Week 13 Marshall McLuhan film and 246-359

Although this film was really trippy and made me never want to read Poe's The Descent into the Maelstrom it did bring up some interesting points.
It helped me understand Marshall McLuhan's beliefs and teachings.
The 4 questions that reveal the future of technology that were addressed in the film particularly helped. At first no one believed McLuhan. (I'm not gonna lie, I was skeptical at first too.)
What will this thing enhance?
Something that made life bearable was enjoying our rich world. McLuhan studied the trivium: logic, rhetoric, and grammar. He originally trained himself as a grammarian which I never would have guessed but after hearing about his life and what he did it actually seems like a logical place to start.
What will this tool obsolesce?
What will it replace?
It was possible to create new worlds over night with electric lights. The electric world obsolesced the visual world. No more distinct dark and light. There were lights on even at night. People could go out at night, could stay out later.
One of McLuhan's main tenants was that media is an extension of the central nervous system. Understanding the media group helps you understand other disciplines because all technologies are language and technology is the center of everything. Technology gives you insight into all the languages and disciplines.
After McLuhan has an operation to remove a growth from his brain he lost 5 years worth of memory. He lost so many of his precious thoughts that had made him famous. This operation prompted him to study the hemispheres of the brain.
What will this tool retrieve from all the things you've lost?
What could McLuhan's brain retrieve from all the thoughts he'd lost? Could he get them back?
Speech retrieves old adventures and turns them into stories that are more linear and organized than the when the experience was lived. Could McLuhan get back his memories through speech? Ironically enough McLuhan's books became less and less coherent and he preferred to talk ideas out.
He was part of the "Best Club" at University of Toronto. While his fame was growing his amount of critics was growing too especially in the 70s. He became frustrated and felt like people weren't listening to him which they should have because now technology is taking over our lives and we're having trouble doing things like talking ideas out.
How will your tool reverse when it's pushed to its outer limit?
McLuhan's fame waned after he came up with the laws of media. Apparently his tool was his fame and it reversed to its outer limit. His center was closed and his papers, a tool that could have helped him retrieve his thoughts were thrown out.
At the end of the book McLuhan addresses radio, tv, and film.
McLuhan says that tv fails to tackle hot issues and calls it the "timid giant". Even though we're free from censorship. Is tv still a cool medium? HD TV, websites, blogs...etc. People can now participate directly in shows and vote for contestants. Consumers become producers.