Mashall McLuhan

Marshall McLuhan wrote that "the medium is the message"; meaning that the message itself is not as important as the media by which it's conveyed. I take this as, society is impacted more by the effect of the medium than by the production of that medium. I like a lot of what McLuhan is saying. I agree that technology has a significant and profound impact on society. From the creation of primitive tools in modern human's infancy, to the industrial revolution, to current day communications technologies. These media have altered the course of human history in a fundamental way. I also latch onto McLuhan's idea about how technology is an extension of the human body. Especially in today's environment where Facebook and Twitter serve as an extension of our very thoughts, relationships, and more, this seems relevant.

Where it seems McLuhan goes with his ideas, though, is a tad far for me. I think that what we do with the technology we develop is as important, and shapes history just as much as the technology itself. He said that the same cultural impact of the medium would be had regardless of the message. Although I completely get where he's going with the idea, and it's certainly compelling, I don't really buy it. For example, the printing press fundamentally changed our culture and society. It made the major religious, political, and cultural revolutions that have been spawned by the advent of mass communications possible. And while I see that our ability to mass communicate is intrinsically linked to the printing press, what we chose to do with it and its resulting impact on society is certainly relevant.