Sean Illing

So he says, 20th century man's relationship to the computer is not by nature very different from prehistoric man's relationship to his boat or to his wheel, with the important difference that all previous technologies or extensions of man were partial and fragmentary, whereas the electric is total and inclusive.

So he says, 20th century man's relationship to the computer is not by nature very different from prehistoric man's relationship to his boat or to his wheel, with the important difference that all previous technologies or extensions of man were partial and fragmentary, whereas the electric is total and inclusive.

I'm still working out what that means, but I think it's relevant to what you're saying. Tools like the wheel or the hammer are used instrumentally. Those are extensions of our feet and hands, extensions of our physical capabilities. But McLuhan insisted that electronic media is an extension of our nervous system. So our ability to experience what is happening isn't limited by our bodies.

I'm still working out what that means, but I think it's relevant to what you're saying. Tools like the wheel or the hammer are used instrumentally. Those are extensions of our feet and hands, extensions of our physical capabilities. But McLuhan insisted that electronic media is an extension of our nervous system. So our ability to experience what is happening isn't limited by our bodies.

We can know what's happening anywhere, everywhere, all the time. And I think his point was that our brains weren't equipped to deal with this much stimuli, this much information, and whatever cognitive tools we developed over time to deal with information, to organize our experience in the world, we're going to be totally overwhelmed by the electric revolution.

We can know what's happening anywhere, everywhere, all the time. And I think his point was that our brains weren't equipped to deal with this much stimuli, this much information, and whatever cognitive tools we developed over time to deal with information, to organize our experience in the world, we're going to be totally overwhelmed by the electric revolution.

And this is where you see the kind of Christian humanism bubbling beneath the surface with McLuhan that I find so fascinating. And he never quite says it, but I think he's kind of worried about our souls on some level. He's a very Catholic thinker, right? Yes. I think he was a convert to Catholicism. And if you think about the

And this is where you see the kind of Christian humanism bubbling beneath the surface with McLuhan that I find so fascinating. And he never quite says it, but I think he's kind of worried about our souls on some level. He's a very Catholic thinker, right? Yes. I think he was a convert to Catholicism. And if you think about the

global nervous system for a second, which is, I think, a really vivid way of thinking about the internet, it is so obvious that that's not good.

global nervous system for a second, which is, I think, a really vivid way of thinking about the internet, it is so obvious that that's not good.

If we are being confronted by the anxieties and the outrages everywhere all the time, and we can't do anything about it, and the algorithms are pushing all the terrible shit in front of our faces all the time, that breeds fatigue and cynicism and probably despair. And it's all so new, really. This is barely begun.

If we are being confronted by the anxieties and the outrages everywhere all the time, and we can't do anything about it, and the algorithms are pushing all the terrible shit in front of our faces all the time, that breeds fatigue and cynicism and probably despair. And it's all so new, really. This is barely begun.

There's not, I mean, I said this before, we don't even have a name for whatever this next era is going to be because we're still in this weird convergent space. But it is pummeling us from every direction. And things are changing so fast. I just don't think we can... There's enough time to gain our footing. And I think we will adjust, I hope, before we blow ourselves up. But this is still so new.

There's not, I mean, I said this before, we don't even have a name for whatever this next era is going to be because we're still in this weird convergent space. But it is pummeling us from every direction. And things are changing so fast. I just don't think we can... There's enough time to gain our footing. And I think we will adjust, I hope, before we blow ourselves up. But this is still so new.

It just feels like it's been around forever because it's so damn exhausting.

It just feels like it's been around forever because it's so damn exhausting.

Well, that's one thing about media technology today that is actually very different from the past. It evolves so much faster now. For most of human history, the world you died in looked a lot like the world you were born into. And that kind of stability puts culture on a solid footing. Now I don't even understand what my 13-year-old niece is doing on TikTok.

Well, that's one thing about media technology today that is actually very different from the past. It evolves so much faster now. For most of human history, the world you died in looked a lot like the world you were born into. And that kind of stability puts culture on a solid footing. Now I don't even understand what my 13-year-old niece is doing on TikTok.

You know, the pace of change is too fast for our institutions, too fast for our culture, and probably too fast for our minds to adjust. If the internet is as transformative a technology as a printing press, and I think it's certainly comparable, then it's going to take several decades to fully adjust to the changes it has wrought.

You know, the pace of change is too fast for our institutions, too fast for our culture, and probably too fast for our minds to adjust. If the internet is as transformative a technology as a printing press, and I think it's certainly comparable, then it's going to take several decades to fully adjust to the changes it has wrought.