McLuhan and Media Ecology

You might well ask what hydrogen and oxygen contribute to the existence of water. Without those elements, there would be no water. Of course, other factors are necessary. Hydrogen and oxygen on their own, in a vacuum, are not sufficient to create water. They are profoundly necessary, but not sufficient. Which describes McLuhan’s contribution to Media Ecology to a tee. Without his work in the 1950s and ’60s, there would be no field of study that sought to explain how the nuances and great sweeps of human history are made possible by media of communication—how media determine the thoughts and actions of people and society, in a “soft ” way. Like how the elevator makes the skyscraper possible. Necessary to the very idea of a tall building (living and working on the top floors is impossible without a means of conveyance) but not sufficient (construction of a skyscraper requires certain engineering skills). McLuhan got us to the top floors of communications and taught us about the pervasively “soft ” influence of media in all aspects of life. We might say that media are to human society as McLuhan is to Media Ecology. Come to think of it, McLuhan also taught us about the value of analogy in the investigation o