Fr. Patrick Peyton Interviews Marshall McLuhan, part 1

[TheTTBT]

In his work, McLuhan made visible his massive recognition of patterns - a role normally atributed to the artist, though he never proclaimed to be an artist and generally rejected catagorization or classical-intellectual labels. The metaphorical landscape of Catholicism, as he explains in this interview, provided "nourishment" - food for his probes.

[margotdarby]

Note the theme from "Peyton Place."

[SSPX3]

why do all my heroes turn to religion?

[DrFallon]

@SSPX3 Why is that a problem?

[Eldel15]

@DrFallon lol

[SSPX3]

@SSPX3 because I'm not religious

[jacksawild]

@SSPX3 So you dislike anyone who is religious? Listen, I'm an atheist mainly because I don't like believing things which I am expected to believe. Dismissing ideas based on preconceptions is another reason. If I were to judge someone based on their religion or keep my distance from someone because I come from the other side of the fence then I have made a trap for myself which I have walked into willingly. Keeping an open mind is important for everybody, no matter what side of the fence.

[SSPX3]

@jacksawild Thanks for your advice. Socially it's a useful point to take into consideration. I agree, It's good to keep an open mind, yet I also can't bring myself to trust anything that was written 3500 years ago, even if my hero's could. Marshall stated many times that he has no point of view and that ideologies should not be followed, so to hear he was privately deep into organised religion was a big slap in the face.

[jacksawild]

@SSPX3 "Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. Do not believe anything because it is spoken and rumoured by many. Do not believe in anything because it is written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and the benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it." Buddha

[mrgerbeck]

@jacksawild Great comment. Sometimes people are atheist today for the same reason people were religious at prior times. They want to associate with some community; and many people like the secular humanists. Yet, this too is a tribal gathering and often more emotional than private and intellectual. I believe in God philosophically in it is a box with the word "God" written on it . I place private ideas inside that box. I would not pre-judge a person's idea based on their label.

[listen2this]

@SSPX3 McLuhan focused on how the world sends messages and arguments and such. Learning about evolution actually requires that you come back down to Earth - something rhetors have a hard time doing.

[xvegansxex]

@SSPX3 because all heroes have a weak spot, superman had kryptonite, McLuhan had faith

[Antonysmarvels]

@SSPX3 maybe they know something we dont...?

[Nambypamby37]

@SSPX3 I think that happens if you feel like your thinking alienates you from others. It makes some or most people turn to a religion shared by their friends and family.

[NuHerbAndIzm]

Listen (replay) closely. Fr. Peyton seems to be casting a cutting spell upon McLuhan... his word cloud is filled with contemptuous implicature (e.g. "small head")

After review, IMO this is a linguistic duel

[serrotjbh]

In context, it was very clear what McLuhan was conveying within the phrase "The angelic discarnate man of the electric age" ... but I can certainly see how a computer would have no clue what he was saying, with or without the full context of the 10 minute piece. I wonder if what NYCJosh really objected to, was not the that he could not understand the metaphor, but maybe what he objected to was McLuhan's conclusion being drawn within the metaphor. This would be a another matter entirely.

[serrotjbh]

On the supposed fluff of using poetic language such as "The angelic discarnate man of the electric age" I take it that McLuhan's very purpose was to find language to convey the mystery with which he himself was grappling. In this case 1's and 0's simply won't do. In fact, 1's and 0's have no home in organic life. The use of metaphor and illustrations are a higher form of intelligence that are only available in the realm of humanity and are inescapably part of our very nature.

[TheWizzooo]

This is a gem...

Yesterday I listened to Arch Bishop Fulton Sheen, I learned about Mendell before that... The Year of Priest has been very moving.

[nycjosh2000]

"The angelic discarnate man of the electric age"...

The pitfall of literary types. They think that by coining profound-sounding phrases they are actually saying something profound. He is creating an air of mystery but not saying anything that is not obvious in this video. If the interviewer were sharper he would probe deeper by pressing him to define and explain. I am not saying McLuhan doesn't have anything noteworthy to say, just that he has not said anything here.

[9IIFCS]

could you please define and explain what it is that is not being said, or what you felt sounded-"profound"?

