Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980)

Ø The global village

Ø Media are “extensions of man”

s Our bodily capabilities are “mediated” by technology

s Mediation amounts to extending our bodies, e.g.,

- The automobile extends our capacity to walk

- Telephone extends our ability to have conversations

Ø The medium is the message

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

The language people use will influence how they think. The very structure of reality is presented to individuals through language. McLuhan generalizes from this.