languages have contributed to vastly different mechanisms within the brain. I can’t get into too much detail (because I’ve completely forgotten my source on this stuff) but if it is true that the Chinese or Japanese (iconographic) languages should have an effect on the brain different from the lexicographical English or Spanish, then it should be very true that the effect could present itself in a number of other ways. Just as someone who always works out his legs should be able to do one hell of a jump, someone who frequently works one part of the brain should be able to do well with whatever part of the brain that is. (Mind my general speak. I haven’t the technical terms for any of this.) Once I find my sources on all of this, I’m sure it’ll be easier to comprehend, but in the mean time, let’s move on to another point he makes.

            Hot and cool media is something that makes very little sense to me. I don’t quite understand the essence of this terminology. While I understand the division between radio and television, I don’t understand how he’s making the assertion that either should require less participation from its user. I believe both mediums should activate different things in its user, not that the quality of its participation should be dampened or heightened between the media. As I read it over and over, the less and less it makes sense. The further separations he states between a lecture and a seminar throw me for a loop unheard of. It leads me to believe he’s moving past semantics just to hoist himself a bit higher than his reader or listener. But the notion that radio and television produce a different effect is by no means questionable. In the dialogue he mentions the Kennedy-Nixon debate, the prime example of the difference. He starts using his esoteric terminology, but in regards to that debate it was recognized that the radio listeners thought Nixon had the leg-up while those who watched saw Kennedy did. Some of what was activated in listening was perhaps negated in viewing. Regardless, of my lack of interest in his created lexicon, I will say that I appreciate his notion of Kennedy having mastered the technological medium as one in which he could manipulate. Moving on.

            I’m not sure if at this point I should expound on my opinion of his staple motto or proceed to another point he makes regarding it. For safety’s sake, I’ll discuss another point he makes and disregard the former as something less than a necessity as my writing sends some message in terms of what I think of the famed quote. What I will discuss however is the last thing he mentions before the rather tangential discussion regarding McLuhan’s “global village” is his remarks regarding the education system. In a world conflicted with a youth in constant hunt for stimulation the idea of the need for educational reform is real. ADD and ADHD and disorders of the like are rampant, but in terms of McLuhan, these disorder aren’t disorders at all, but rather evolutionary agents. These are stepping stones in the changing hive mind. Even while reading all of this, the idea of needing the paper closer to my face in order to block out distraction was all too much a reality. It could very well be the fact that we, as McLuhan outlines earlier than this point, require a recognition of the present over the teachings of the past. This effect is only amplified when we’re given the problem of an exponentially growing technological era. Even focusing on the past for a second could put us hours behind and for some it already has. As is stated, the generation before us has a much greater leap to make in order to catch up. In this way, McLuhan becomes prophetic of the bleak present we’re living in today.

            Unfortunately, he starts to get into talks regarding some truly Nostradamusian predictions and he loses my interest. I repeat, McLuhan is one interesting man.

McLuhan Response

I found Marshall McLuhan’s interview from 1969 quite interesting because of how relatable it still is to the present day and electronic media. Right in the beginning of the interview, McLuhan states how he has such a broad definition for media, and the theories that he has about it.

One of the first main points that I noticed that McLuhan made is how man is unaware of the effects that media has on themselves. He is specifically talking about television, because at the time of the interview, that was the newest form of electronic media. Social observers constantly overlook the effects as if nothing is really being affected at all. McLuhan states that, “…Man remains as unaware of the psychic and social effects of his new technology as a fish of the water it swims in. As a result, precisely at the point where a new media-induced environment becomes all pervasive and transmogrifies our sensory balance, it also becomes invisible.” Just like with television, today our society is facing the exact same outcome with all of our new electronic devices and social media. Everyone is unaware what is truly happening when they spend all of their time with their faces buried in their iPhones, iPads, or computers, and when they are forced to be social without them, they do not know how to act or converse with others. Sadly this is the path that our society is heading in, hiding behind screens under different usernames and profiles.

The next main point I noticed that McLuhan spoke about was the importance of the phonetic alphabet. He explains that before the alphabet was created, all senses for man were balanced, and there was a dominant auditory sense of life. The only way to communicate was through speech, which left everyone with very little individualism. The alphabet was the beginning of detribalization, and the start of better understanding and development of things like time and space. However McLuhan explains that even though the phonetic alphabet was the first step to get to where we are today, it was also quite disastrous, because it led to things like schizophrenia and alienation. However just like with the alphabet and the technological advances it led to, with each new step we take an evolutionary process must also happen among us.

The last main point that Marshall McLuhan made that I believed was quite significant and relatable to our present day, is how the education system needs to change in response to the new electronic media. McLuhan explains how a child is stuck between two worlds, the one with a screen that has in-depth involvement, and the learning system, which has not changed to match the new electronic age. “They are becoming Cyclops, desperately seeking to wallow in the book as they do in the TV screen.” The same exact thing is happening today with children, especially the ones in elementary school. Kids grow up playing on iPads and watching interactive television shows, and then they come to school and their way of learning is no longer valid in the classroom without the screens. The education system has to catch up to where children are technology wise, so they get the best learning experience possible, instead of taking two steps back.

McLuhan Response

  
      

Marshall McLuhan is a notable Canadian philosopher of communication theory.  He was interviewed by Playboy about his theories regarding communication theory and how he came about those conclusions. McLuhan made various points in his interviews but the ones that I will discuss about are:  keeping up with the latest innovations in media, implications of certain media have not been studied, and the notion of always being informed.  

 Since the invention of radio, the way we communicate and share ideas has changed tremendously.  Television made it possible for us to look at images with sounds and now with the recent innovation of social media, it has made it easier for people to share information and ideas. But with many different platforms of social media that is occurring it is difficult to keep up. McLuhan suggests that we keep up as much as possible with the new inventions such as social. It is important because some of the traditional ways of media like the newspaper will become digitized.  But not only does McLuhan suggests for us to keep up with the new innovations but to do research on them as well.   Since social media is relatively knew there has not been too much data released to the public about it. Although not enough research has been done, there are some inferences we can suggest about social media.  Social media has allowed more businesses to get consumers information and has led for people to use it as a tool of freedom of expression to name a few.  Social media is an aspect of the impact digital culture is currently having on our society. Today we can find newspapers, books, archives and other resources that we used to use manually, are becoming digitized.  Reading from an iPad or Kindle can impact our vision, and it is not ideal for taking notes. In short, McLuhan wants us to be aware of the latest innovations and how the implications can affect us. 

The saying “no news is good news” is now seen not well enough to our society. We always want to do what is going on in the world. If we don’t it feels like we are “missing in action.” Today, Facebook and Twitter lets us see what is trending. Even the newspapers have applications such as the NY Times will alert when there is breaking news.  Not only is the news keeping us updated with news stories 24/7 but there is an increase of interdependence between social media and news. Sometimes social media has the breaking news before the newspaper and the news rooms.  

McLuhan’s theories are still applicable to today’s innovation especially to social media. Social media is very new as I mentioned before and there is still more research being done that will help us understand it more and how we are reacting to this change.  If McLuhan were alive today, I think that he would want us to be involved with social media but to be careful not to get addicted. He would also want society to question more about what is going around.