What a remarkable and prescient person. He was put out on the fringe in the 1970s as a 1960s relic. But from the 1980s onward, his ruminations became more and more impossible to ignore.
“And this is the old myth of Narcissus. The word Narcissus means narcosis, numbness and drugged; and Narcissus was drugged into thinking that that image outside himself was somebody else. Narcissus did not fall in love with his own image, he thought it was somebody else. And the same with us, in our technology and gadgetry and gimmickry and so on, we don’t think that is merely a part of our own physical organism extended out there, we’re like Narcissus, completely numb. Now when we put out a new part of ourselves, extend a new part of ourselves by technology into the environment we protect ourselves by numbing that area. The more I looked at this the more I had difficulty explaining why people ignored it.” M. McLuhan
One of my favorite quotes of his behind the quote "There is absolutely no inevitability as long as there is a willingness to contemplate what is happening."
Don’t forget Echo. Wasting away to a stone skeleton and a copy of whatever was last said is exactly how people end up with a narcissist. Emptied of will and personality. What do you think growing up in the hall of mirrors called Web 2.0 does to people? How worse do you think Web 3.0 will be?
"Electric information comes from all directions at once and when your information comes from all directions simultaneously you're living in an acoustic world. The acoustic world has no continuity, no homogeneity, no connections and no stasis; everything is changing. Our ancestors lived in a mythic world because they had none of the means of literate classification. A myth is a speeded up following of a process. We live mythically ourselves so that we understand their myths for the first time. You should know the stakes are; the stakes are our civilization versus tribalism and it's a considerable revolution to have been through twenty-five hundred years of phonetic literacy, only to encounter the end of that road." - Marshall McLuhan
Yep, u get it. That bit about reading only the right page of any serious book is incredibly profound. What an amazingly creative way to discover new information!!
That's one aspect of the many things he was saying. It's not just the fact that the tools man creates also shape man, but the fact that humanity seems numb and unaware of the great changes they go through until it's already in the rear view. His ideas ring truer today than ever simply because the times are unprecedented and none of us are equipped to handle the rate of accelerated change we see everyday. "Our Age of Anxiety is, in great part, the result of trying to do today’s jobs with yesterday’s tools." - McLuhan
Wow, was he was pretty much spot on with his predictions. My only question is, how the hell did he know all these things? What has made him such an authority figure on this subject?
he was looking at the effects of our environment as opposed to causes; he had a PHD in literature and studied communications
7 років тому+2
From a biological point of view MM had a one in a billion anatomical brain connection, that resembles cats - his external carotid artery (the artery that supplies blood to the face, scalp, and jaw) had formed huge connecting channels through the left base of his skull and inside his skull. The result of this is his brain had a much larger blood supply than is normally the case in humans
“Global village” peaked with SCTV. The internet was a mistake and I hate being here. I miss landlines and physical places. Bring back meatspace while we still can.
You do realize that if Marshall McLuhan did not have his position in life that he had.....or worse, was destitute due to economic hardship...he would of been considered a babbling lunatic....Just some food for thought. We all walk a fine line.
+Fred B. The same could be said of all great thinkers. Diogenes. Aristotle. Plato. Later, the monk scholars. Aquinas. Duns Scotus. Francis of Assisi. William Blake. etc. etc. etc. from the pre-modern field. Even, I have to admit, Nietzsche and Sartre.
The US government is one of the least transparent governments in history. There's still plenty of secrecy and non-transparency to last us several lifetimes, especially for the ruling elite class. It's just that every now and then, they let a couple people take a fall, let some crumbs of info (always mixed with a healthy dose of disinfo) leak out so that all of us dumb plebs think that there's actually accountability and that corruption is being dealt with whenever it crops up. Look up "limited hangout operation." That shit goes on all the damn time, because it's pretty effective.
Yeah except everybody's making themselves dumber instead of more intelligent. And a thousand times worse than any previous new mode of communication it's making people's attention span and ability to concentrate nil
Not a moot point- when we landed on the moon, there should have been A WOMEN ASTRONAUT PRESENT- truly, since it was a giant, arguably, for Humankind- personally I wanted the money spent on earthly "stuff" - but my philosophy bugs many- a naive....do-gooder...Namaste
Products increasingly becoming services.. Mind blown, this guys is a beast.
What a remarkable and prescient person. He was put out on the fringe in the 1970s as a 1960s relic. But from the 1980s onward, his ruminations became more and more impossible to ignore.
“And this is the old myth of Narcissus. The word Narcissus means narcosis, numbness and drugged; and Narcissus was drugged into thinking that that image outside himself was somebody else. Narcissus did not fall in love with his own image, he thought it was somebody else. And the same with us, in our technology and gadgetry and gimmickry and so on, we don’t think that is merely a part of our own physical organism extended out there, we’re like Narcissus, completely numb. Now when we put out a new part of ourselves, extend a new part of ourselves by technology into the environment we protect ourselves by numbing that area. The more I looked at this the more I had difficulty explaining why people ignored it.” M. McLuhan
One of my favorite quotes of his behind the quote "There is absolutely no inevitability as long as there is a willingness to contemplate what is happening."
