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The Medium is the Massage
Submitted by rww on Tue, 2009-06-30 05:31
This is from a blog post by Ryan W. McMaken.
Here is an interesting observation from Marshall McLuhan in his book The Medium is the Massage (Note that it is “Massage” not “Message”)
“The poet, the artist, the sleuth - whoever sharpens our perception tends to be antisocial; rarely “well-adjusted,” he cannot go along with currents and trends. A strange bond often exists among antisocial types in their power to see environments as they really are. This need to interface, to confront environments with a certain antisocial power, is manifest in the famous story , “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” “Well-adjusted” courtiers, having vested interests, saw the emperor as beautifully appointed. The “antisocial” brat, unaccustomed to the old environment, clearly saw that the emperor “ain’t got nothin’ on” The new environment was clearly visible to him.”
In America today, the people who run just about everything are all exceptionally well-adjusted. They know that to question the conventional wisdom about anything might bring a label of “kook” or “crank,” so unusual propositions or unpopular ideas are steadfastly avoided. This is all thoroughly encouraged through media, but also especially through public education through which unusual ideas are both shunned and ridiculed.
Parents, of course, frightened of having unpopular or unusual children, encourage their children to be “well-adjusted,” and this is just one of the many ways we fail our children.
I thought this was an interesting post. Thanks to Mr McMaken and Mr McLuhan for their insight.
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Aunt Judy says:
Sounds like a good book. I like to think that most people will think for themselves (but that is not always the case). And I believe there are far more people than you think who question our politics, economic policies, religious/government separation, etc. And just because someone appears to be a 'kook' does not mean they are right. But I do agree a lot of people who tend to buck the system are seen as weird or waco. All the more the reason for them to really articulate their thoughts and not appear to rant and rave. People listen more intently to someone who expresses themselves in a rational manner. It is wonderful sometimes to look at things through a child's eyes. They are so pure and just not encumbered with 'baggage' the way adults are sometimes. We should cherish the moments when we see something in a different light. I have been amazed sometimes when with Erin to have her say something and I realize I just never thought of it that way. Seeing things through her eyes is a real delight. (And she is not a child anymore!) So, I agree, a lot of people seem to be kind of brainwashed from schools and the status quo....but I think you would be surprised how many people do question and have their own ideas of how things should be (in a better way). There has not been anything discussed between us that I have not thought of before. And questioned in my own mind. I tend to see the middle line more than the extremes. You need to be careful what you wish for! LOL I guess I am just rambling here. But, oh well......
christopher says:
I suppose you'd be hard pressed to find a person who admitted that they suffered from this "normal neurosis." We can agree that the phenomenon exists, but we'll never come to a consensus as to who these people are. We can point at them, but they'll point at us.
An added twist comes with the person who claims to have suffered from neurosis, but recovered. They will think that they can accurately point out the neurosis of their old club; but their former buddies will argue that they were sane to begin with, but took a turn for the worse.