Say neither, it is blessed nor cursed.
Say only “It is here”.
John Brown’s Body
By Stephen Vincent Benét
Above is the point of view that McLuhan thought people should have on the modern media: it is neither blessed nor cursed, only it is here (Postman, 2000). However, Postman does not have the same view on it as McLuhan. He thought that there is no point in studying media without thinking its morality and consequences.
Postman and his colleagues in the Media Ecology Association and scholars frequently cite—that new media technologies do not just add to a culture, they transform it completely (Valcanis, 2011). There is some truth in that statement as it is clearly seen in today’s world. Technology is not something that one can or cannot live without. It is a necessity. For instance, a shoe is not just a shoe. It is part of our feet. This goes the same with the new media technology (Television, computer, Internet, social network – Facebook, Twitter and Youtube - and smartphone). It has made it easier for human to be in touch with the others at anytime and anywhere they want it to be. For example, mobile phone is one of the technologies out there that most people could not live without. Some sleep with the mobile phone next to them; some brings it with them everywhere they go, even in the toilet!
McLuhan insisted that electronic media are retribalizing the human race (Griffin, 2012). He coined the term ‘global village’; a worldwide electronic community where everyone knows everyone’s business and all are somewhat testy (Griffin, 2012). This global village has thrust mankind into a new "information age" or era in which human communication is "growing so fast as to be in fact immeasurable," (Valcanis, 2011). Human being are constantly using technology without being aware that it has somewhat transform them. New mediums are shaping and re-shaping from day to day and even hour to hour (Valcanis, 2011). Hence, people do not shape technology, technology shape people.
The video above is a TV series call 'The Big Bang Theory'. In the video, one of the physicists, Raj, has started "dating" Siri, the voice of his new smart phone's voice recognition system. Since he could not talk to a woman unless he is drunk, talking to Siri makes him happy. “There’s finally a woman you can talk to,” said Howard. Raj uses Siri to act as he’s companion, as in his girlfriend. He feels much more comfortable talking to Siri instead of a real person. He thinks that Siri understand him more. Sheldon also mention that Raj is making such a great evolutionary leap by abandoning human interaction and allowing himself of having a relationship with Siri, a soulless machine. However, Raj denies that statement. He does not seem to be aware that he is making a bond with it. Along his interaction with Siri, she has calls him sexy while he calls her darling, how can one does not realize that he is only talking to a phone? Hence, it shows that, technology does affect human being without them realize it.
Media ecology takes a broader view, concentrating on media technologies and their place in shaping society (Valcanis, 2011). Nevertheless, Postman keeps on reminding that people see differently from the others. One does not have the same opinion on what is good or bad to them like the other. The same goes with media technology. As Postman was fond of saying, “Technology giveth and technology taketh away. . . . A new technology sometimes creates more than it destroys. Sometimes, it destroys more than it creates. But it is never one-sided.” (Griffen, 2012).
References
Griffin, E. (2012). A First Look At Communication Theory 8th Edition. New York: McGraw Hill.
Postman, N. (2000). The Humanism of Media Ecology. Retrieved from http://w.media-ecology.org/publications/MEA_proceedings/v1/postman01.pdf
Valcanis, T. (2011). An Iphone in Every Hand: Media Ecology, Communication Structures, And The Global Village. Retrieved from http://www.freepatentsonline.com/article/ETC-Review-General-Semantics/254190842.html
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