Who is todays greatest innovation visionary?
In the 60s and 70s, the title ‘Oracle of the electric age’ was given to one man
Marshall McLuhan claimed “I am resolutely opposed to all innovation” but he felt that in order to cope with it, we need to understand what it is doing to us.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-C6FDcUutj8
Marshall McLuhan was a Canadian philosopher, and scholar.
He was a professor of English literature, literary critic and a communication theorist.
McLuhan’s work is viewed as one of the cornerstones of the study of media theory.
McLuhan is known for the expressions “the medium is the message” and “global village“.
McLuhan was a leading figure in media from the late 1960s to his death in 1980 and he continues to be an influential and controversial figure.
More than ten years after his death he was named the “patron saint” of Wired magazine.
I watched this video with a smile, John says “A book, it’s all we used to have, so no projectors, no TV sets, we got all the information from this, we are educated by it, we learnt about each other from it”
John could never have imagined today’s world with all these book kindles, I wonder how many kindles are sold annually!
Marshall McLuhan pointed out great analysis regarding the ‘generation gap’ between parents and their kids in the third video. It’s actually still applicable today, where in the Internet has replaced TV’s role as the “x-ray” in today’s society. Though I’m not sure if the internet has really served as an x-ray of involvement among different societies around the globe, especially to the younger generation.
Not 100% sure we share same understanding of’x-ray of involvement’ Rob, but I see internet as the most influencing media to younger generations in our times. Not TV anymore, but internet taking it’s role, especially in richer countries, with common access to www.
And surely, internet leaves it’s print on many, I would risk saying most, of the inventions in our times. No usage of internet knowledge bases, contact possibilities in any of nowadays projects? don’t think so.
I agree with you Greg, Internet made knowledge available for everybody with one single click, this makes scientists follow up with the latest inventions and discoveries and keep up to date so that they can add more to each other researches, this makes knowledge doubles every couple of months, so instead of taking years to find medicine for a new virus, it only takes few weeks!
No doubt about internet being media’s most influential arm to the younger generation, what I’m not sure of is if it’s been as helpful as it’s been intended to be, if it indeed influenced the younger generation in a more positive light. Not trying to be the devil’s advocate here, just trying to point out that the internet can be thought of as a “double -edge sword,” in terms of its being “an x-ray of involvement” in society.
Agreed Rob, I would even risk statement that internet can do more harm than good to youngest users of www.
If you think about kids playing for 20 hrs/day MMORPG games, watching some crazy videos and ending up doing same stuff in real life and so on, internet can surely be a devil in clothes of angel.
Mr. McLuhan states an absolute, General Truth for me:
“The closer you get together, the more you like each other? There is no evidence of that […]When people get close together, they get more and more savage”
This is truly one of the gold quotes from him. Just think of it, absolute class in my view.
I have another quote that, in my opinion, should be written on every wall, and every company building these days. Just to remind everybody it is our responsibility to become green and take care of the place we live in the best we can:
“There are no passengers on spaceship earth. We are all crew.”
You can check more great quotes from Marshall McLuhan here:
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/marshallmc100969.html
Nice find Greg. Actually got to study about Marshall McLuhan’s work back in college when I was taking up communication research. I remember he used the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes to better explain communication theories in his book. And it’s quite uncanny that Calvin and Hobbes is such a perfect comic strip for communication theories.
Didn’t know about that, thanks for sharing Rob!
Need to search it out one day, some of his quotes are really mind blowing, hope for more stuff like this in his book.
Hey Greg, you may consider using a book abstracts website like http://www.getabstract.com/ this can give you the chance to follow up with the most important publications without spending much time to decide what to read, and try to find time for a whole book
And I do agree with what he said Greg, regarding human relationships. I think that’s best exemplified in media through reality TV shows like Survivor and Big Brother (though I think a large part of it is really scripted). The novel Lord of the Flies also proves that quote by McLuhan. You can check it out in Wikipedia, following this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_of_the_Flies Haven’t read the novel yet, though. Must be an awesome read.
