It's amazing to think that there was a time when there were no computers and cell phones or even books and the telepgraph. As humans, we have evolved and so have our means of communication. Chapter 24 discusses media and its history through time. During the Tribal Age, the ear was the most important sense receptor. The world was a wild and untamed place and being able to hear your surroundings was vital to survival. Spoken word also played an important role. This is how stories and ideas were passed along. McLuhan claims that early people lived better lives than literate people because hearing involves a deeper connection with your community and surroundings. Today, it is so easy to tune the world out. Text messaging has also eliminated the need for hearing. We no longer need to speak to one another. We just need to be able to text really fast and read!
The Age of Literacy brought a with it new problems. Although written word has been extremely important, it began to separate people. There were those who could read and write and those who could not. This allowed for discrimination and oppression. The Print Age continued the visual era through mass-production. The Electronic Age has changed the face of media and communications. It's mind-blowing to think that it all started with the telegraph and now we have the iphone and ipod. We are currently in the Digital Age. Technology is becoming faster and more advanced. Our world is getting smaller and we now have this "global village". There are blogs and places like MySpace that let us connect with the world within a matter of seconds. As our environment evolves, who knows what the next era may bring...
integrating theory--dialogue
15 years ago
2 comments:
When my father was working on his PhD, there were no copy machines. I asked him how he managed and he said he spent a lot of time in the library and learned how to take good notes. Humans are very adaptable, so we work with what we have at the same time we're developing new ways to communicate.
I don't know that McLuhan argued people in the tribal epoch lived better lives, but they were certainly different lives than what we have today. During that early time, people were in fairly homogeneous groups, so they weren't exposed to very many different ideas or ways of thinking. Although the literate age brought with it linear thinking, it also helped people become independent thinkers. So with every age comes both positive and negative aspects of the new technology used in that age.
I did one of my posts on this subject too and think that it was amazing how communication was. Its crazy to think how ways of communication has changed and humans adapt so fast to it. I remember, just about 5 years ago, texing wasn't too popular, but now it is SO popular. Some people would rather text than talk on the phone and hear someones voice. Its so easy to tune everyone else out and not have the option of talking to people because of texting or emailing or things like myspace or facebook. I believe that the technology age will be the next age and happen. There are just so many things already that are beginning it. Your example about social worldwide networks is a great example. People can connect with each other every where (global village).
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