Understanding Media
by Marshall McLuhan, Marshal McLuhan · first published 1964
42% recommend57% neutral1% critical
Why HN recommends it
Argues that the medium shapes society more than its content, treating technologies from roads to print to TV as extensions of human senses. Suits readers wanting a lens on technology's unintended effects.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
The author examines all types of communication including photographs, ads, games, television, radio, telephone, comics, numbers, money, clothing, movies, recordings, housing, and weapons.
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…zero incentives to engage in real discussions and deep thinking. I don't see this being addressed, let alone changed, no matter what the executives say. I recommend everyone to read Marshall McLuhan's Understanding Media. Despite being written in 1964 it presents a much more useful analytical framework to really understand social media than anything I've seen published in the last few years.
on “Bad News” ↗…turn causes cities and countries to develop in different ways. The telephone extends the voice, but also amputates the art of penmanship gained through regular correspondence. ways.” — Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man Love this quote, and many others by MM. Utterly blows my mind how we seem to be failing to apply and extend his teachings to help understand this modernity beta test we're participating…
on “Habitual GPS use negatively impacts spatial memory during self-guided navigation” ↗tl;dr it's not what your neon sign says, it's the fact that you have a neon sign. Good article, but in the case of Understanding Media it is very much worth the time and effort to read the original. I cannot praise it highly enough.
on “What is the Meaning of The Medium is the Message?” ↗Understanding Media by Marshall McLuhan Walden by Emerson Godel, Escher, Bach by Hofstadter
on “Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?” ↗…just as good. I get my community and communication through real-life personal interaction, mailing lists and Jabber. If you have time to read non-technical (or meta-technical) books, I highly recommend "Understanding Media" by Marshall McLuhan (who coined the term surfing) to get some perspective on electric media. In addition "Alone Together" by Sherry Turkle covers some of the peril of communicating in this fashion.
on “Tell HN: the best thing I did this year” ↗…order to shift their preferences is so obvious as to be trite. In fact, Chomsky's habit of doing this to his own readers is one reason that I dislike him so intensely. I suggest you try Marshall McLuhan's Understanding Media as a contrast to Chomsky's brand of polemic.
on “Tools To Help You Hide Online Raise The Ire Of Advertisers” ↗Have you read Marshall McLuhan's Understanding Media? Written in the 60s, explaining world phenomena from the perspective of "media" (which he uses to mean something very similar to "technology" - roads and the printing press both qualify) and accurately…
on “The most disruptive technology of the last century was home appliances” ↗Have you actually read Understanding Media? It's a slim book but it was a slow read for me because it was so densely packed with solid ideas. McLuhan was writing in the 1960s but he was envisioning something very like today's world.
on “How Marshall McLuhan Became a Famous Media Scholar” ↗Understanding Media - Marshall McLuhan The Book: on the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are - Alan Watts The Limits to Growth - Donella Meadows Ishmael - Daniel Quinn
on “Ask HN: What books fundamentally changed the way you think about the world?” ↗…useful thought. This is a really interesting category. Makes me think about other books I've read that are a bit like that. I'd probably put Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance in there. Maybe Understanding Media by Marshall McLuhan as well.
on “I put all my personal data on eBay” ↗Whenever I see someone saying something like "just a tool" with regard to technology, I always want to recommend a thorough read of Marshall McLuhan's "Understanding Media" ("The Medium is the Message" and other adages). I think you've got it precisely the wrong way round: it is not the morality of the times that is reflected by the use of technology, but morality that…
on “A Dark Consensus About Screens and Kids Begins to Emerge in Silicon Valley” ↗Dissenter in the thread here; rather than read Infinite Jest (which I've also not read, purely out of disinterest in doing so), I would kindly suggest that you read Marshall McLuhan's Understanding Media, the premise of which is that the premise of your post is flawed. And I really mean it; if you're the sort that has an interest in figuring out how things work, which is clearly the case here - you will…
on “I Trained My TikTok” ↗Marshall McLuhan's _Understanding Media: The Extensions Of Man_ continues to provide critical insight.
on “When the push button was new, people were freaked” ↗Understanding media, notably. See: "Understanding Media" by Marshall McLuhan.
on “The End of the English Major” ↗Go ahead and read Understanding Media while you're at it: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0262631598/ref=as_li_ss_tl?... ! Incredibly insightful book, totally transformed my understanding of the world.
on “Ask HN: Recommend biographies of lesser known fathers of science and technology?” ↗