Man the tool-making animal, whether in speech or in writing or in radio, has long been engaged in extending one or another of his sense organs in such a manner as to disturb all of his other senses and faculties. (1962)
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Tools extend senses but disrupt overall balance.
- In plain terms
- New devices change how we perceive reality.
- What can you take from it?
- Balance new tools with sensory awareness.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What sense is most affected by your screen?
Another view
Some disruption drives necessary innovation.
More from Marshall McLuhan
With the return to simultaneity we enter the tribal and acoustic world once more. Globally. (1956)
Permalink to quote #51 Any technology tends to create a new human environment... Technological environments are not merely passive containers of people but are active processes that …
Permalink to quote #53 The perfection of the means of communication has given [the] average power complex of the human being an enormous extension of expression. (1953)
Permalink to quote #50
Related quotes
We become what we behold. We shape our tools and then our tools shape us (1964)
Marshall McLuhanMarshall McLuhan quote #58 Up to the twentieth century, 'reality' was everything humans could touch, smell, see, and hear. Since the initial publication of the chart of the electromagnet…
Buckminster FullerBuckminster Fuller quote #98 La peinture est le plus beau de tous les arts; en lui se resument toutes les sensations, a son aspect chacun peut, au gre de son imagination, creer le roman, d…
Paul GauguinPaul Gauguin quote #1