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September 17, 2005
Reading: Marshall McLuhan 1, 8, 9
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The Narcissistic Trance
McLuhan articulately encourages us to take as many steps as we are comfortable taking out of the everyday manifestations and see what is really going "on". In the realm of ideas, his analysis is solid as he encourages us to glance at the a priori movers, the true actuators of change. Analyzing the result of a medium is a valid enterprise but we shouldn't mistake that analysis for true analysis of a medium. When a medium is ubiquitous and recedes to the background of ideas as its manifestations become prominent we must not forget about the origin of those manifestations. Otherwise we trap ourselves in Abbott's Flatland and forget about the possibilities as possibility.
The McLuhan reading connects nicely with a reading from physical computing on the The Art of Interactive Design (my notes can be found here). Crawford says that interaction and reaction are not on a degree continuum. A very strong reaction does not break into the realm of interaction just as a very bright neon sign does not enter the realm of light as medium.
Reevaluating the language of a medium implementation has correlations to synesthesia. From the pure medium's perspective, all implementations of the medium are arbitrary and equal. From the perspective of 'light as light', it doesn't matter if the light is used to sell beer or perform brain surgery. It is then possible to apply descriptive words from one implementation to another and have the potential for them to make sense. If we think of the senses as a reaction to an encompassing medium, it no longer seems so strange to see tastes or feel sound just as a surgical procedure could have a 'grammar'.
As we submerge ourselves in medium as implementation we must not loose sight of what we are loosing or what we may gain if attempt to retrace our steps. Language is a detachment as is consciousness and any layer that prevents us from experiencing the world as World. Running water may advance industrialization and convenience but it breaks down the family and clan structure. As the Chinese move from ideograms to a more western phonetic alphabet, their world view and cultural nuances are altered in favor of a more linear, abstract forward motion of ideas. These are not necessarily value judgments, they are what is.
As a final note, we can also see a transition with emerging technology as they move us closer to a Tower of Babel, removing the need for languages. Maybe the cultures we are so quick to preserve are in fact barriers to ultimate understanding and connection?
Posted by mb2811 at September 17, 2005 07:24 PM