On Tue, 27 May 1997, Reed Konsler wrote:
> >The Internet creates a world-wide synesthesia
> >attributable to instantaneous diverse media
> >transmission on a global basis. This in turn
> >erodes human ability to decode in "real time,"
> >and retrieves, in the language of McLuhan Tetrad
> >Analysis, a "virtual" Tower of Babel. Reporters
> >who have done stories on the degeneration of
> >written speech over the 'Net have noticed this
> >already. Many of the discussion groups on the
> >'Net are in real danger of becoming "much ado
> >about nothing." Individuals desperate for a locus
> >of self-expression (and kept from their goal by
> >the invisible effects on society of unbridled
> >technological change) are finally achieving some
> >form of expression -- but at what cost?
> >Information is fragmented and murky at best,
> >unfocused, untimely and unwanted at worst.
Just to make things clear:
This is from:
Nelson Thall is the Director of Research for our
Center, former Chief McLuhan Archivist for the
University of Toronto, and former president of
the Marshall McLuhan Center for Global
Communications.
I'm a big fan of Marshall McLuhan and his
progeny. I think his insights have been
forgotten or reduced to a few aphorisms
which are quoted without much reflection.
If you are interested by a current incarnation
of McLuhan's media theory you might want
to check out:
[The McLuhan Connection]
http://www.mediaguru.org
Reed
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Reed Konsler konsler@ascat.harvard.edu
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