The Medium is the Message

Even though this term was briefly introduced to us before in one of our assigned readings, I wasn't clearly sure what Marshall McLuhan meant. After reading this excerpt from his book I finally kind of understood what he meant by "the medium is the message". Well, in introducing this phrase, McLuhan is basically implying that the medium, not the content is what matters for it is the medium that shapes, forms and produces the content. And this did not made any sense at all until he used the General David Sarnoff's phrase as an example to explain it: "The products of modern science are not in themselves good nor bad, it is the way it is used that determines its value". And this statement got me into thinking there are certain things in this world that are just simply bad regardless of whichever context they are used on. For instance, any disease, which he mentions, can't be perceived as a positive thing. I don't think there could be anyone who is happy to get terminal cancer or perhaps HIV and therefore, there is no good in it. People who suffer from diseases like the ones previously mentioned and survive usually feel situations like this made them stronger and better humans. But that does not mean that the value of cancer or HIV is a good one. As a Christian I can strongly assure I  could ever say the devil is neither good or bad simply because of my beliefs. And so in going through these thoughts made me realize that statement is most times irrelevant or wrongly applied. I am quite sure that in some cases it can be correctly utilized but by specifying that in this world there are things that are just bad and things that are just good, the statements loses credibility. So after more carefully analyzing this statement I began to wonder whether the medium is really what is more important and kind of found myself remembering the installation chapter where the context started to become the content. And it kind of does make sense. Just like in the installation chapter the way in which an art piece is presented affects the way we perceive it and therefore it is not only about the piece itself,  but also about the way it is presented. Same happens with this phrase: it is now not about the message, but instead about the medium a person chooses to deliver the message with, because in choosing it, the person knows the benefits, limitations and troubles of using that medium.

Here is a video of mad men where this phrase is used: