Monday, September 28, 2009
Marshall McLuhan: "The Medium is the Message"
Todd Kappelman
Kappelman in his artilce has made an attempt to encompass most of the work done by Marshall Mcluhan.I found the article very useful and easy to understand. It uses simple words to explain some of the theories of Mcluhan.
The development of technology has transformed our lives and the world we live in. It has entered into the fabric of our lives and influenced us profoundly.
The article includes Mcluhan's theory of extension and amputation. Mcluhan defines extension as "Any additional equipment or resource that a human uses to engage in something which enhances performance of the action" and amputation as the counterpart to extension. For example the use of PowerPoint is an extension which amputates the use of chalkboard in the classroom.
With the theory of extension and amputation, Mcluhan points out the danger of being too dependent on technological extensions. He addresses the fact that we human being are too obsessed with these extensions and care less about the amputation and its effect on us. Motor Vehicle for example is an extension that we all use in our everyday life, but we seldom think about its amputations. The loss of muscle strength in the under-utilized legs, the quality of air that we breathe, the pollution it causes is all amputations of using a motor vehicle.
The theory of extension and amputation led to an introduction of a scientific approach, which he called tetrad. Tetrad is based on four questions or laws:
1. What does it (the medium or technology) extend?
2. What does it make obsolete?
3. What is retrieved?
4. what does the technology reverse into if it is over-extended?
These questions result in a set of four effects, namely: enhancement, obsolescence, retrieval and reversal. The framework is an excellent way to evaluate the extensions we use in our everyday life. I believe the technological extensions that we use have certainly made our life easier but it has also enhanced or reduced some key elements of what it means to be human.
The development of technology has transformed our lives and the world we live in. It has entered into the fabric of our lives and influenced us profoundly.
The article includes Mcluhan's theory of extension and amputation. Mcluhan defines extension as "Any additional equipment or resource that a human uses to engage in something which enhances performance of the action" and amputation as the counterpart to extension. For example the use of PowerPoint is an extension which amputates the use of chalkboard in the classroom.
With the theory of extension and amputation, Mcluhan points out the danger of being too dependent on technological extensions. He addresses the fact that we human being are too obsessed with these extensions and care less about the amputation and its effect on us. Motor Vehicle for example is an extension that we all use in our everyday life, but we seldom think about its amputations. The loss of muscle strength in the under-utilized legs, the quality of air that we breathe, the pollution it causes is all amputations of using a motor vehicle.
The theory of extension and amputation led to an introduction of a scientific approach, which he called tetrad. Tetrad is based on four questions or laws:
1. What does it (the medium or technology) extend?
2. What does it make obsolete?
3. What is retrieved?
4. what does the technology reverse into if it is over-extended?
These questions result in a set of four effects, namely: enhancement, obsolescence, retrieval and reversal. The framework is an excellent way to evaluate the extensions we use in our everyday life. I believe the technological extensions that we use have certainly made our life easier but it has also enhanced or reduced some key elements of what it means to be human.
// posted by Sumit @ 10:03 AM 
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