We’ve gone through two parts now to understand Marshall McLuhan’s “the medium is the message”. I have explained that a hammer makes us see a world of nails by subtly changing our perception; that our technologies may be morally neutral but they influence the decisions and actions we make individually, and collectively by changing our environment. I now want to explain that the hammer mentioned earlier is actually your fist. I touched on this briefly in Part 1 explaining how the hammer is an extension of our fist. It’s a relatively easy analogy to imagine the hammer as a closed fist that becomes attached as you grip its handle. For McLuhan “technology could do anything but add itself on to what we already are” (p. 11). That is all that technology can do is enhance an already existing function. It becomes an extension of Self as you animate the hammer by giving it purpose. We often limit our notion of Self to the visual boundaries of our body. During the process of using the hammer we detach ourselves through language. We might say something like “I am using a hammer.” However, it also makes sense to say that “I am the hammer.” It may sound goofy but really there is no separation in the moment of use. For McLuhan “we become what we behold” (p. x). “A study published recently in the journal Current Biology shows that when you use a tool, your brain incorporates it into your body-plan. The idea of tools being part of your body (especially an expert) is not a new idea.” It tricks your brain into thinking your arm is longer & you will start to behave as such (McCormick, 2009). Our brain treats tools as actual extensions of ourselves for proficient use. The brain does this through the idea of “functional plasticity”. It a phenomenon we experience subconsciously daily. The reason humans can use tools with such high proficiency is because they become part of our body schema. Let’s jump to another analogy of the telephone. The same logic of extension can be used with a phone. During the act of conversing I can say that my mouth becomes your earpiece and my ear becomes your mouthpiece, and vice versa. Through this extension I increase the efficiency of my voice, which can now travel vast differences to whomever I wish to speak to. To me the message of the telephone was the removal of space & time to maintain relationships my parents (albeit limited to audio). The phone changes how I form community as it’s no longer limited to physical proximity. What does this mean? Here we can begin to see how technology reshapes society. Telephones allow us to maintain communities by collapsing time & space. The telephone, like new mediums today (ie social media) have personal & social consequences when introduced, especially on large scales. Very simply communication technology allows us to expands our tribe while removing space & time from the equation. It’s the process of cause & effect. Technologies enlarge “the scale of previous human functions” (p. 8). The hammer enlarged our ability to construct and put together, or to deconstruct with the example of the jackhammer. The telephone increased our ability to reach our community expanding the distance to which we can maintain our relationships. These two different types of mediums have two different effects when it comes to space-time. The hammer is a physical medium that causes an outward explosion, while the telephone as an electronic media causes an implosion. I’ll be exploring that notion in later posts. Part 4 is currently understand written construction. You can read Part 1 or Part 2 if you missed it our check out our blog. Reference: Marshall McLuhan - Understanding Media: The extensions of man
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Hello. I’m going to expand a little further on the concept that “the medium is the message.” In my last article I used the example of the hammer, which produces an environment where almost everything looks like a nail. It’s that environment which shapes my behaviour. But, why is this important? I bring this up because its important to understand that tech is not some neutral object. Technology shapes our lives both individually and collectively. To quote McLuhan “our conventional response to all media, namely that it is how they are used that counts, is the numb stance of the technological idiot” (p. 16). As I stated before technology is morally neutral. It does not make the moral judgement of good and evil. I make the choice in what I use the hammer for, as in build a home or smash windows. I am the content of the medium that supplies it moral purpose. “The effects of technology do not occur at the level of opinions or concepts, but alter sense ratios or patterns of perception steadily and without any resistance” (p. 18). What does McLuhan mean by this? Well lets bring back that trusty hammer. We understand that the hammer is morally neutral as it does not come with predetermined opinions, concepts, or ideas. However, it does change the patterns of perception in which I see the world. Perception would be defined here as a way of regarding, understanding, or interpreting something; a mental impression. So with hammer in hand I interpret, or perceive, the world around me as being filled with nails to be hammered. It’s a subtly different mental impression of what is actually before me. But, the fact behind the matter is that it is the hammer that has changed my worldview. Therefore, the medium is the message. I say this not to disregard that “it is how they are used that counts.” I say this to help expand my own understanding. The medium is the message because it is the source that changes my perception, which impacts how I will choose to interact with the world at large. It produces the environment that I make moral decisions within. If I understand this at an individual level I can begin to layer this logic onto society. Questions? Comments? Reply in the comment section below Part 3: Retooling Perspectives: Marshall McLuhan The Medium is the Message Reference: Marshall McLuhan - Understanding Media: The extensions of man Marshall McLuhan was a Canadian Philosopher who was considered a prophet back in the 60’s. His claims were based on trends that he saw happening on the technological front around the time where television was widely adopted. McLuhan’s predictions brought him into the spotlight and 50 years later his predictions are becoming confirmed. His biggest notion is that “the medium is the message” and is where I will begin. The medium is the message refers to the fact that technology changes the environment we inhabit, which then changes our behaviour. Medium, or media, is just another word for technology. The phrase, the medium is the message, can be easily explained by another phrase stated by the famous psychologist Maslow who said “if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” Although, we would like to think that our tools are neutral I feel that Maslow’s phrase shows that they aren’t. Maslow’s hammer is morally neutral. I choose to use it for destructive or constructive purposes. But, the impulse, or itch, to find nails originates from the hammer reshaping my perception. Marshall McLuhan adds a poem to help capture this notion. In modern thought, (if not in fact) Nothing is that doesn’t act, So that is reckoned wisdom which Describes the scratch but not the itch - Anonymous (p. 10) The above poem is a description of our cultural tendency to focus on the scratch, or reaction, rather than the itch, or the cause, especially when it comes to technology. All technology I use shapes my behaviour in one way or another. Beyond the medium is the message (I will expand on it more in later articles) is the notion that technology is an extension of ourselves. He argues this because technology can only add itself on to what we already are (p. 11). The logic of technology is to increase the speed and/or power of our physical and/or nervous systems. To explain this let’s come back to hammer. I will ask you to envision the hammer as an extension of your closed fist. The hammer has more power to put nails into structures and as a result increases the speed to which you can nail things. Therefore, the hammer is an extension of your fist that increases its power and speed. So a quick recap. We now understand that the phrase “the medium is the message” describes a notion that technology shapes behaviour. Technology is also an extension of some part of ourselves. I used the metaphor of a hammer as an extension of a closed fist as it’s proven the best way to explain McLuhan’s logic to my friends in conversation. In later articles I will be expanding this from the individual to the collective level by going into mass media, or mass technology, that is adopted widely and quickly by society. By doing so I hope to highlight trends while expanding awareness on how technology shapes our collective behaviour. Marshall McLuhan: Medium is the message Part 2 Marshall McLuhan - Understanding Media: The extensions of man |
Robin GagneWhat is technology? Marshall Mcluhan answers that question with a pithy saying that "the medium is the message." His philosophical understanding of technology is that they are the extensions of man. In the following series on Marshall McLuhan I use a hammer as a simple analogy to explain why the medium is the message. ArchivesCategories |
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