COM 10200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Marshall Mcluhan

• School: Purdue University
• Department: Communication
• Course: COM 10200
• Professor: Glemn Sparks

Document Summary

Mcluhan"s mot famous slogan: mcluhan"s slogans, the medium is the message --what is really important in changing people is not the content of any message or messages, but the dominant form of communication in which messages are transmitted. Understanding the slogan: mcluhan"s slogans, the medium is the message , the content or message of any particular medium has about as much importance as the stenciling on the casing of an atomic bomb. Why is it difficult to grasp: the medium is the message, this concept is difficult to grasp. Because of the notion that media are extensions of the senses. Electronic circuits are extensions of the nervous system. We don"t feel very comfortable with our nervous systems sensitized like this so we engage in a kind of desensitization or repression. We become oblivious to the effects of the medium. Mcluhan amused himself: the medium is the massage, media are not neutral.