Week 1 Lecture Response: Origins of Technology

In the first lecture, Professor Stockwell talked about the origins of technology and the role it plays in today’s society.  First comes first, what exactly is technology?  According to Dictionary.com, technology is the making, modification, usage and knowledge of tools, machines, systems and methods of organization in order to solve a problem, improve a preexisting solution to a problem or perform a specific function.  In more simplistic terms, however, technology is the study of mechanical arts and their application to the world. 

Marshall McLuhan, whose academic works are viewed as a cornerstone of the study of media theory, states that technologies are merely extensions of the human body.  Whereas a tool is the extension of the hand, a wheel is the extension of the leg, and a book is an extension of the eye.  This is a very interesting way of theorizing about how technologies originated.  By extensions of the human body, I believe McLuhan means extensions of parts of the body that are used for acting on or protecting oneself from the environment or regulating bodily functions.  These basic types of extensions of the body, McLuhan claims, were introduced during the mechanical age.  Weapons such as bows, spears and knives are viewed as extensions of hands, nails, and teeth during this time period. 

The senses, however, are the central nervous system, and, according to McLuhan, are higher cognitive functions that aren’t defined as parts of the body.  McLuhan analyzed media as extensions of the senses, particularly those of sight and sound. With that being said, the radio and telephone function as long-distance ears, and visual media, including writing and print, are extensions of the visual function. 

Even more interestingly, electric media are analyzed as extension of the information processing functions of the central nervous system. This means that electric media take over functions of information management, storage and retrieval normally performed by the central nervous system.  Ultimately, McLuhan envisioned an era in which human intelligence and creativity would be automated and translated into information functions performed by machines, and based off of the way our society utilizes technology today, McLuhan’s theory was correct.

"Marshall McLuhan." Historica-Dominion Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 July 2012. <https://www.historica-dominion.ca/content/heritage-minutes/marshall-mcluhan>.