: A presentation by
Jelena Gregov & Moreno Belic
Media Theory. Prof Christiane Paul
“All media work us over completely. They are so pervasive in their personal, political, economic, aesthetic, psychological, moral, ethical, and social consequences that they leave no part of us untouched, unaffected, unaltered.”
. M McLuhan
* Philosopher of Communication Theory
and public intellectual
* Considered both an artist and a scientist
* / English Literature Mechanical Bride
* Influenced by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
* Promoted by HowardGossage
* “ ” McLuhan uses media as an umbrella term
* / Technologies media change the trajectory of asociety
* The method of communicating information has larger influence than the content of information
, Each medium independent of the content it, , mediates has its own effects which are its
.unique message
*“ “ ” Juicy piece of meat that the burglar carries to ”distract the dog
* Important but not nearly as important as the message of the medium
* Expressed through different mediums has a different effect
* . . – / /I e WAR presented on RADIO TV MOVIE
* . . – / I e MOVIE presented on TV WEBSITE
* Electricity ended sequence by making things instant
*N ew and opposite forms reveal themselves just as the earlier ones reach their peak performance
* Movies brought us from sequence and connections to creative configuration and structure
*Cubism enforced one reading of the picture
’ Suddenly the sequence wasn t important but the . instant sensory awareness of the whole
, Before it was form vs function now form and .function are in unity
I ’ t s pure information – medium .without a message
characteristic of all !media
The content or uses of media are as diverse as they are ineffectual .in shaping the society
.The message of any medium is change
T he content of any medium is .always another medium
* Alexis de Tocqueville: printed word achieved cultural saturation and homogenized the French nation
* Print responsible for the rise of individualism and nationalism ( )French revolution
* ; ; .Oriental vs western oral vs print sight vs sound
* It is only when standing aside from any medium that’ it s principles and lines of force can be recognized
*One can predict and control the effects of the medium only , in such detached position.
*T / he way we use media technologies does not determine their value
* “People are hypnotised by the amputation and extension of their own being in a new technical form”
* ( ).Our viewpoint is fixed on ourselves Narcissus
*Me “ dium has the power of imposing its own ”assumptions to the unwary
* Only by avoiding the subliminal state of Na rcissus trance one can predict and control the media
* The world has been contracted into a village by electric technology
*Increased speed of communication forced us to become more involved with one another and to be more aware of our global responsibilities.
* Mental breakdown is common result of .information overload
* Discovery of the technique of discovery
* New media and technologies are overwhelming for a ( )common man massive social surgery
* Stress changes entire system
* Each new impact shifts the ratios among all the senses
* We seek means of controlling or avoiding these shifts
* “ ”Artist has the immunity
* A truly dedicated artist has the power to observe and recognize the patterns within
* “ ” “ ”The integral man or the man of integral awareness
* He predicted the Internet as an "extension of consciousness"
* Currently researched as part of the Princeton Global Consciousness Project.
*an attempt to detect possible interactions of "global consciousness" with physical systems
* ’ :Based on De Chardin s thoughts
*Omega Point (a maximum level of complexity and consciousness towards which the universe was evolving)
*Noosphere: the sphere of human thought - the third in a succession of phases of development of the Earth, after the geosphere (inanimate matter) and the biosphere (biological life).
* ’ McLuhan s theories about the message of the medium connect culture and society
*Print culture generates revolutionary forces, while electric media makes people more reactionary – what does digital media make
?people do
*The impact of each medium is limited to the previous social condition – it adds itself to the existing. Therefore different societies may be differently transformed by the same media.
*The message of any medium is change
* Man becomes a slave because he subconsciously choses to ignore the fact that understanding how media work is essential to his
survival and prosperity