Marshall McLuhan

Quotes are word for word from the source.

• Environment as process

  “Environments are not just containers, but are processes that change the content totally.”

  Our noteHe was discussing how the context or medium reshapes the information it carries.

• Technology Numbing Effect

  “Every technology contrived and "outered" by man has the power to numb human awareness during the period of its first interiorization.”

  Our noteWarning about the initial psychological impact of new tools.

• Environmental Change

  “Media, by altering the environment, evoke in us unique ratios of sense perception...When these ratios change, men change.”

  Our noteDescribing how media environments reshape human perception.

• Rear view mirror

  “We look at the present through a rear-view mirror. We march backwards into the future.”

  Our noteExplaining how people use old concepts to understand new technologies.

• Pattern recognition

  “Faced with information overload, we have no alternative but pattern-recognition.”

  Our noteSuggesting a survival strategy for dealing with excessive data.

• Medium bias

  “The bias of each medium of communication is far more distorting than the deliberate lie.”

  Our noteAnalyzing how media forms distort information.

• Enemy as PR

  “The only cool PR is provided by one's enemies. They toil incessantly and for free.”

  Our noteExplaining how opposition can inadvertently build a brand's visibility.

• Human sense making

  “Computers can do better than ever what needn't be done at all. Making sense is still a human monopoly.”

  Our noteHighlighting the difference between computational power and human judgment.

• Competition and conformity

  “The more you make people alike, the more competition you have. Competition is based on the principle of conformity.”

  Our noteMcLuhan observes the relationship between social likeness and market competition.

• Nature of advertising

  “All advertising advertises advertising - no ad has its meaning alone.”

  Our noteHe reflects on how advertisements function within a larger media environment.

• Technology as mutation

  “Any new technology is an evolutionary and biological mutation opening doors of perception and new spheres of action to mankind.”

  Our noteHe analyzes the impact of new tools on human capability.