Fantastic, McLuhan was a visionary. Look forward to this book!
One point from this that really stands out is the conflicts caused by new technology and how identities defend themselves. With the advent of global communications networks - i think we are seeing nations states as we know them (and the power structures that they enable) struggle against the formation of new governance structures.
The real question is, will they be willing to burn down the world instead of acquiesce to change?
I read Understanding Media in class I had in 1974. I was an American Studies major taking a seminar course entitled, Identity and Consciousness in the Modern World. My class project was an investigation into the question, "If a picture is worth a thousand words, is one word is worth one word." I compared billboards on highways with ones in urban centers. On the highways, then, the message was simple "Gas. Next Exit." In town, it was a picture of the Marlboro Man. The symbolism of the iconographic image took over advertising so that images like McDonald's Golden Arches said everything that needed to be said about there being an store at the next exit. Later, I wrote about what I call The Spectacle of the Real (https://edbrenegar.substack.com/p/the-spectacle-of-the-real). While certainly inspired by my remembrance of McLuhan's Medium is the Message/Massage, I incorporated Guy Debord, Jean Baudrillard, and Umberto Eco, to make my point. I think you are correct in asserting that technological change drives the transitions we are experiencing. It is wise to ask questions about its outcomes. Those who lean on technological innovation to make work simpler and easier, I fear, do not realize that there is a consequent loss of skill and creative capacity that results. I see it in my use of grammar apps. If I accepted every suggested change, I'd loss my individual voice. In addition, I suspect that a new hierarchy of creative merit may be one of the benefical outcomes that we'll find coming from those who use AI sparingly.
In terms of McLuhan scholarship, start with Joyce scholar Donald Theall. He was McLuhan’s first PhD student ... Theall is the best interpreter for properly “approaching” Marshall’s work. Then read Arthur Kroker on McLu, and then read Andrew Chrystall’s PhD New American Vortex and then start reading Cameron McEwen’s blog McLuhan’s New Sciences. Dig in! 😎👍
McLuhan was a Joyce scholar, Menippean Satirist and Surrealist ... Theall and Chrystall's New American Vortex are essential to understanding what McLuhan was up to in UM. Cameron McEwen's blog https://mcluhansnewsciences.com/mcluhan/ is also fantastic but might be considered a 'deep dive' for McLuhan newcomers looking to get their feet wet in McLuhan sprawling work.
Fantastic, McLuhan was a visionary. Look forward to this book!
One point from this that really stands out is the conflicts caused by new technology and how identities defend themselves. With the advent of global communications networks - i think we are seeing nations states as we know them (and the power structures that they enable) struggle against the formation of new governance structures.
The real question is, will they be willing to burn down the world instead of acquiesce to change?
I read Understanding Media in class I had in 1974. I was an American Studies major taking a seminar course entitled, Identity and Consciousness in the Modern World. My class project was an investigation into the question, "If a picture is worth a thousand words, is one word is worth one word." I compared billboards on highways with ones in urban centers. On the highways, then, the message was simple "Gas. Next Exit." In town, it was a picture of the Marlboro Man. The symbolism of the iconographic image took over advertising so that images like McDonald's Golden Arches said everything that needed to be said about there being an store at the next exit. Later, I wrote about what I call The Spectacle of the Real (https://edbrenegar.substack.com/p/the-spectacle-of-the-real). While certainly inspired by my remembrance of McLuhan's Medium is the Message/Massage, I incorporated Guy Debord, Jean Baudrillard, and Umberto Eco, to make my point. I think you are correct in asserting that technological change drives the transitions we are experiencing. It is wise to ask questions about its outcomes. Those who lean on technological innovation to make work simpler and easier, I fear, do not realize that there is a consequent loss of skill and creative capacity that results. I see it in my use of grammar apps. If I accepted every suggested change, I'd loss my individual voice. In addition, I suspect that a new hierarchy of creative merit may be one of the benefical outcomes that we'll find coming from those who use AI sparingly.
In terms of McLuhan scholarship, start with Joyce scholar Donald Theall. He was McLuhan’s first PhD student ... Theall is the best interpreter for properly “approaching” Marshall’s work. Then read Arthur Kroker on McLu, and then read Andrew Chrystall’s PhD New American Vortex and then start reading Cameron McEwen’s blog McLuhan’s New Sciences. Dig in! 😎👍
Thanks for the add here. Would add his book Understanding Media is foundational.
McLuhan was a Joyce scholar, Menippean Satirist and Surrealist ... Theall and Chrystall's New American Vortex are essential to understanding what McLuhan was up to in UM. Cameron McEwen's blog https://mcluhansnewsciences.com/mcluhan/ is also fantastic but might be considered a 'deep dive' for McLuhan newcomers looking to get their feet wet in McLuhan sprawling work.