Media are Extensions & Amputations

According to McLuhan “all media are extensions of some human faculty – psychic of physical” (26). For example: the wheel is an extension of the foot, clothing is an extension of the skin, and books are an extension of the eye. These “extensions” are intimately tied to our senses and new technological extension has the ability to shift our sensory balance – and our society as a consequence. According to McLuhan “when these [sensory] ratios change, men change” (41). For example, the development of an organized writing system is the perfect metaphor for the beginning of civilization, as we know it (48). How? He explains that the advent of the alphabet changed society where all the senses were balanced to a more unbalanced present where sight took precedence and visuality and rationality become interchangeable (45). McLuhan believes that the electronic age has reestablished some balance between the senses because “at the high speeds of electric communication, purely visual means of apprehending the world are no longer possible; they are just to slow to be relevant of effective”. Today’s communications are no longer continuous, sequential, orderly, and “rational” the way visual space is and the alphabet is organized. Because technology has instigated the compression of space and time, we no longer have the ability of use our “habit” of “perceiving the environment in visual and special terms,” therefore our sensory balance has again shifted. Thus, the way we “extend” ourselves allows us to understand our society and the way we communicate in a meaningful way.

However, what is even more interesting I think is thinking beyond the idea of “extensions” to the idea of “amputations,” that McLuhan describes in another one of his works. For example, text messaging extends the voice, but amputates our ability to write a letter.  Or the way that, much like McLuhan notes that “the goose quill gave an end to talk”, Facebook extends our ability to interact but amputates our ability to have live social interactions (48). I it interesting to consider other “amputations” brought about by other forms of technological advancements.