CMST 2C03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Marshall Mcluhan, Technocracy, Multivac
16 Dec 2016
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Document Summary
Historical period of human development, in terms of where human beings are at. Pre-modern = traditional sense of culture vs. modern = contemporary sense of culture. Capitalist principles/institutions= allows people to be individual agents (some think that this is the primary element of modernity) The enlightenment period= 18th century where people questioned what they knew. Instrumental rationality= we got better with our tools and became more efficient (seen a lot in the industrial revolution) When it began is what is contested (printing press brought maps) Mass production is a key item of modernity (the printing press) (cid:838)most significant and controversial contribution to our understanding of media in modern times(cid:839) (p. 30). Medium theory does not assume technology is mostly positive force for social change. Listen to mcluhan playboy interview= doesn(cid:835)t see changes as positive. New technologies alter the structure of our interests: the things we think about . They alter the character of our symbols: the things we think with.