Don’t forget Echo. Wasting away to a stone skeleton and a copy of whatever was last said is exactly how people end up with a narcissist. Emptied of will and personality. What do you think growing up in the hall of mirrors called Web 2.0 does to people? How worse do you think Web 3.0 will be?
Day by day, more and more vindication.
Soooo Good
That last quote = between the eyes
"Electric information comes from all directions at once and when your information comes from all directions simultaneously you're living in an acoustic world. The acoustic world has no continuity, no homogeneity, no connections and no stasis; everything is changing. Our ancestors lived in a mythic world because they had none of the means of literate classification. A myth is a speeded up following of a process. We live mythically ourselves so that we understand their myths for the first time.
You should know the stakes are; the stakes are our civilization versus tribalism and it's a considerable revolution to have been through twenty-five hundred years of phonetic literacy, only to encounter the end of that road." - Marshall McLuhan
Yep, u get it. That bit about reading only the right page of any serious book is incredibly profound. What an amazingly creative way to discover new information!!
Global Village is the World Itself Today!
So was he trying to say Man shaping his environment is in fact, Man shaping himself?
yup
That's one aspect of the many things he was saying. It's not just the fact that the tools man creates also shape man, but the fact that humanity seems numb and unaware of the great changes they go through until it's already in the rear view. His ideas ring truer today than ever simply because the times are unprecedented and none of us are equipped to handle the rate of accelerated change we see everyday.
"Our Age of Anxiety is, in great part, the result of trying to do today’s jobs with yesterday’s tools." - McLuhan
he died the year I was born. that always saddens me
Would you feel better if he'd died in 1979 or 1981?
Makes me wonder how many of those homeless that can predict the future are actually right
Wow, was he was pretty much spot on with his predictions. My only question is, how the hell did he know all these things? What has made him such an authority figure on this subject?
you look at the current technology and how we use it.
then you take upcoming technologies and combine the two.
he was looking at the effects of our environment as opposed to causes; he had a PHD in literature and studied communications
From a biological point of view MM had a one in a billion anatomical brain connection, that resembles cats - his external carotid artery (the artery that supplies blood to the face, scalp, and jaw) had formed huge connecting channels through the left base of his skull and inside his skull. The result of this is his brain had a much larger blood supply than is normally the case in humans
no
no he covered both. look at his other stuff
4:06 minute “because I use the right hemisphere while they are using the left”
“Global village” peaked with SCTV. The internet was a mistake and I hate being here. I miss landlines and physical places. Bring back meatspace while we still can.
He pretty much predicted Google! And all the rest of it... 0:20
You do realize that if Marshall McLuhan did not have his position in life that he had.....or worse, was destitute due to economic hardship...he would of been considered a babbling lunatic....Just some food for thought. We all walk a fine line.
Fred B. Considering the intellegence level of most people today...McLuhan can be a lunatic or just irrelivant.
Marshall is only a lunatic because you lack the understanding he thought was crucial to share.
He cared more about you than you do.
Yes of course. ..
+Fred B. Have you taken a course on Metaphysics or philosophy?
+Fred B. The same could be said of all great thinkers. Diogenes. Aristotle. Plato. Later, the monk scholars. Aquinas. Duns Scotus. Francis of Assisi. William Blake. etc. etc. etc. from the pre-modern field. Even, I have to admit, Nietzsche and Sartre.
So true.
Long live the flesh
Satre was still alive at this point!
Wow. Who is this guy?
4:20 haha That's right! right side of brain!
He knows his electronic potential from when it started... kind of looking a baby and be able to know him already...
Does anyone know the year of the first clip?
1:30 kind of nails it
Well he predicted fb in his second comment.Mcluhan leishmaniasis of course and Irish.
wikileaks/hackers -- "total absence of secrecy"
The US government is one of the least transparent governments in history. There's still plenty of secrecy and non-transparency to last us several lifetimes, especially for the ruling elite class. It's just that every now and then, they let a couple people take a fall, let some crumbs of info (always mixed with a healthy dose of disinfo) leak out so that all of us dumb plebs think that there's actually accountability and that corruption is being dealt with whenever it crops up. Look up "limited hangout operation." That shit goes on all the damn time, because it's pretty effective.
Al Ramone UK "Snoopers Charter" - "total absence of privacy".
the govt snooping in our cell phone conversations and emails is another example of what MM was talking about 40 years ago
"Ann Landers Writ Large" ala Corporate 'fake news" media Not the uncorporatized Media .
Al Ramone lol-u really did not get a thing he said.
Talking about facebook,
Yeah except everybody's making themselves dumber instead of more intelligent. And a thousand times worse than any previous new mode of communication it's making people's attention span and ability to concentrate nil
2:08
i would pay this guy to talk-therapy me.
What’s on your mind?
The Joe Rogan effect🙃
Not a moot point- when we landed on the moon, there should have been A WOMEN ASTRONAUT PRESENT- truly, since it was a giant, arguably, for Humankind- personally I wanted the money spent on earthly "stuff" - but my philosophy bugs many- a naive....do-gooder...Namaste