28 Oct 2025
McLuhan called it in '64: We're the sex organs of the machine world 😝🤘
The statement "Humans are sex organs of the machine world" is a metaphor from communication theorist Marshall McLuhan, published in his 1964 book Understanding Media. It means that humans are the creative force that allows machines to procreate and evolve into new forms. Just as sex organs are essential for reproduction in biological organisms, humans are essential for the creation and evolution of new technologies.
Metaphor: The phrase is a metaphor that suggests human ingenuity and creativity are the "sex organs" of the machine world, enabling its continuous development and evolution.
Human role: It posits that humans are the "fecundators" or enablers of technological evolution, while the machine world, in turn, provides humans with wealth and expedites their desires.
Context: McLuhan developed this idea as part of his larger theory that technology acts as an extension of the human body and mind.
Application: The concept is used in various contexts, from philosophical discussions about technology to titles of books and music albums that explore the relationship between humans and AI.
#McLuhan #MachineWorld #HumanCreativity #UnderstandingMedia
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13 Jul 2024
"For the sensation of having the performing instruments "right in the room with you" is a striving toward the union of the audile & tactile in a finesse of fiddles that is in large degree the sculptural experience" Marshall McLuhan
#EverydayIsSpatial #UnderstandingMedia #Holst150
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30 May 2024
Mind Expanding Knowledge Nuggets At School Of The Creative Arts ⚡ #Artivism #UnderstandingMedia #Graffiti #Tattoos #UoG @uniofglos
29 May 2024
Arts courses open people’s minds and give them the skills they need to create. Too many have closed and are closing.
We urge all parties to value and defend them.
(6/6)
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15 Apr 2024
"Building a research community focused on what a good digital society should look like & how we get there" ESRC Digital Good Network
Thank you @dylanyamadarice @ellieracheldare @digitalgoodnet for upcycled #UnderstandingMedia #ScorchedEarth essential 📖 for latest R&D collabs ☯️
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11 Mar 2023
Nailed it NCERT.. If and when they revise textbooks, hope it would give similar progressive and critical thoughts to the learner.. This is Class 7, text book (Social and Political Life) #UnderstandingMedia
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28 Jan 2023
"The Metaverse is a fictional structure made out of code. And code is just a form of speech - the form that computers understand" @NealStephenson #SnowCrash
Know your ⚛️ #SciFi @GreatDismal @TheOrwellPrize @AldousHuxleyBot
#Futurism #VirtualWorlds #UnderstandingMedia #MetaHype
Who could have seen this coming?!
trib.al/pF065fM
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7 Dec 2022
I’ve found the majority of Marshall McLuhan’s #UnderstandingMedia (1964) difficult to understand or just frustratingly ponderous & poorly organized.
But every now & then it delivers a stunningly prescient bit of insight that looks like genius from today’s perspective (2nd para).
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27 Oct 2022
At the @BCG office in Paris I found this conference room. It’s an ode to your grandfather @amicusadastra! We should have you give a talk someday. I’m of course staying in the Claude Shannon room. @jimmyasoni you too! #amindatplay #understandingmedia
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21 Oct 2022
Students of Class VIII engaged in an art integrated activity to present their understanding about Journalism & Media amidst their peers.
#ArtIntegration
#Creativity
#Presentation
#UnderstandingMedia
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15 Aug 2022
#PoliticalCampaigns is my favorite class to teach. But #CommTheory and #UnderstandingMedia are fun, too. The class I'd LOVE to build and teach is #WomenAsPoliticalCommunicators.
#JustSayin'
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23 Apr 2022
“a world of inclusive gesture & dramatic posture” Marshall McLuhan #UnderstandingMedia
On this big #Bard day "All the worlds a stage" fantastic to see the amazing graphic novel art of @TuiLedua The Story Of #Girmit
@UNESCO #WorldBookDay #MemoryOfThe🌎 #Indenture #ShakespeareDay
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25 Mar 2021
Spannend, #SolidaritaetMitMerkel trendet nur, weil damit tausende Erklärbären entrüstet in ihren Tweets darlegen, wie doof sie finden, dass es trendet. 🤦♂️
#selffulfillingprophecy #understandingmedia #Blasenschwäche
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3 Sep 2020
Hello #llcu212f20! Make sure to go to our course on @edmodo and comment something about yourselves! #fall2020 #McGill #UnderstandingMedia
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8 Mar 2020
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7 Nov 2019
🎙️We just released a new episode of Standard Deviation! 📈 Check it out if you want to hear me being very hip and cool whilst soliloquizing about the intricacies of slang. 😎
#marshallmcluhan #understandingmedia #onfleek @peaches_monroee
7 Nov 2019
Ep62 is up!
"Podcast On Fleek"
#Memes #slang #MyersBriggs #MBTI #ASMR #truecrime @PenelopeTrunk #disassociation #podcast
directory.libsyn.com/episode…
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1 Oct 2019
This quote is so crucial @BrianRoemmele!
True story that the next book on my list was #UnderstandingMedia & I found a new copy a week ago neatly propped up on a ledge outside my local pub...
5 Sep 2019
Marshall McLuhan, 1968 on our information overload. We resort to pattern recognition.
Thus we seek out only patterns we recognize and—can label.
This is our moment in time.
This is now.
“When you give people too much information, they instantly resort to pattern recognition"
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30 Sep 2019
Get your #inspectioncopy of #VisualCommunication and explore a range of approaches for analyzing and #understandingmedia and mediated images - from branding and PR, to tweets and selfies ow.ly/jtSa50www1U @giorgishka @reticentK
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