McLuhan's The Medium is the Massage

Welcome to The Manhattan Spengler Salon, where we discuss the big ideas of history, historiography, and civilization.

McLuhan writes 'George Washington once remarked, "We haven't heard from Benjamin Franklin in Paris this year. We should write him a letter." '

For this salon we will be discussing Marshall McLuhan's experimental piece The Medium is the Massage, published in 1967. It will be held on Thursday, June 26th, at 7:00PM in the Lobby Bar at Made Hotel.

Length: 85 pages, but consisting mostly of images to look at.

Note: This will be a fun, experimental read. Some pages are printed backwards and are meant to be read in a mirror. Some are intentionally left blank.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IHEWpr_bGAQKr6l4_qIzb307WKgQshYK/view?usp=sharing

Discussion questions:

1. McLuhan says “the medium is the message.” What do you think that means in plain terms? Can you think of examples now where how something is communicated mattered more than what was actually said?

2. How does McLuhan describe the trajectory and changes in human psychology and how we share and process information? Are we currently in a new primitive age?

3. What do you think of his use of the term global village?

4. The book talks a lot about how different technologies, like print or TV, change the way people think and connect. How do you think smartphones or social media have changed the way we experience the world compared to older forms of media?

Once again, put on your oculars and let's dive in!