I agree with Rob that Internet has made lots of revolutionary changes among human relationships and emotions, and of course some of those changes have a very negative impact on society, but this is attributed to some people who abuse technology, but still the most nobody can dispense with such a rich mine of information just because some people abuse it
Really you haven’t read it Rob? C’mon man, it should be your homework for this week
I won’t tell the story and spoil it for you. I remember I have read it when I was really young, maybe 13-14 (?). It really have huge influence on young people and their personality – as long as they try to understand it. For older readers it is not so much, as we already know what people are like, what we are capable of – too much of TV news programs in our life I imagine.
Still, great novel.
Ahh yeah, and as for TV shows like NN or Survivor – abig no – no from me. Not my cup of tea.
Uhh, I meant BB, thinking about one thing, writing another – probably ‘no-no’ was on my mind when I was writing it
I have seen the film as well Rob, good, old movie.
But read the book first, way better – as in most of movies based on books/novels.
Not a big fan too of those TV shows, or reality TV in general. Though I reckon primitive traits are employed in these shows to sow intrigue and garner the needed viewership. While people get glued to watching these shows, the big show runners and owners are all off to the bank.
I’ll try to find a copy this weekend. Actually Greg, I have planned to read the novel and watch its film adaptation for years now. Will make a note of it, and I hope I can find some free time to read.
Hey Rob;
You may even find the movie more time saving, movies are sort of very concentrated
Oh no Bassem, could never agree with that. Maybe they are a bit more time saving, but you never get all the idea behind the book when watching movie version.
Besides, Lord of the Flies is pretty short, not a long read.
Hey Greg, Abstracts are the fashion of the 21st century, sometimes movies can work as abstracts, they don’t show you ideas but rather show you their final results!
Well, I guess Marshal is mixing between philosophy and politics, identity is not only a need of a person but also a need of every society, this has been seeded in each of us a long time ago!
I find the forth video interesting, it is always nice to bring your live reference with you, though it is not always possible, but when you bring the author himself to support what you say, that makes you unbeatable.
That’s actually from one of my favorite films of all time, Manhattan. That scene had me laughing to bits when I watched it. Good thing I was watching solo.
You guys should really watch the film, it’s fantastic.
That third video is very interesting, Marshal could foresee the world today so accurately, however the bad news for Marshal is that there are still many people who care for their own daily life and are completely unable to see the wider picture of today world, it is as if the world is living many ages at the same moment
Here’s the theory behind Mr. McLuhan’s link to innovation and media (and to the videos found in this article): technological determinism, where in he says that our existence, the different aspects of it, is shaped by the changes we make regarding the way we communicate. Here’s the link:
http://www.allsands.com/potluck2/technologicalde_ubp_gn.htm
“McLuhan feels that our culture is molded by how we are able to communicate. To understand this, there are a few main points you must comprehend. First, inventions in communication technology cause cultural change. Secondly, changes in modes of communication shape human life. Thirdly, as McLuhan himself puts it, ‘We shape our tools, and they in turn shape us’.”
I barely remember this theory being taught in college, but I’m sure I did encounter this before. And with this theory of his, it somehow validates my assumption that the internet, with all its gifts to men, shapes our society and culture positively, and adversely as well.
Referring to the film adaptation, Greg, there are actually two, one in 1963 and 1990. Between the two, I reckon the first one’s better, based on reviews from Rotten Tomatoes.
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1012710-lord_of_the_flies/
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1028568-lord_of_the_flies/
But being a filmmaking student, I’d watch both, and see how Marshall McLuhan’s statement is more accurately portrayed between the two adaptations.
I have never seen 1990 version, only the older one. So can say for this one only – good watch. But remember about reading a book first, completely new experience
I have never came across technical determinism before – not my field of studies, but I agree with you Rob on that, especially the internet part.
What comes next? What medium, what kind of communication will take over internet, just like internet is taking over TV, and TV took over radio before? My bet would be whole virtual world – something similar to surrogates (known from comic book and movie based on it)
That’s pretty scary, Greg, but yeah, if societies continue on furthering selfish interests instead of collective initiatives. Let’s hope the future replacement for the internet is much more comforting.