The McLuhan Revival
A 21st
Century Application to Marshall McLuhan
Carey R. Goin
University of Alabama
at Birmingham
Abstract
Marshall
McLuhan was one of the most influential communications theorists in the 20th
century. His model of communication
emphasized the medium over content. This
paper looks at 21st century media and its application to McLuhan
probes of communication. The analog to
digital transition in media enables the principles of cybernetics and information
theory to revolutionize media and thereby change our culture.
The MuLuhan Revival
Communication is based on the exchange of information between
two or more individuals in a particular time and place, but what about the
media that is used to communicate those ideas - is that element of the
communications model important? Do the
media alter our culture? What about the
future effects of our culture by media? Do we have the focus of communication
studies out of order? Should content or media be emphasized? Will the new media of the 21st
century, a shift from analog to digital, impact our culture like prophesied by 60’s
icon Marshall McLuhan?
Call it a “Great Awakening” for communications theorist but
rediscovering philosopher Marshall McLuhan and his media determinism has been
revived due to the new digital media of our century. McLuhan’s statements of the phenomenon of
media effects, where the media has greater impact than the message they
communicate, along with the concepts of information theory and cybernetics has made a remarkable application
about the role in media today and where it is headed in the future. The media is currently in a drastic changing
mode, a revolution of sorts, and this paper will look at how this new media
will affect not only communication but how it will change our environment,
culture and cognitive perceptions. First, a brief review of the terms used here
in this paper.
Information Theory is used to design communications services
from sender to receiver. Information
theory says that if the transmitter is properly designed, information can be
transmitted perfectly and reliably at any speed up to the channel’s capacity.
Information theory uses bits, which use the numbers 0 and 1 to encode and
decode symbols, language and graphics.
This is important for the analog to digital transition that is now
occurring in media by enabling large amounts of information to be exchanged
with little noise on satellite television and personal computers that are
hooked up to the information super highway.
Cybernetics deals with automatic-control for self-correction
in machines. This is similar to feedback in communication models. Entropy is
the goal of effective communication and is the measure of probability. As we
know from the laws of thermodynamics the tendency is toward a state of
disorganization or chaos. Order is least probable. Purposive behavior in humans or in machines
requires control mechanisms that will maintain order by counteracting the
natural tendency toward disorganization.
This is critical in discussing the new interactive media made possible
by cybernetics.
Now with the use of the former premises of Marshall McLuhan’s
models of communication this paper will expand along with the concepts of information
theory, cybernetics, and his probes of media in this new era of digital media. Unfortunately
Marshall McLuhan died in 1980. Due to his health he was silenced in the early
70’s, long before what most have called the “information explosion.” He never got to witness the advent of the
dominant interactive media of today like direct broadcasting satellites with
thousands of available television channels, personal computers, the internet or
information super highway, virtual reality along with the still to come era of high-definition
television with surround sound. During
his writings McLuhan never conceived the eventual hybrids of these new media and
knowing what these changes did to the communication process, as we know it
today. Yet, his thoughts from the 60’s
about the impact of media seem to fit in more today than they did during his lifetime.
Since little if any true research has been done on this
phenomenon a phenomenological approach will be used in discussing the here and
now, the character and intentions of new media that is currently operating and in
a state of developing. Even though some quantitative results will be given of
present media, much of what is said will be based on this author’s experience as
a leading technical coordinator of high-definition television production as
well as some opinions from critics and scholars about the new paradigm shift in
media. Much of what is said may come across very “McLuhanese” or better yet this
discussion may seem like watching the old “Star Trek” television series where some
of theses future media have not truly been invented or developed to full application.
But first some background on Marshall McLuhan and his philosophy. He was an important communications
philosopher in the 1950’s – 1960’s. As
Andy Warhol says we all have “15 minutes of fame” and McLuhan’s was the 1960’s.
He was an icon of sorts being featured on movies, television shows and on the
cover of major magazines of his time. His
metaphoric language and thought provoking one-liners about the media and its
effects on the culture had a major impact during the 60’s. He seemed to focus a great deal of his
comments toward the education system, which he claimed was out of touch in its
linear thinking.
