War & Peace in the Global Village
I have yet to fully read this book, and to take on McLuhans' point of view. I have however just searched the internet for other peoples opinions of the book and found this quote, from Amazon.com, to be quite interesting:
"If McLuhan hadn't been dead for almost twenty years, he could have written this book yesterday. He speaks to this moment in time. "We are all robots when uncritically involved with our technologies." He makes the point that we have met the enemy and they is us.
He asserts that man has evolved beyond Darwin's limited concept of biological evolution, and we have evolved ourselves with our technology. The computer being an extension of our nervous system, which now senses the whole world.
The pain of modern existence is to be found in the strain of this evolution, and therefor, to be for-warned is to be for-armed. "Unlike the animals, man has no nature but his own history. Electronically, this total history is now potentially present in a kind of simultaneous transparency that carries us into a world of what Joyce calls 'heliotropic noughttime.'
We have been rapt in 'the artifice of eternity' by placing our nervous system around the entire globe." Tired of wondering why you think life sucks? There is some healing balm hear to be found."
I had heard that evolution was a fairly big part of McLuhans' theory, but have as yet to come across exactly how he reaches this conclusion.
Although the above quote has some incorrect grammar, I feel that it is a good point of view to take when considering how "We are all robots when uncritically involved with our technologies". Paul and I had already considered that we must become robot-like when interacting with certain technologies. But I now think that we design those technologies to be like that to further enhance our capabilities, allowing us to see further, hear more, remember everything etc.
Advances in technology have made these enhancements possible, so do we now want to enhance things even further?
Professor Kevin Warwick of the University of Reading, is one person who has undertaken one such further enhancement.
In August 1998, Warwick had a silicon chip implanted into his forearm. This chip was used to track his movement throughout the halls and offices of Reading University's Dept. of Cybernetics. The chip also allowed Warwick to control/operate lights, doors, heaters and other machines.
In March 2002, Warwick had another chip implanted into his arm. This time, the chip contained an array of electrodes which where connected to his median nerve fibres. The chip has since been used to record electric pulses sent through these nerves during specific tasks. These signals have since been used to control an electric wheelchair and an intelligent artificial hand.
One of the goals of these experiments, as reported here on CNN.com, was to improve the lives of those who have suffered spinal damage. The theory is that once the signals being sent by the nerves have been studied, they could be replicated by a machine and fed to the nerves to stimulate movement in the patients body. Although it is currently thought that re-achieving complex movements may be unrealistic, who knows what the future may bring?
We are all robots when uncritically involved with our technologies, but is that because that's how we want to be?
I plan to email Professor Warwick and seek his views on the McLuhan quote. Once I have constructed a good enough request, I shall post it here.
"If McLuhan hadn't been dead for almost twenty years, he could have written this book yesterday. He speaks to this moment in time. "We are all robots when uncritically involved with our technologies." He makes the point that we have met the enemy and they is us.
He asserts that man has evolved beyond Darwin's limited concept of biological evolution, and we have evolved ourselves with our technology. The computer being an extension of our nervous system, which now senses the whole world.
The pain of modern existence is to be found in the strain of this evolution, and therefor, to be for-warned is to be for-armed. "Unlike the animals, man has no nature but his own history. Electronically, this total history is now potentially present in a kind of simultaneous transparency that carries us into a world of what Joyce calls 'heliotropic noughttime.'
We have been rapt in 'the artifice of eternity' by placing our nervous system around the entire globe." Tired of wondering why you think life sucks? There is some healing balm hear to be found."
I had heard that evolution was a fairly big part of McLuhans' theory, but have as yet to come across exactly how he reaches this conclusion.
Although the above quote has some incorrect grammar, I feel that it is a good point of view to take when considering how "We are all robots when uncritically involved with our technologies". Paul and I had already considered that we must become robot-like when interacting with certain technologies. But I now think that we design those technologies to be like that to further enhance our capabilities, allowing us to see further, hear more, remember everything etc.
Advances in technology have made these enhancements possible, so do we now want to enhance things even further?
Professor Kevin Warwick of the University of Reading, is one person who has undertaken one such further enhancement.
In August 1998, Warwick had a silicon chip implanted into his forearm. This chip was used to track his movement throughout the halls and offices of Reading University's Dept. of Cybernetics. The chip also allowed Warwick to control/operate lights, doors, heaters and other machines.
In March 2002, Warwick had another chip implanted into his arm. This time, the chip contained an array of electrodes which where connected to his median nerve fibres. The chip has since been used to record electric pulses sent through these nerves during specific tasks. These signals have since been used to control an electric wheelchair and an intelligent artificial hand.
One of the goals of these experiments, as reported here on CNN.com, was to improve the lives of those who have suffered spinal damage. The theory is that once the signals being sent by the nerves have been studied, they could be replicated by a machine and fed to the nerves to stimulate movement in the patients body. Although it is currently thought that re-achieving complex movements may be unrealistic, who knows what the future may bring?
We are all robots when uncritically involved with our technologies, but is that because that's how we want to be?
I plan to email Professor Warwick and seek his views on the McLuhan quote. Once I have constructed a good enough request, I shall post it here.
posted by Paul Coffield at 7:33 AM
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