Facebook Replaces the Car.

"Everything in life is somewhere else, and you get there in a car." E.B. White

     The great media critic Marshall McLuhan noted that in most of the world people go outside to be with other people, and they go inside to be by themselves. In America, however, they go outside to be by themselves, and they go inside to be with other people. This was an observation McLuhan made in reference to cars. Cars are tiny capsules that isolate us from other people as we go outside in order to get to the next place where we can be inside again with other people. Think of your morning commute, or your weekend trips to a friend's house.  Even if you do interact with other people on these commutes, you probably don't want to.

     Today, we can even avoid going outside at altogether. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. all allow us to be immediately transported from inside our house to some other place where we can be vicariously present with other people. In the mean time, the great outdoors is used as a backdrop where internet "influencers" take selfies to post on Instagram. More and more, the outdoors have become content for indoor consumption.

     McLuhan actually predicted that in terms of media, the car was going to be replaced by the TV. That might sound like an extremely odd thing to say. TV's and cars don't have anything in common. Cars are a mode of transportation, and they replaced the previous mode of transportation, namely the horse and buggy. Shouldn't the thing that replaces cars also be a mode of transportation?

     Ah, but you're not thinking about it the right way. That is only considering the car on the surface level. To consider the car on the level of media, we need to think about the relationship the car creates between us and the world. That relationship is one in which the outdoors is an enemy, and we are the rugged individualists who tame the outdoors in our gas powered capsules which simultaneously get us through the outdoors while shielding us from the outdoors. It's simultaneous traversing and avoiding.

     But today, we don't need that. According to McLuhan, you do not need to traverse the outdoors, because the TV allows the outdoors to be traversed through you. It fulfills the American need to experience the outdoors from inside. History Channel, Discovery Channel, National Geographic, plus a cadre of sporting channels.

     But if this is what TV does to us, what about social media? Now we don't even need to traverse the outdoors to get to another person's indoors. Instant Messaging, Facebook, video calling. These are all fundamentally altering not merely how we move throughout the world, or the methods of communication we employ. Far more than that, these media fundamentally alter how we perceive the world.

     So, amidst this era of social distancing, I am curious how our relationship with technology will pan out. Will people embrace online lifestyles mores (like blogging for instance)? Or will there be a newfound love for the car as people go back to living "normal" lives where we can freely drive wherever we want (made even more possible thanks to an oil feud between Saudi Arabia and Russia). Or maybe Americans will discover a way of being with other people outside? To be honest, I don't know, but it's food for thought.

     For a good lecture by Marshall McLuhan where he talks about this topic, check out this link. In the second half of this lecture is where he gets into this particular topic, though the whole lecture is interesting. This is not an endorsement of all McLuhan's views. Some of his ideas are far out. But he's a fascinating thinker.

     Peace!

Keeping myself sane in social distancing

     Week 2 of social distancing is over with, and my sleep schedule is shot. I literally took a 1:00 AM walk last night because I couldn't sleep. Finally went to sleep at 2:00 AM. I have played more video games that I care to admit. (Also if anyone knows how I can set up a sheep farm in Minecraft where the sheep don't keep dying on me, please let me know how. The cattle ranch is doing great!) I have memorized a couple guitar pieces, which I intend to share when I can. But in general, I'm at my wit's end.

     I would like to think that I am setting up a blog to keep myself accountable during these times of uncertainty, but nope. Accountability is out the window. The last thing I need is another thing to feel guilty about. This is all about me posting whatever I feel like, whenever I feel like, just to past the time, share insights, and keep myself sane. As the quarantine drags on, and my posts gradually become more incoherent, this blog might also be helpful to future mental health professionals to study the effects of social isolation.

     (OK, seriously, I have twice tried to start a sheep farm. The first time they were inside a fence, and when I went to check on them, there was nothing but wool and mutton. The next time I put them on an island, and when I went to check, somehow a wolf got on the island and all but one of my sheep was deceased. What am I doing wrong? I swear, I only play this game so I can talk about it with my kids.)

     As we enter the third of what very well could be many more weeks of social isolation, I want to raise a mug of coffee to all the medical professionals hard at work, and all the grocery store clerks and other essential employees who deserve to get hazard pay for working through all this. I will drink to that.

     I have every intention for my posts to be completely random. If you don't like a topic I have chosen for any particular post, don't read it. If you like the topic, then read it if you have time (and you and I both know that you have plenty of time). On a second though, if you don't like a topic, read it anyway. You've got nothing better to do. I'll keep em short and controversial to provide optimal blood pressure increases while still fitting within the attention span of the modern technology addict.

     Stay well, my friends.