McLuhan believed that before the media of the phonetic
alphabet and most importantly the invention of the Gutenberg printing press the
world was a sensory culture using all their senses. The printing press turned our
world into a linear – eye dominating – culture.
This eye dominant phenomenon was the forerunner to “The Industrial Revolution.”
Print created structure, the assembly line, and logical thinking that laid out
ideas one step at a time. The print media also created the Protestant Reformation,
which completely changed the world during the 16th century and beyond. He blasted the education system of today by
saying that “we are looking at the
present through a rear-view mirror”1 by forcing a print
media such as textbooks on kids who were raised with sensory stimulus of the
ear in the medium of television. The lack of learning in the classroom and the
phenomenon of “attention deficit disorder” (ADD) are really due to boredom among
sensory children which print shuts down their learning process. Now with this
new age of electronic media we are in a “Communications Revolution” that will
have even greater impact on our world.
We are currently in the analog-digital shift in media. The receiving party in the communications
model is no longer dumb and has no control over the content of the message from
the sender. With digital media, the
receiving party can exercise control over content, through filters. Inventions like “Tivo” enable a person to
choose what messages from television will be received and the digital recorder
will also go and find information that the receivers would also like to sense. Web casting events allow for instantaneous
feedback through emails and instant messaging as well as on line polls to
determine what future communication will be sent from the senders. Human
communication is changing to where content is mutually negotiated through
mediated systems. The new electronic
media will be a hybrid of different technologies, computers and television,
between telephone, satellite and cable, between video and movies, between
information, advertisement, entertainment and services, between one-way and
two-way communication, between interpersonal and mass communications, between
public and private, between the source and the audience, perhaps even immersing
the user in a “virtual reality,” inside the media itself or the media inside
the user itself. To show the dominance
of the new media of the Internet the revenue to be generated by the Internet is
estimated at 4.5 trillion in 2003. The
GNP of the U.S. is approximately 6 trillion.
Some of McLuhan’s famous
quotes will serve as a guidepost for this paper and an updated view of his
perspectives will be offered with today and tomorrow’s media. His book Understanding
Media may not have totally completed the task of the effects of media today,
but it did introduce his most famous line…
“The
Medium is the Message”
After reading dozens of MuLuhan and other McLuhan critics books
it is clear that Marshall did not think content did not matter at all in the
communication model but definitely the medium was much more important. My favorite analogy of his on this subject
was – “What is important the atom bomb or the stencing on the casing of an
atomic bomb?”
From this quote he obviously believed that the medium changes
people more than the sum total of all the messages of that medium. Be it oral,
written, or electronic, the primary channel of communication changes the way we
perceive the world we live. The dominant
medium of any age dominates people. Let us now look to the current and future
media and the effects of it with his famous concept…
“The
Electronic Fireplace”
In this new age of communication the new model of “The
Electric Fireplace” is that before the invention of television the typical
family would sit around a dinner table and communicate the day’s events. After the invention of television we saw the
family move to the living room or family den and all watch television while
eating dinner on TV trays with TV dinners. The communicating about the day’s
events was based on what the television was communicating to them watching this
sensory medium. The family circle of communication was broken.
Today we already see
the television on for an average of 7 hours a day with the typical household having
2 or more televisions. Mom now watches
“Lifetime,” brother watches “ESPN,” sister watches “MTV and daddy watches
“Playboy,” all in their separate private rooms. Already with the advent of the Internet
and the future hybrid of television/computers and other media this will
continue the separation of the family and cause more interacting with the
“Global Village” in their own “Electronic Cottage” discussing the day’s events
they want to discuss. This is a fulfillment of McLuhan’s “Gutenberg Galaxy” in
a family where the members are in various chat rooms on the Internet being
interconnected.
Another model that is changing in communications is the one
of Interpersonal Communication. This
model used multi—dimensions of verbal as well as non-verbal forms of
communicating to understand one another.
