wow, it totally took me half a dozen wtfs to (maybe) figure out what it was going for. I thought it was saying something like medium caliber handguns are weak in terms of bullet penetration and give massages instead of shooting people. ....my brain is weird. :)
huh. well, according to wikipedia, marshall mcluhan had audio recordings called the medium is the massage, of his works being interrupted. I was figuring it to be a typo, never having heard of those. So, now I'm just utterly confused as to what this is supposed to be saying. Maybe 'guns don't kill people, books do, at least if you hit the people hard enough with them'. *smirk*
McLuhan did write a book with Massage in the title and also used the name for some lectures. He wrote about the Message version in a couple of books, notably Understanding Media. I don't think he wrote a book with Message in the title. [Edited out a bit about the title in the image.]
I like the image. It gets to the point. ;-)
The Medium is the Massage is a bit more artsy with lots of poetic stanzas and pictures than most of his other works.
I know what Wikipedia says about the title The Medium is the Massage--that "McLuhan adopted the term 'massage' to denote the effect each medium has on the human sensorium, taking inventory of the 'effects' of numerous media in terms of how they 'massage' the sensorium."
As for "The Medium is the Message" (which by some accounts was the original title of the book, changed due to a printer's error), what I understand he meant was that media changes society, regardless of the content delivered--that television (for example) changes how people interact with each other, whether they're watching Friends or The History Channel.
I suppose those two messages are roughly equivalent to one another.
I'm not all that familiar with his work, though; I just have a passing knowledge.
What he had observed is that the views that society hold affect what messages we convey, but at the same time the message we use to convey that message affects societal views. So for example, if society tends to like thin people, then we will use thin people in ads or as models or actors/actresses. By thus using thin people, the message that thin people are valued is reaffirmed in society.
Most often, the media as in tv, movies, ads and radio are commonly what are meant. However books, banners, protests, websites.. anything can be the medium used to get a message across. However I don't think back then he could've imagined the extent to which we socialise ourselves in that manner in this day and age.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-16 11:56 pm (UTC)....my brain is weird. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-17 12:50 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-17 01:02 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-17 06:33 am (UTC)I like the image. It gets to the point. ;-)
The Medium is the Massage is a bit more artsy with lots of poetic stanzas and pictures than most of his other works.
[/Comm major]
- James -
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-17 12:53 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-17 01:04 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-17 01:39 am (UTC)Perhaps if I'd ever read the book I'd have some sort of clue as to what this "art" is about, but I don't.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-17 06:07 am (UTC)Alas, I don't recall what images were on those pages.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-17 01:31 pm (UTC)Eeeenteresting.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-18 05:21 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-17 03:04 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-17 03:53 pm (UTC)I know what Wikipedia says about the title The Medium is the Massage--that "McLuhan adopted the term 'massage' to denote the effect each medium has on the human sensorium, taking inventory of the 'effects' of numerous media in terms of how they 'massage' the sensorium."
As for "The Medium is the Message" (which by some accounts was the original title of the book, changed due to a printer's error), what I understand he meant was that media changes society, regardless of the content delivered--that television (for example) changes how people interact with each other, whether they're watching Friends or The History Channel.
I suppose those two messages are roughly equivalent to one another.
I'm not all that familiar with his work, though; I just have a passing knowledge.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-17 03:58 pm (UTC)What he had observed is that the views that society hold affect what messages we convey, but at the same time the message we use to convey that message affects societal views. So for example, if society tends to like thin people, then we will use thin people in ads or as models or actors/actresses. By thus using thin people, the message that thin people are valued is reaffirmed in society.
Most often, the media as in tv, movies, ads and radio are commonly what are meant. However books, banners, protests, websites.. anything can be the medium used to get a message across. However I don't think back then he could've imagined the extent to which we socialise ourselves in that manner in this day and age.
Dual careers
Date: 2008-07-17 12:56 am (UTC)Re: Dual careers
Date: 2008-07-17 01:41 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-17 03:03 pm (UTC)