[nycjosh2000]

Consider the quote at the top of my post. Attempt at profundity? McLuhan is attempting to argue that since people have started using electronic media to communicate they are somehow "discarnate" or angelic. Elsewhere he calls this "tribal." Important social consequences follow from the emergence of electronic media but this kind of fluff mystifies the listener and conveys the perception of something very important being said but actually says nothing or very little.

[9IIFCS]

if you say so...

[tristramshandy3]

read McLuhan's book The Gutenberg Galaxy. It is wonderful.

[genericneil]

@nycjosh2000 anything that is not obvious today. This is after all a "replay" in 2010 of something from sometime in the 1970s.

[terminalbacon]

oh god i cant listen to peyton

[gerardtgibbs]

McLuhan was a brilliant man. How wonderful that he was a devout Catholic.

[DrFallon]

Catholic, Protestant, Mulim, Jew -- what does it matter? He was a brilliant man. Without question, McLuhan's particular brilliance is tied to his Catholicism (as a convert). But how about Jacquess Ellul, who converted from Catholicism to Reformed Christianity? How about Harold Innis, who was a lukewarm Anglican? How about Teilhard de Chardin, whose writings were banned by the Catholic Church?

[IPossessAHugePenis]

@DrFallon McLuhan also made sure to point out that his talking about somthing does not make him in favour of it. He very clearly stated that if he talks about something he is often completely against it. Hence the idea that people get nourishment from the Church. It would be an amazing feat indeed if he were to be so brilliant and a Catholic, as it is one of the most anti intellectual environments around. If he were raised one, he would have just been a worthless priest or something.

[9macrina9]

this makes me want to do a vid about my own mala/rosary :-)....i take my rosary with me on trailrides on my horse, and when he pauses to graze, it is a wonderful time to pray for all......open resonations in open fields:-)

[ericmcbride]

"The angelic discarnate man of the electric age"...

It is funny how one can stumble upon such profound ideas while looking for mundane things... such as when I clicked a link to see "The most stupid McDonald's commercial". I ended up here to confront a startling new visualisation of our evolution.

[exactlywhatisaid]

lol the featured video right next to this is "is it a bad idea to microwave a twinkie?"

mcbride your theory is proved in reverse as well

[jfk1976]

i wish he had lived to see youtube and facebook and twitter. he predicted it all and its an injustice that his books arent taught in every school today.

[misterpoission]

i second that

[IllPropaganda]

Excellent!

Thanks for the upload!

[IBTLpwn3r]

McLuhan is an Irish name. Fr. Peyton is also Irish. He pronounces Marshall's last name as "McLoon" not "McLooIn," as I have been saying

Which is it? "McLoon" or "McLooIn"?

McLuhan has changed my way of viewing everything from print, to TV and now the internet.

[fourtyblinks]

Marshall McLuhan is Canadian, not Irish.

[jrl2320]

One of those native Canadian names, right moron? It's probably an English name but maybe an Irish name.

[fourtyblinks]

Huh? I never said it wasn't an Irish name, but the statement "Fr. Peyton is also Irish" sure sounds like the other poster was saying that Marshall McLuhan is Irish, and not just his name. You should try to at least understand what I've said before throwing around casual insults like a prick.

[Zaxser]

I think the addition of the l phoneme is just one of eccentricities of the Irish accent. But hey, what do I know? I've been pronouncing it Mick-Loo-Han myself.

[lunaly16]

Thanks for posting this vid! :)

[DrFallon]

My pleasure. You have an interest in McLuhan?

[lunaly16]

Yes! Actually i'm writing a paper relating his theories, Society of Information and GIS (geographic information system)

[DrFallon]

Fascinating! I'd love to hear more about it.

[DrFallon]

What an interesting comment! I'm not at all certain I know what you mean...

[ossiorn]

Technology is the ground and its effects are invisible according to Mcluhan.His point was how all media alters our sensory ratio but all those people I mentioned before are blind to this and focus only on the content.

[ossiorn]

By the way,thank you Dr.Fellon for posting this video.I don't recall having seen this one before.

[ossiorn]

female supremacists,(Correction).

[ossiorn]

Christians,Muslims,jews,atheis­ts,objectivists,skeptics,Liber­als,conservatives,feminists,Fe­ale supremacists,pagans,goddess worshippers,anarchists,Conspir­acy theorist ect.Look! the only one who was awake!

[ossiorn]

The family that plays together,stays together

The new variation.