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Laura Krasovska
Tallinn University Baltic Film and Media School
Media Culture and Criticism
17.10.2006.

Marshall McLuhan: The Extensions of Man

In his works, Marshall McLuhan outlined his vision of the changes that were

occurring as a result of the extension of different media. He proclaimed that “new

forms of media transform our experience of ourselves and our society, and this

influence is ultimately more important than the content that is transmitted in its

specific messages.” (Mass Communication Theory) More over, McLuhan coined a

number of terms and different phrases to support his main argument “The Medium is

The Message”. These terms and phrases have become a crucial part of the common

vocabulary nowadays in order to dispute about the media and the society. One of such

microscopic issues, with the impact of the media on our senses is the notion of the

extensions of man. McLuhan suggested that “The use of any kind of medium or

extension of man alters the patterns of interdependence among people, as it alters the

ratios among our senses.” (Understanding Media) In other words, all technologies are

extensions of our powers and capabilities. Our technologies are means of enhancing

or amplifying a particular function that has use to us - whether for good or for bad

(extensions and amputations).

An extension occurs when an individual or society makes or uses something in

a way that extends the range of the human body and mind in a way that is new. A

knife might be an extension of the hand. The automobile then can be an extension of

the feet because it allows man to travel almost everywhere in the same way as the

feet, only this kind of traveling is faster and includes more comfort. In addition, this

extension allows traveling in different weather conditions. People are “constructed” in

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a way that they will do a great deal to ensure that after a hard work they will be able

to reap the fruits of their work. This might be one of the driving forces for new media

developments. Therefore, according to McLuhan, the totality of all our powers

becomes a combination of all our senses and their extensions together. This helps

people to get a line of different issues. In this sense, electronic media open up new

landscapes and enable people to be interconnected. To continue, electronic

communication is an extension of our nervous system, just as computers are

extensions of our brains. Writing is an extension of speech and of memory. The use of

the phone makes previous ways of communications, such as letters, smoking signals

and pigeons, obsolete. The new world opens for everyone taking part into media

developments. The extensions save time. To sum up, it seems that these extensions

enable people to get instant access to different information and other media products

through time and space and have only a positive effect.

On the other hand, there are drawbacks of the concept of extensions as well.

With every improvement in a particular medium or technology, the previous level of it

is more likely to be whether forgotten or unutilized. It is suggested that once

extended, these technologies are “amputated.” Every extension of mankind, especially

technological extensions, have the effect of amputating or modifying some other

extension. An example of an amputation could be already mentioned automobile.

People are so excited about the invention and use it more often and they do not want

to be reminded of its drawback, such as air pollution. This extension amputates the

wish to walk on foot. In the context of media, for example, the use of telephone might

be considered as the extension of the voice, but it amputates the option of face-to face

discussions. There is no innovation that people have this need of togetherness and

community. If one looks at the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, it is clear that the needs
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of self actualization, esteem and belonging are the ones associated with the

psychological issues. Television culture amputates, many of the close ties of family

life based on oral communication that is a part of this psychological need. When the

television is turned on, everyone watches it. In order to hear and understand the

content of it, nobody speaks and there is a relative silence in “this side of the

television set.” To overlook a printed medium, alphabetic writing is so efficient in

encoding speech that readers of it become dependent on the eye; the resources of the

ear, and therefore of the memory, are reduced. Such examples of an extension having

the effect of amputating some other extension can be found a long time ago discussed

in Plato’s dialog “Phaedrus”. As the main speaker of Plato’s dialogs, Socrates “tells a

story about the invention of arts and technologies, including writing. In the story

Egyptian King Ammon disputes the claim made by a god named Theuth that, writing

‘is a branch of learning that will make the people of Egypt wiser and improve their

memories.’”(Wikispaces) According to Socrates’ story, Ammon said that

if men learn this, it will implant forgetfulness in their souls; they will cease

to exercise memory because they rely on that which is written, calling

things to remembrance no longer from within themselves, but by means of

external marks. What you have discovered is a recipe not for memory, but

for reminder. And it is no true wisdom that you offer your disciples, but

only its semblance, for by telling them of many things without teaching

them you will make them seem to know much, while for the most part they

know nothing, and as men filled, not with wisdom, but with the conceit of

wisdom, they will be a burden to their fellows. (Wikispaces)

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To conclude, it is worth mentioning that the subject that took most of

McLuhan's career was the task of understanding the effects of technology, as it was

related to the culture of media, and how this affected human beings and their relations

with one another in communities. A number of statements supporting the idea of “The

Medium is The Message” have been issued. In analyzing the concept of the

extensions of man, one must look critically at the positive as well as the negative side

of it. The extensions of man have the positive shape in terms of the new, developed

possibilities they might provide. They are like peripheral extremities for a human

being to manage more in nowadays life, when time is money. On the other hand,

every extension of mankind, especially technological extensions, have the effect of

amputating or modifying some other extension, which can cause the lack of

responsibility towards other vital questions of everyday life, such as relationship

between people in real life.

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Works Cited

Davis, Dennis K.,Ph.D., Stanely J. Baran, Ph.D. Mass Communication Theory , Third

Edition, USA: Thomson Wadsworth

McLuhan, Marshall “Understanding Media – Roads and Paper Routes”, Media

Culture and Criticism by Dr. James Thurlow, fall 2006.

Wikispaces. 15.10.2006. < http://pratonarrative.wikispaces.com/phaedrus>