In this paper I will explain what the Mcluhanism, "Mediums are an extension of man", means to me and how this theory may be applied or explained in a contemporary world. Mchluhan explains that with the arrival of electric technology (medium), man extended or set outside himself. To me this means that with the arrival of advanced mediums, man has become to rely less upon his own knowledge and has become more dependent upon technology for the lack of knowledge in any certain area. In my understanding, it's as if man has in essence amputated parts of his body and replaced it with a medium (technology). For example the medium of the automobile, man has in essence amputated his legs and replaced them with an automobile. This is how a medium is an extension of man. Another example may be when print became available people began to use less of their memory and more of print. So in essence man amputated his memory and replaced it with print. When speaking of a medium as an extension of man, one must recognize that with the idea of amputation, numbness and unconsciousness comes into play whereas; if you use an automobile for a long period of time your legs may become numb or impervious to walking distances. Whereas in essence you do not know that your legs may be weak from frequently using an automobile until you walk somewhere, and this is where the state of unconsciousness comes into play. Also, when print was invented it was proven that man became numb to the idea of print and unconsciously stopped using his memory. Man did not know that his memory was not as good as it used to be until he could not remember certain instances. These two examples are ways that mediums are extensions of man and how the Mcluhanism can be explained in a contemporary world. .
Another Mcluhanism that may be intertwined with the previous is "As people become more and more involved they become to know less." This can be relayed, in which, when people become specialized in a specific area they begin to know less about vast areas.
