Creativity and Making: Massage

So far, this has been one of the most interesting pieces we’ve had to discuss. One of the things I can relate to the most is how media has changed the world. Even though Marshall McLuhan wrote this book in 1967, I believe his ideas are even more present today. Because of social media, this medium changed many perceptions about different topics. An example of this is body image. Unfortunately, social media has changed the image of the “ideal body”. Nowadays, the major change society has experienced is how we communicate. A while ago, international students like me would have a rough time since the only way they could talk with their families would be through letters. Today, I’m blessed to be able to video chat with my mom every day. Just as McLuhan mentioned, societies have been shaped more by the way we communicate rather than what we are communicating about. Furthermore, I can relate to how he expresses that the alphabet is something you learn unconsciously. Who even decided that two parallel straight lines with a line across would be the letter “H”, and also the sound or meaning it entails.

Something I found interesting was how when he wrote this book and sent it to the printing press the title had a mistake. It said “Massage” instead of “Message”. I actually do understand why he decided to keep it, as it portrays exactly what he was talking about the printing press affecting society. I also believe that the tapes have a better effect of portraying this sense that the medium is the message just because we’re hearing many different things at the same time. For instance, while McLuhan is talking about printing, you can hear other noises or other people talking.

In addition, I also liked how he mentioned “authorship”. Indeed, printing did take away the anonymity of art. In past times, people didn’t focus about making sure their work was copyrighted. People simply thought about creating art as a way to express themselves. However, nowadays people focus so much on their authorship and they want to gain recognition of their art. I feel that everything has changed, and so has the meaning of art.

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