With the invention of the telephone we began using less non-verbal and
emphasized verbal. Today with the Internet
we have lost all dimensions of interpersonal communicating. One example of this
is through the use of emails. Users of
email are constantly being asked from receivers of their emails “Are you mad or
angry?” Without the use of any
non-verbal or vocalics it is hard to distinguish the nature of the
communication and thereby this medium of writing causes more noise in the
process. The answer to this problem has been the use of “smiley faces” that use
Ekman’s facial expressions to communicate intent of their emotions in the
emails. Speaking of whether the nature of something is one way or not, McLuhan
says…
“Television is a cool Medium”
McLuhan classified media as either hot or cool. Hot media
tends to be focused on a single sense.
Print is a hot media because it is directed to the visual, eye
sense. Television he says is a cool
medium because it is tactile and aural. He says one is emotionally involved
watching and filling in its blurry and vague images?
Since the 1950’s television has been the dominate media of
our culture and with events such as the Kennedy - Nixon debates, where
appearance became an important factor in choosing the president, the live
murder of Harvey Lee Oswald and playing the assassination of President Kenney,
the first television president, these images shut down our entire culture and
is still a marking point in our history.
The Vietnam War brought into the homes of Americans the scenes of dead
soldiers in body bags, which changed the perception of war. It’s obvious that
this medium has drastically changed our world.
By contrast the Internet is both hot and cool. It emphasizes print on an electronic media.
This is in the process of changing to a cool media as the Internet and
television merge into one media then it will be more sensory. Even retailers
like Amazon.com are looking in to sending out smells for their products. True
high-definition and surround sound video is still a few years away in gaining
acceptance as a production tool and a receiving tool in communications. The current high-definition television advertised
is not a true high-definition signal but rather a stepchild for the coming near
virtual reality medium. This brings us
to the future of media as…
“All
media are extensions of some human faculty”
Marshall McLuhan famous quote can be broken
down to the fact that he saw the invention of the wheel as an extension of the
foot. The medium of the book is the extension of the eye. Clothing is an
extension of the skin… and finally electric circuitry is an extension of the
central nervous system.
The use of wireless
technology having access to the Internet and personal and super computers will
aid this extension of the central nervous system. The television/computer has already altered
our perceptual habits, and it provides psychological extensions of our senses
and, thanks to cybernetic devices, an amplification of our nervous system. We
can finally react to the message in electrical media just like the human body. Yet
this new media could also create dependencies, probably even addictions. Internet
and virtual reality sex could have a devastating effect on the big picture of
the world especially in population growth. The trigger of endorphins could
cause a dangerous effect on productivity in our society. Yes media will finally invade our brains. As brain and genetic mapping continue it will
be only a matter of time when we will all be connected through one central
nervous system. This brings up the usual discussions of privacy and invasion of
Orwell’s “Big Brother” that will have to be answered by the users. In his
famous book Understanding Media
McLuhan adds that…
“Electronic
Media are turning the planet into a Global Village”
MuLuhan’s famous concept of a “Global Village” will come in
to fruition by not necessarily TV but with the Internet and the future hybrid
of TV and Computers. With cheaper production and delivery cost made available
to everyone on the planet we will all be our own electrical transmitters. Some
of the recent hackers of this new media who have been arrested have live on
Indian reservations!
MuLuhan’s nirvana will
have finally arrived. McLuhan said, “…There would be a return to tribalism, a
revival of charismatic authority, and so forth.” The true “Global Village” will
be attainable when we are interconnected and can see and feel with others. This technology will enable us to understand
all communications by using the same java or similar computer language that
will be able to interpret not only vocal language but also any non-verbal
communication. We already have cell
phones embedded in teeth and speakers that can be embedded in ears all with GPS
–“Global Positioning Satellite” technology.
This technology can track anyone in the world. Cell phones today enable
a user to call anyone in the world from any place in the world instantaneously.
We can also get information about any subject from the text messaging function
already on our cell phones. With the use
of A.I. artificial intelligence we will be able to solve most of the world’s
problems of crime, terrorism, economic discrepancies and the population
explosion. We will then be totally a sensory-based culture again. As McLuhan
would say “I don’t explain – I explore.”1 We are in a metamorphous
away from strict linear communication. This new embedded media could also do
Norton scans for virus or any generic flaws that need to be blocked or
destroyed so that this new operating system of media will work efficiently in
any human.
