Essay Questions

How does McLuhan justify that new forms of transportation, such as the railway and airplane, are a form of media?

McLuhan makes it very clear that he perceives and defines a technology or media as anything that becomes an extension of ourselves. As such, transportation must be categorized as a form of media, given that travel is integral to our existence as humans. Ironically, however, the examples of trains and airplanes are an example of how technological innovation can turn previously-new forms of technology obsolete. The airplane, for example, enabled us to travel to more places and more quickly, thus dissolving the need for railway travel. And yet, it was the railway that accelerated our rate of transportation and made carriages and wagons obsolete. These forms of transportation, McLuhan argues, must be considered technology because they evolve with us—with our needs. When we needed to travel farther and faster than railways could take us, humankind crafted and mass-produced the airplane, which then became an extension of our very being.

Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man was published in 1964. How is McLuhan’s text still relevant today?

To understand how McLuhan’s dissection of media and its numerous extensions is still relevant today, one must first understand McLuhan’s definition of media and technology. McLuhan defined a medium or technology as anything that is an extension of ourselves. Newspapers, lightbulbs, cars, and even language are considered to be a form of media. These technologies regulate and enable our ability to communicate with each other; in this way, they fundamentally inform and influence how we perceive ourselves, each other, and the surrounding world. When thought about in this light, it is clear that McLuhan’s novel is perhaps more relevant today than it was in 1964. The introduction of global social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, etc.) all have become—by McLuhan’s own definition—an extension of ourselves and our identities. Many humans, particularly of the younger generation, now rely upon these social media platforms to communicate; these new technologies have fundamentally influenced how those individuals see the world and see themselves in it. As such, it is clear that McLuhan’s text—and the messages contained within—are timeless, for humans will always create new technologies that become extensions of ourselves and subsequently shape our ability to communicate with each other and perceive the world around us.

Describe what McLuhan meant when he said that the medium is the message.

McLuhan famously believed that the medium—or mode—of a message is and has been far more important than the content of that message. If you wish, for example, to convey a message through video rather than through words, this decision, McLuhan argues, transmits far more information than the message itself. If someone wishes to convey a message using a picture, for example, one can conclude that the content of that message was too great, detailed, and/or visually stunning to be adequately conveyed using words or another mode. He suggests that we should be studying a creator’s decision to use a specific medium, rather than the creator’s decisions regarding the content of the message.