Book Review: UNDERSTANDING MEDIA: THE EXTENSIONS OF MAN by Marshall McLuhan

This may be one of the most important books you'll ever read on paper, read from a screen, or listen to

Book Review: UNDERSTANDING MEDIA: THE EXTENSIONS OF MAN (1962) by Marshall McLuhan

Once there was an obscure Canadian literature professor named Marshall McLuhan, who became interested in media as such. Especially print media — but also other media forms, and their effects on our senses and thinking. He wrote several books on this subject, one of them UNDERSTANDING MEDIA. (The title is self-explanatory.)

Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980)

McLuhan’s insights into the effects of media can be summed up in his slogan “The Medium is the Message.” It has often been misunderstood, and in his day McLuhan was misinterpreted as a “cheerleader” for new media such as TV. He tried to make people aware of the effects of television as such, while most critics focused on the content (i.e. the programming).

But he did so with a cheerful face — and he didn’t judge, berate or hector. McLuhan is a witty, “cool” stylist, fond of puns and wordplay.

McLuhan defined “media” as extensions of the human body and our sensory apparatus. (A wheel extends the foot. A hammer extends the arm, a telescope extends our sight, etc.)

His greatest insight was that these effects of a medium as such are stronger than its “content.” You think the images on the screen affects you, but that’s secondary; the screen itself has a greater shaping effect.

(We can still see today how people think the most influential thing about the Internet is its content — say, a social media platform — and not the Internet itself, or the devices we use it with.)

In each chapter of UNDERSTANDING MEDIA, McLuhan probes the sensory and mental effects of a particular medium — print, TV, radio, as you might expect. But he also examines forms we may not usually think of as “media”, such as clothing or technology. (McLuhan thought of “media” and “tools” as essentially the same category.)

So what’s the point of understanding the effects of media (such as the one you’re using to read these words right now)? For one thing, it’s a “media savvy” that you need in order not to get unconsciously manipulated by how media play on your senses.

I could mention countless examples — but here’s just one:

A few years back there was a media-induced moral panic over something dubbed “The MAGA Hat Kid.” A teenager — so went the story — had supposedly been disrespectful to a group of Native Americans. A lot of self-righteous indignation was whipped up … but it quickly dissipated, when it turned out the “offending” images had been edited out of context, and then rapidly distributed on social media.

Remove the media from this controversy, and it never would have happened. In order for it to “happen”, the following media needed to work together on our senses:

- Photography: Still pictures, where the framing determines what’s there and what’s not (set the edges of the picture in another way, and you get another story);

- Internet: The global computer network that turns the Earth into a single “global village” where everyone can see a single image at the same time;

- Social media: The media systems that are designed to be Gossip Central, and can create a sense of participation in distant events.

A bit of “media savvy”, a mental preparedness, might help you avoid being buffeted around by their effects. This savvy can also make you more aware of how media are influencing our daily lives, and our thinking (in ways good and bad).

UNDERSTANDING MEDIA should be part of the curriculum of every school. Read it as an introduction into living in our media-satured world.


Other notable works by McLuhan:
- War And Peace in the Global Village
- The Gutenberg Galaxy
- The Medium is the Massage

FOOTNOTE: You can listen to an LP edition of McLuhan’s book THE MEDIUM IS THE MASSAGE (1967) on YouTube.
Search for “medium is the massage audiobook” or use these links:
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