Herbert Marshall McLuhan was a Canadian philosopher. He has presented his theory related to media. Media, among mass media, sensorium, and New criticism, are the main interests of McLuhan. Some of the best notable ideas are the medium of the message, global village, figure and ground, media ecology, and many more. He predicted the World Wide Web almost 30 years before it was invented. When the World Wide Web and the Internet came into existence, his work and perspective became popular. Marshall described the structure of the medium as the tetrad diagram where the medium is in the centre confined by the four qualities of the medium: retrieval, enhancement, obsolescence, and reversal.
Marshall believes that medium and the ground content works in collaboration with each other. Both are important to each other. As the present situation is the result of past technology, and it directly influences the new technology. As a result of this, society and individuals are also affected. This beautiful explanation of Marshall is widely accepted and applied on a practical basis. Marshall got publicity after understanding media, and he was considered the publicized and controversial figure of the twentieth century. Below are some of the famous Marshall McLuhan Quotes.
A successful book cannot afford to be more than ten percent new.
Successful books are 90 percent the same as the books we are already read. They are only 10 percent different. This 10 percent makes a book unique and influential from others. For being successful, you need not be 100 percent unique. Make your 10 percent actions different from others.
Schizophrenia may be a necessary consequence of literacy.
Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness where people get confused between the real and imaginary world and behave in strange and unexpected ways. This serious mental illness is considered as one of the consequences of literacy.
Our Age of Anxiety is, in great part, the result of trying to do today's jobs with yesterday's tools.
In this quote, Marshall explains the age when he works. He termed that age as the age of anxiety. This is because he works in today's innovative world by applying yesterday's concepts and using yesterday's tools.
As technology advances, it reverses the characteristics of every situation again and again. The age of automation is going to be the age of 'do it yourself.
Marshall explains the age of automation. The automation age message people to do things by themselves. Don't depend on others to do your work. Technology advancement results in giving a message of doing it yourself.
If the nineteenth century was the age of the editorial chair, ours is the century of the psychiatrist's couch.
This quote explains the emergence of magazines in the nineteenth century. Therefore, it is called the era of the editorial chair. The 20th-century marks the emergence and strong influence of psychiatry.
American youth attributes much more importance to arriving at driver's license age than at voting age.
In America, the driving license age is 16, while the voter's age is 18. It is concluded from the quote that the American youth is endlessly satisfied and happy to reach the age of 16 rather than the age of 18.
Continue reading some more Marshall McLuhan Quotes...
Anyone who tries to make a distinction between education and entertainment doesn't know the first thing about either.
This quote by Marshall explains that before making any distinction or clarification, the first thing that needs to know is to get insights into the concepts to get more clarity. A person who clear things by himself before telling others.
Advertising is the greatest art form of the 20th century.
This quote explains the emergence of advertisements in the 20th century. Advertisement is considered the most incredible innovation of the 20th century. This makes people aware and also helps in the increment of business. Without advertisement, business and marketing are both different and difficult.
Mass transportation is doomed to failure in North America because a person's car is the only place where he can be alone and think.
In America, there is just one place (car) to sit alone and involve in deep thinking. Other transportation is considered as a failure to sit alone and think. A car is the only place where you can think about what you want exactly.
It is the framework that changes with each new technology and not just the picture within the frame.
When the new technology is launched in the market, this changes the whole process, or we can say the entire framework is changed on the emergence of new technology.
We shape our tools and afterward our tools shape us.
In this quote, we can take up the example of AI ( Artificial intelligence). Humans designed and developed the AI system, but nowadays, AI is one step ahead of humans. One day, AI rules the entire world instead of humans.
Some more Marshall McLuhan Quotes...
The more the data banks record about each one of us, the less we exist.
Data banks have all the individual information. In the 21st century, technological advancement is enormous. Data banks know more than the individual. They know who you are, what are the things you possess, who are your connections, where are you, and many more. Therefore, our existence is inversely proportional to the information in data banks.
We drive into the future using only our rear view mirror.
This quote explains that while driving, a rear-view mirror is important. Because it provides safety, and you can move forward by seeing behind the vehicle. The future also works the same way. For a bright future, you need to drive by using the experiences that happen in your past.
Where the whole man is involved there is no work. Work begins with the division of labor.
Division of labour is the process that works from the family to the micro and macro level in every sector. Division of labour involves the distribution of tasks which results in more efficient and fast working. A single man's work is not as counted as the work done by the division of labour.
I don't necessarily agree with everything I say.
Marshall said that he was not always agreed about the things that he has said. He said a lot of things based on what he saw, what he thought. But, the reality is he did not agree with all the statements.
The medium is the message.
This famous quote of Marshall means that the medium through which we communicate is much more important than the message itself. The media we choose to communicate is also values as the message.
Few more Marshall McLuhan Quotes...
Class in society is determined by voice.
Class or status in society is related to the voice. The higher class in the society connects directly and is also able to raise their voice, but the lower class in the society doesn't feel the same way. They are not able to raise their voice higher.
The car has become the carapace, the protective and aggressive shell, of urban and suburban man.
In this era, a person's car is the more important thing. Nowadays car acts the hard covering of tortoise. This is the same for urban people. It is the protective shield of this century.
Money is just the poor man's credit card.
Poor people use money in the same way rich people use the credit card. Poor people not possessed any credit or debit card. They just possessed the money which they use for buying anything.
Art is anything you can get away with.
In the 20th century, Art was a way to express one's power or standing (with portraits), learning (with history paintings), or to celebrate achievements (paintings of historical events). But this is not true for the contemporary world. In the past centuries, art is used to understand everything about the person and you can get to know everything about his life.
