Mc Luhan - The Medium is the Message

[canajaneh]

The student that says "The medium is the message - what does THAT mean?" as they're all exiting the classroom is Mark Polley, whose younger sister is Sarah Polley (of Road to Avonlea fame, at the time), and with whom I worked for three years at a government department. I believe once he'd finished working at the government, he went on to law school.

[psycomedia]

turn off

tune out

drop dead

watch?v=FmgKwJhodZw

[TheTTBT]

McLuhan would refer to the content of this PR approach to a heritage identity as a "mask", the content of which could be worn either willingly by a Canadian lacking a triumphant corporate, constitutional image, or more reluctantly by the multitude of actors in his so named "Global Theatre" (From Cliche to Archetype) who missed reading him altogether.

[ExertionMusic]

@TheTTBT no kidding. This video is a great way to teach people how to deter others from actually understanding something. 1. Oversimplify, 2. Confuse / overdramatize / layer in schlock, 3. ABSORB into your culture. This is essentially what has been done with the image of Martin Luther King. They overemphasize one contradictory part of the person's life and let people puzzle over that without looking deeper into the ideas of the individual presented. MM would have loved mp3 files.

[lralon]

Check out Eric McLuhan's interview with Figure/Ground Communications:

figureground dot ca/interviews/eric-mcluhan/

[iluvjordanmayes]

i do not, for the love of things, understand wat mcluhan is trying to say...

[ExertionMusic]

@iluvjordanmayes that's b/c this video is made to confuse, not inform, making him out as a harmless, venerable genius, inciting national pride. To relate to his famous quote: Think about the apparent "superiority" of eg recorded music formats. When arguing about whether Beethoven sounds better on CD or vinyl, the message of the music (content) diminishes. msg = msg + medium.

Elsewhere, deeper in MMs writings, you'll find he writes that the medium is not only equal to the

[subtlefrowns]

i would like to hear what he says about light bulbs in the end ..

[waynehansen999]

@subtlefrowns In regards to your question asking what McLuhan would say regarding the lightbulb as a communication medium. McLuhan would argue that the light bulb is a communication medium that has no content thus furthering the argument that the medium IS the message; and that content has relatively no importance. The real value in the lightbulb is in creating a 'space' that had otherwise been closed (Ie, offering light to the nighttime).

[lakesidepark2112]

That was Canadian actor "Cedric Smith" as Marshall mcLuhan.

[TheTaskmaster]

@lakesidepark2112 Professor Charles Xavier!

[burnaamij]

Dabney Coleman is Canadian?

[hyperseauton]

...not

[DuracellEnergizer]

It's best that you have the debating skills of a six year old.

[VariedInterest]

I have actually studied communiction politics and media in both the abstract and practical sense, so I have read Mcluhan well. Just appreciating 'Videodrome' properly is sufficient reason to read Mcluhan, but when you do read him you realize how little you understood before doing so. A truly brilliant theorist and philosopher, and artist as well (Mcluhan and Cronenberg both in fact).

[NeoOneOrg]

this isnt what he was teaching

[sapphirerose666]

Makes sence to me when I think about Art and the medium you use to make it, which in fact gives meaning/form to the content. You may use paint, collage, photography, each has it's own history, meaning, connotations...

[PolarBeamz]

A classic term nowadays, thanks to Mr.M.McLuhan

[VariedInterest]

These little shorts were always so corny, and this one was one of the worst offenders, haha. It's also amusingly appropriate that it completely trivialises the content.

[DuracellEnergizer]

The medium is the message ... and the message of this particular medium is incomprehensible to me.

[typeclash]

Is this clip from a movie?

[bitterlullaby]

It's just a minute clip that was shown on tv about different influential Canadians. Just little history throws during commercials.

[wcwsux69420]

read "amusing ourselves to death" by neil postman, ftw

[hollywoodlawn]

Yes, read it if you want to read an overrated essay. Postman produced far better ideas, "amusing..." only demonstrates that postman dislikes tv, presenting the same prejudice an elementary school teacher uses claiming that tv and internet are the root of all evil!

[Ignotus9]

Yes definately. In fact postman provides a strong example to the "literary nationalism" that Marshall Mcluhan says was produced by the print medium.

[plocqa17]

If one has been influenced by a piece of music not knowing what it means, or an abstract painting or a tone of a voice, not the things said but the tone used, then one is able to get an inkling about what is being said here.

[TheRealAmyTheFreak]

I always hated this as a kid.

I love this quote I found. "Marshall McLuhan was wrong 'The MESSAGE is the message'"

[bitterlullaby]

Haha me too. You would walk and grab some chips or something during this clip or switch channels. Don't see them anymore though.

[nixd04]

because you do not understand or simply know nothing about communication theory...

"we shape our tools, and in turn they shape us..."

this is so true in how you reacted...

[VariedInterest]

That's fine if you want to choose to live in a fantasy world fabricated by somebody else your whole life; thinking that way will guarantee you do.

[cheatcommandos]

wait isnt this the guy who does the voice of professor xaviare on the originalxmen cartoon

[slamirez86]

cedric smith runs the fucking show

[FaizRLZ17]

It means the way the massage is brought to you via a media is already a philosophy of what is true and what is false...

[exobscura]

this crap is redundant. "the medium is the message": is a soundbite/"silent freedom is freedom silenced": is a slogan. they both amount to hot air and contribute nothing to "the pursuit of happiness".

[Starbat88]

Y'know, I never understood what that meant, "The medium is the message."  And I still can't say that I do.

[guitarboy22j]

It means basically just that, that we don't get "news", we get the values that the medium allows us to see. Those are two different things. "Conciscion" is one affect of television, if you can't say something in 30 seconds, you won't be aired, if you're uncharismatic, you're not on, commercials break up the show every 8 minutes, sound effects, visuals, all distract from it too, etc...

[Starbat88]

I see.

[panopticon7]

the thing is, the medium isn't the message, it's only a part and always has been. television's content isn't "the audience" any more than any other medium. and vision isn't continuous; all other senses are, however. mcluhan was a theorist, not a scientist.

[Ignotus9]

are there any scientific pieces of writing that could present stronger evidence about communication?

Mcluhan observes social factors so how much of a role could science play in measuring those factors? Isnt that the difficulty that arises? That hard science has difficulty dissecting said factors, and that we must turn to the social?

[DayusX]

@guitarboy22j In continuation, Television is a one way communication. You have no input in what is aired. TV is like a conversation in which one person has earplugs, claims complete domain on all thats true, and talks at you uninterrupted. You as the viewer are simply a passive observer who's thoughts and actions, or even existence, are of no consequence. Therein lies the message of TV, which is exactly opposite of that of the internet.

[cultusstultus]

"This Canadian changed the way the world thinks ABOOT communications" woot!

[Aira1990]

I always think of this when I have to do a presentation. And I always do well. Thanks Heritage Minutes!!

[thunderwoman]

I remember seeing this when I was a kid. It got me to read his work. I always hated the way they cut it right at the end tho...

[meyildiz]

bu adama hastayım kardeşim yaw