Douglas Rushkoff in his book Media Virus! Hidden Agendas in Popular Culture says: “networking
also participates in the general move toward privatization. It allows people to retreat to their ‘electronic
cottages’ with urban villages, while remaining connected to their ‘media
Communities.’” This move, which has been
facilitated by the increased possibilities of feedback and by the Internet’s
reach, might also further western culture or it might abolish western culture.
During a recent trip to Africa a Massi chief was asked about
the influx of western media and the effects it could have on his tribe’s
culture. He responded yes the media of
the bicycle would eventually devastate his culture.” Well, maybe this new technology is still a few
years away.
It is the opinion of the author that the terrorist attack of
911 was the result of media and the effects on the various cultures of the
world. It was not just happen stance
that the terrorist selected The World Trade Centers in New York as a point of
attack. They knew that every media
outlet in the world would witness this event, which was a way for them to
communicate to the world about their “don’t tread on me”, cry and the salvation
of their culture. The rise of fundamentalism
in Islam and Christianity is the result of a culture trying to rediscover their
identity.
Ironically, Al-Queda, the terrorist group who claimed
responsibility for the attack on 9-11, has used the Internet, which was originally
invented by the defense department for national security, against us as a main
source of communicating to their operatives around the world but not using
language but “ding-bats” computer symbols fonts to communicate. ▌▌≤☼.
Currently a bad side effect of this new technology is the “Group Think”
that can tie together fascist and other hate groups to organize and create
chaos. Nevertheless, Disney claims to provide universal messages because “it’s
a small world after all;” and IBM offers universal solutions for a “small planet.”
Conclusions
McLuhan said “I’m not advocating anything: I’m merely probing and predicting
trends. Even if I oppose them or thought
them disastrous, I couldn’t stop them, so why waste my time lamenting….
Resisting a new technology will not halt its progress.”2 There
could be some great advances with new technology and based on “Game Theory,” where
this media could create a win, win outcome for mankind. Also, with the use of cybernetics and
Information Theory in this new media obtaining “Self-Actualization” may be
possible for everyone in Abraham Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs.” Gerber’s claim
that the media plays a key role in maintains the status quo could be a
wonderful change for a world in chaos.
We are still emotional humans and we have the ability to
still make decisions right or wrong but with the right information we might make
a “Brave New World.” Will this start a new evolution of transformation in
communication and culture? What will the children of this era look and be
like? Who knows? Marshall McLuhan said,
“I don’t pretend to understand it all. You can’t go home again.” McLuhan said
that we are not aware of what media is doing to us. We are like a fish in the ocean. We don’t notice the water even though it is
our environment! We don’t see the air we breathe. In the communication model we
can’t overlook the medium. The medium
needs to be something we notice and study for “The medium is the massage.”
References
“Cybernetics,” Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2003
http://encarta.msn.com
© 1997-2003 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved
“Information Theory,” Microsoft® Encarta® Online
Encyclopedia 2003
http://encarta.msn.com
© 1997-2003 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved
Info culture 277.
“McLuhan, (Herbert) Marshall,” Microsoft® Encarta® Online
Encyclopedia 2003
http://encarta.msn.com
© 1997-2003 Microsoft corporation. All Rights Reserved.
McLuahn, Marshall Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man
Boston:
Beacon Press, 1964 72
McLuhan, Marshall, The Global Village: transformations in
world life and media
In the
21st century, Oxford University Press, New York, 1989.
Marshall McLuhan and Quentin Fiore, The Medium is the
Massage: An Inventory of
Effects (New York: Bantam, 1967)
Marshall McLuhan, the Gutenberg Galaxy, University of Toronto,
Toronto, 1962.
Rushkoff, Douglas, Media Virus! Hidden Agendas in Popular
Culture (New York:
Ballantine
Books, 1994).
Audio Tape
McKenna, Terence, Riding Range with Marshall McLuhan, Mystic
Fire Audio, New
York 1995
Video Tape
McLuhan’s Wake. Primitive Entertainment and the National
Film Board of Canada,
David
Sobelman
Foot Notes
1 “Playboy Interview: Marshall McLuhan,” Playboy, March
1969, p.74.
2 “Playboy Interview: Marshall McLuhan,” Playboy, March
1969, pp. 53f.
