Who are Innis & McLuhan???

Communications theorists Harold Adams Innis (1894-1952) and Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980) were two Canadians that first realized the impact media had on humanity and what it would imply in the near future. They were amongst the few that began and propelled communication studies. Innis's communications theories explore the role of media in the shaping of a culture and development of multiple civilizations such as Egyptian, Roman, and Greek. McLuhan’s theories, however similar, revolve around technological advancements in the media and how individuals are slowly losing their identity to mass society.

Harrold Innis divided time into the oral, literacy, and post literacy eras. The two first occurred simultaneously depending on the empire or civilization at hand that functioned and was determined ultimately by its preference in media.

According to Innis, there exists two types of communication media, space-binding and time-binding. “Any empire or society is generally concerned with duration over time and extension in space.” (http://www.media-studies.ca/articles/innis.htm) Space-binding type is ephemeral, for instance newspaper, books, or just plain paper. It needs to be transportable in order to spread its message but also does not withstand the test of time. For instance, the migration of papyrus scrolls transported and infused several cultures with knowledge that before would have been impossible. Ideas became transposable from one empire to another for conquest. An example of this phenomenon can be the “Pax Romana”, the peace of Rome. when this geographically small comune dominated not only its own territory but expanded its empire thanks to space-binding mediums such as paper. Rome was not essentially made up of the coliseum and pantheon, which were large-scale artifacts that defined the culture, but exportable ideologies as a result of this space-bound society.

             On the other hand, Time-binding media is long lasting and consists of elements of permanence such as clay, stone, and parchment. Societies that depend on this type of communication are oral and value tradition. Time-bound cultures don’t rely on written records. They choose to preserve their highly esteemed traditions in formats such as narratives, songs and myths handed down as unchanged as possible from one generation to the next. Memory is of crucial importance to them instead of the space-bound’s interest in control over space. An example of this sort of society would be Mesopotamia with their cuneiform writing on durable clay tablets. What was written down was built to last, it was information that was dear to society. It also desired to be ever-lasting and remaining in its purest form, an example would be the Babylonian’s “Hammurabi’s code”. In sum, material that emphasizes time favors decentralization and hierarchal types of institutions.

We now privilege internet, which is a combination of both space and time binding media over all other forms of communication in the western world. Innis had previously warned us that civilization is now endangered by advertising-driven media concerned only by "present-mindedness" that are fundamentally annihilating all permanent elements that are crucial to a culture.

No need for a military invasion.  A superior and more efficient invasion would be to break into the human psyche. Trade, whether it be fiscal or material, conquers markets all on its own. If you have the capability to seduce a foreigner to your own product, you do not have to invade physically. If you can just implant a thought, create a mere desire, you have successfully invaded mentally. Ultimately, the invasion of thoughts is more powerful and enduring spread of your culture, customs, and traditions. This is why value is based on shared illusions. People only place a certain value on a material object because they essentially agree upon it.

Tulipomania is a fine example of this phenomenon. This financial bubble collapse in the market during the Dutch Golden Age clearly demonstrates people’s ability to invest in illusions. Once the tulip was sought after and considered a luxury item, bulb prices sky rocketed. Those who wanted to purchase them would give ridiculous amounts of money to obtain something that really isn’t worth much, confirming Irish poet Oscar Wilde’s notion that “people know the price of everything but the value of nothing.”

Innis’ writings on “Monopolies of knowledge” state that literary man will always overrule in any society. Traditionally, those at the top of a hierarchal system monopolize certain information. He who inhabits the professional realm such as doctors, engineers, and lawyers will always have the ability to define reality. This communications theorist demonstrates that individuals or groups who control knowledge behold great power. To master in a complex field, means having the upper hand. In ancient Egypt, writing was the job of the Scribes who were regarded as a part of high class society. Also, Egyptian priests were capable of predicting the regular flooding of the Nile River because their knowledge of writing allowed them to make proper mathematical calculations. In the modern world, this theory still stands. Businessmen and those at the summit of the capitalist food chain will forever be one step ahead. In brief, monopolies of knowledge usually divide societies into two groups of “the ignorants” and “the knowledgeable elite”.

It is clear that with knowledge comes power and with power comes wealth. The bourgeoisie bask in luxury while the proletariat is left to become oppressed and financially destitute. Monopolizing knowledge itself can only create a massive gap between social statuses. Innis may have been influenced by one of the founding fathers of modern social science an political theorists. Him and Karl Marx (1818-1883) shared similar ideologies on class struggle that is evident through the publishing of the “Communist Manifesto” (1848), demanding that commoners “overthrow all existing social conditions” to rehabilitate a corrupt society (Fiero, p. 79).

Innis thereafter claimed, "We are perhaps too much a part of the civilization which followed the printing industry to be able to detect its characteristics." It is difficult for a group of people that belong to a certain generation or era to be self-conscious about the current development that is occurring around them. Despite this normal impediment and human flaw, Innis invites us to stop and think; to scrutinize as well as being critical.

            Marshall McLuhan, another communications theorist, conceptualized how the media is rapidly altering our western way of life and how it is potentially taking over us. In order to convey his discoveries, he broke down all communication mediums under two categories: hot and cool.  

A “hot medium” is one that demands little attention or degree of participation from the consumer. An example would be watching television. The viewer’s vision is only stimulated; therefore he/she is not fully engaged.

A “cool medium” on the contrary, such as a graphic novel or simply a book, is one that requires one to put in a high degree of effort to reap any sort of intellectual benefits from the provided text. This is primarily because they offer minimal visual detail.

“Cinema, radio, television, magazines are a school of inattention: people look without seeing, listen in without hearing”, once asserted Robert Bresson, a French film director. The reason for this is everyone’s desire to get information fast and efficiently through a “hot medium” with a minimum amount of attention. Now, people “have no time”, in comparison with the lifestyle only a couple decades ago when time was contemplative.

McLuhan’s next concept was that of the “Global village”. This is the notion where what once appeared unreachable is now easily accessible. The world has shrunk down to the size of a small town held together by what he refers to as “electronic interdependence”. The globe is now an intertwined web. In the “Global village”, the computer connects all of the world’s communities. Every bit of information becomes viral as well as trivial. The media system, according to McLuhan, has become a “continual sounding tribal drum” where with one bang the entire village is addressed and instantly informed. Individuals now feel the need to stay in constant consecutive contact with people that don’t hold much importance to their own personal lives. We have grown into a mindset where we want and need to know everything as soon as it happens.

McLuhan, in addition states that we are moving away from the “Print culture” and causing the "end of the book" by turning the Internet into the online Library of Babel. He believes that "there can only be disaster arising from unawareness of the causalities and effects inherent in our technologies", meaning that the human race is rapidly evolving without being self-reflexive. Much like Innis, McLuhan believed we welcome new technologies and do not think of the alternate effects they will have on society and better yet, humanity.

“The medium is the message” was McLuhan’s breakthrough discovery. He brought to light the fact that people weren’t interested in the content but mostly in the form of a message. The medium itself is therefore more important than the message that is carried.  This theory implies that each medium produces a different effect on the human sensorium, meaning that the same information can be transmitted under various formats to produce a different (usually desired) effect on a person.

In conclusion, the writings of Harold Innis and Marshall McLuhan reflect on the power of mediation. Their work is both logical and cohesive.  In this day and age it is essential for all individuals to be aware of what is shaping their world and more importantly their reality. It is imperative for one to be able to criticize information as well as the method in which that information is being conveyed to them. Humans are after all monopolizing knowledge in the animal kingdom; we are a higher status species only because we have the ability to be self-reflexive.