Students Name
Institution of Affiliation
Course Title
Date
Media Ecology
Section A: Key names and terms
Symbolic environment – Socially-constructed, sensory world of meaning society that in turn shapes our perceptions, experiences, attitudes, and behavior
Marshall McLuhan – Canadian communications theorist and educator, whose aphorism “the medium is the message” summarized his view of the potent influence of television, computers, and other electronic
Media – A generic term for all human-invented technology that extend the range, speed, or channels of communication
Medium – This is a specific type of media: newspaper, television, book, Internet, radio, film
Media ecology – the study of how media and communication processes affect human perception, feeling, emotion, and value
Technology – Human inventions that enhances communication
Tribal age – age when oral tradition was embraced and hearing was the paramount sense
Literate age – age when written communication flourished and the eye became the dominant sense organ
Print age – age when gaining information through the printed word was customary, and seeing continued as the dominant sense
Electronic age – age in which electronic media pervades our senses, allowing for people across the world to be connected
Global village – the notion that humans can no longer live in isolation, but rather will always be connected by continuous and instantaneous electronic media
Digital age – A possible fifth era of specialized electronic tribes contentious over diverse beliefs and values.
Neil Postman – was an American author, educator, media theorist and cultural critic
Faustian bargain – A deal with the devil; selling your soul for temporary earthly gain.
Section B: Discuss the following questions
Discuss Marshall McLuhan’s different characteristics of “The medium is the message” concept.
McLuhan saw the message and medium as one and he same. We focus on content and overlook medium even though content does not exist outside of the way it is mediated. The different characteristics include:
Enhancement – media amplify or strengthen society
Obsolescence – media eventually render something out of date
retrieval – media restore something that was once lost
reversal – media will-when pushed to their limit-produce or become something else
Discuss Marshall McLuhan’s media analysis of human history
Human history divided into four periods or epochs:
Tribal age – acoustic era; a time of community because the ear is the dominant sense organ
Literate age – a visual era; a time of private detachment because the eye is the dominant sense organ
Print age – visual era; mass produced books usher in the industrial revolution and nationalism yet individuals are isolated
Electronic age – era of instant communication; a return to the global village with the all-at- once sound and touch
What does it feel like to be a cultural member – a minority member in a dominant culture? Even if you are generally a member of the dominant group, what situations have you encountered where you feel like an outsider?
Being a minority in a dominant culture means that your culture will be absorbed or assimilated by the dominant culture, influencing the minor culture to adopting the major culture. Mostly, being a minor culture to a dominant culture is kind of subjugation, making it hard for the minor culture to express itself. Situations that can make someone feel like an outsider even when they belong to the dominant culture is when a single member is dissolved in a minority culture, where they also become minors, making them feel out of place.
What are the benefits and drawbacks of assimilation? Accommodation? Separation? Which approach do you tend to gravitate toward?
Assimilation promotes interactions but on the other side leads to loss of culture. Accommodation retains the culture and increases diversity but on the other side, it reduces family traditions. Separation reduces family ties but also reduces absorption of new cultures thus retaining diversity. In my opinion, accommodation is the best as every culture can retain their cultures without being altered.
