Replied To Mcluhan's Amusing Ourselves To Death

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Allison Coffee Professor Gregory Julius English 21011 Research Writing 16 February 2024 Postman Just Replied to McLuhan's Discussion Board Whether you have heard the famous names, McLuhan and Postman, you've probably had first-hand experience with their theories. Marshall McLuhan's book Understanding Media proposes the idea that the medium is the message. In this statement is the thought that the medium we choose to communicate with holds just as much value as the communication itself. After reading McLuhan's book, Neil Postman proposes in his book Amusing Ourselves to Death that the medium is the metaphor. It states that the medium can affect the message type and create a measure of importance to society, resulting in a culture shift. Despite the difference in McLuhan's …show more content…

This message is not just saying "it's over". It also implies that the person is insignificant or not worth the time. The medium affects not just the message, but also society's perception. In other words, according to McLuhan, the media is a form of the human senses. For example, instead of talking to someone, we can text them. The ease of texting is so great, so why would we ever have an honest conversation again? The use of text messages replaces face-to-face conversation. Thus demonstrating technology is replacing "humanity." This idea feeds into a broader concept that the vast media that allows us to consume information easily alters our perception and social engagement. This further contributes to many people's decrease in attention spans due to the availability and consumption of information. For instance, this can be seen when scrolling through social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. To continue, McLuhan states, "For the "message" of any medium or technology is the change of scale or pace or pattern that it introduces into human affairs" (pg