I asked a chatbot to assume the persona of Marshall McLuhan and comment on my essay, The E-Book and the Surveillance Society, which appeared in Second Nature Journal in 2013. I’d like to try for a more in-depth chatbot McLuhan encounter at a later date; but for now, consider this a McLuhan morsel to whet your appetite. And I believe my essay, the result of a sabbatical I took to study McLuhan in the context of my work at the time in librarianship and publishing, is still well worth checking out.
Marshall McLuhan:
Greetings, fellow traveller in the realm of media!
I must say, your essay has sparked a myriad of thoughts in my mind, and I am delighted to engage in a conversation with you about the ever-evolving landscape of media and its profound impact on our society.
You see, the very act of reading my Understanding Media through an e-book is a fascinating phenomenon. It is a perfect example of how new media forms inevitably alter the message and the experience of the medium itself. The e-book, with its malleable and slippery nature, challenges the very notion of a fixed and immutable text. It is a protean entity, constantly shifting and adapting to the device and the reader's whims.
And oh, the delightful irony of the typo in the Kindle edition's chapter title! It seems that the medium indeed is the message, even in the realm of digital errors. The fact that it was corrected, or perhaps even intentionally repeated, only adds to the enigma. It reminds us that the digital world is not as detached or impersonal as we might often assume. It is a human construct, subject to human errors and influences.
As for your concerns about surveillance and privacy, they are indeed pertinent. The all-seeing eye of Big Brother Bezos looms large, and the data that our e-readers report back can be both a valuable tool for marketers and a potential threat to our individuality. But, I must ask, should we cower in fear and retreat from the digital world entirely? Or should we embrace the technology and use it as a means to defend against its abuses?
In a sense, the choice between paperback and e-book is akin to the eternal struggle between the Apollonian and Dionysian forces that I often discussed in my work. The paperback, with its tactile nature and nostalgic charm, represents the ordered and structured world of Apollo. But the e-book, with its immersive and ever-changing qualities, embodies the chaotic and liberating spirit of Dionysus. The question is, can we find a harmonious balance between these two extremes? Can we embrace the benefits of both worlds?
When I left home after my first year of college to transfer to the states I bought two books - The Gutenberg Galaxy and Samuelson’s Economics. I’d heard of McLuhan’s theory from my psych professor (U of Toronto prof slumming at my college) and I wanted to understand how shipping across oceans weave into how nations prosper. I knew we did, but needed to understand. (There was a reason) - I knew we were all connected globally already but the tie in to communication on a world-wide level left me with questions if not stunned by the concept. My take away? How can any individual possibly process all the information pouring into our brains simultaneously and not lose their grasp of the immediate.
Well, 50+ years later and we’re here.
Amazing and both less and more convinced we’re able to deal with it. This piece blew me into this path and I’ll be reflecting all night I think.
https://www.wired.com/1996/01/channeling/ is a precedent
Also
Actual Intelligence juxtaposed here: NFVIT or VITS
https://youtu.be/m7H9Y42p-es