To say that "the camera cannot lie" is merely to underline the multiple deceits that are now practised in its name.
Marshall McluhanRead
In Tetrad form, the artifact is seen to be not neutral or passive, bur an active logos or utterance of the human mind or body that transforms the user and his ground.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that technology and artifacts actively shape human experiences and perceptions rather than merely being tools.
Marshall McLuhan's quote emphasizes that artifacts, which can be understood as technologies or media, do not exist in a neutral state; instead, they influence and transform the behavior and thoughts of their users. By referring to the artifact as an 'active logos,' he highlights the dynamic interaction between humans and technology, showcasing how tools can alter both personal understanding and the broader context of society.
Themes
TechnologyTransformationArtifactsMindInteraction
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the impact of social media, this quote can illustrate how platforms shape user interactions.
More from Marshall Mcluhan
All quotes →A point of view can be a dangerous luxury when substituted for insight and understanding.
Marshall McluhanRead
In big industry new ideas are invited to rear their heads so they can be clobbered at once. The idea department of a big firm is a sort of lab for isolating dangerous viruses.
Marshall McluhanRead
The news automatically becomes the real world for the TV user and is not a substitute for reality, but is itself an immediate reality.
Marshall McluhanRead
Faced with information overload, we have no alternative but pattern-recognition.
Marshall McluhanRead
The poet, the artist, the sleuth, whoever sharpens our perception tends to antisocial; rarely 'well adjusted,' he cannot go along with currents and trends.
Marshall McluhanRead
Similar quotes
And so it is, that both the Devil and the angelic Spirit present us with objects of desire to awaken our power of choice.
RumiRead
I have great faith in optimism as a guiding principle, if only because it offers us the opportunity of creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Arthur C. ClarkeRead
I tell my children what I think myself: That religion is not necessarily convincing, but it is still interesting and not to be laughed at or denigrated.
Alain De BottonRead
I am a forest, and a night of dark trees: but he who is not afraid of my darkness, will find banks full of roses under my cypresses.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
Philosophy can't build bridges, but can encourage people to cross them.
Paulo CoelhoRead
The terror of the atom age is not the violence of the new power but the speed of man's adjustment to it, the speed of his acceptance.
E. B. WhiteRead