Minisode - The Medium is the Message

Written and Performed by Dan Olson

[mandarinduck]

I've just sat through the 10th Folding Ideas video and have come to realization that this is an educational lecture and am wondering why this is my entertainment now when I could not have cared less in high school.

[sameash]

Neil Postman once pointed out that the invention of the mechanical clock had defeated the all encompassing supremacy of god more than any enlightenment thinker, as the clock turned us from time keepers, to time savers, to time servants. The clock introduced a new reality of the world as a system of abstract mathematical units that one could observe from a distance, where entirely new manners of human thought were able to develop, as humans no longer had to rely entirely on the seasons, weather patterns, and the position of the sun itself to arrange their social and political institutions.

[ImJonnay]

This is especially true in software engineering. The medium (Programming Language) tends to shape how the code is written, and even how the developer writes code. "He thinks like a lisper.", "He codes like a rubyist", "He drools like a PHP dev".

Certain languages are well known to be ones that "forever change the way you look at or write code". How you solve a problem in Java is going to be a lot different from how it is solved in Scheme. Each language has certain core ideas and methodologies that are not as easily expressed, or even appropriate for other choices. The language choice has a lot of implications for stability, scaleability and maintainability amongst other 'ilities.

It's no wonder the old saw "If all you have is a hammer" gets a lot of traction amongst software developers.

Anyway, thanks for this one. It was particularly tasty!

[DungeonMasterpiece]

I've watched YouTube since high school when it first launched. This is, by far, still, my favorite video on the platform. And I watch it at least once a month to make sure I still understand it. I've read McLuhan's work, but nothing else distills his ideas so perfectly into five minutes.

[quiroz]

Take this idea to the most abstract point and you have "language as medium". And language shapes EVERYTHING. It allows us to think about the world in a complex way, it allows us to organize a society, it allows us to consider ourselves. Yeah, I know, this is old news and well known ideas, but I still wanted to comment becuase this video reminded me.

[JediBearBob]

"Tropes are tools" goes the TVTropes mantra.

The connection between "the medium is the message" (which is ultimately less than clear) and "when all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail." is brilliant.

The latter is a statement about how the lack of tools shapes our worldview. But our world is bursting with tropes, and each trope has many uses -- they're not merely hammers, but claw-hammer-screwdrivers and halberds. So how does the existence of a given trope shape our worldview, or does it merely give it room to expand?

[ravenofroses]

this video makes me happy. it't a much more clear explanation of this idea than most i've seen. for what little it means, i think you did a damn good job with this.

[johnclavis]

This was really well explained. Or maybe it wasn't, and I'm mistaken. It doesn't matter, I'm simply leaving a message to let YouTube know that I am an Engaged viewer. This message is the medium.

[andrerenault]

“Marshall McLuhan, casual viewin’, head buried in the sand”

[Ocrilat]

When I was first given a beeper for work, I remember how resentful I was that I could be (eventually) contacted at any time. Now I get anxious if I leave my cell phone in the kitchen.

[rebeccajohnson]

Honestly thank you so much! I watched so many youtube videos on this topic because I just couldn't wrap my head around it, but yours totally put it in perspective for me way more than any other video. Thanks! :)

[lankyjuggler]

Really, really good episode. I'll be thinking about it for a while, I think, as one of those slow-burn "oh, it's ALSO relevant here. huh"

[strizzyl]

Really thank you for demystifying this... By far the clearest interpretation i have ever i heard of this concept. I have gained a new tool of understanding Dan.

[jacksonoakley]

In addition to genres being mediums in and of themselves, I also think that non-genre mediums have an interesting effect on the development of new genres and meta-genres, and open up new methods of storytelling, particularly for those with limited access to the established methods. The popularity of MP3 players paved the way for podcasts, which in turn inspired pastiches of old-timey radio shows (Thrilling Adventure Hour) and community radio (Welcome to Night Vale). Adobe Flash offered a new way for animators to produce and distribute their content, which eventually became a separate genre of animation unto itself. Youtube's distribution model has led to the development of a whole range of new documentary genres, from Let's Plays to makeup tutorials.

I think one of the most interesting examples is found footage horror. The Blair Witch Project (not the first, I know, but the first to be so widely popular) was released at a time when VHS was still the most widely proliferated video recording technology, so the idea of these tapes being recorded and then found later carried a sense of verisimilitude unique to its time. Yet found footage horror remains a popular genre to this day, despite the fact that it's been slow to evolve with new recording technologies and new circumstances under which people record themselves--even Marble Hornets, which introduced serialized distribution through Youtube as a story element, still kept the tapes. Why is that? Is there something about the physicality of the tapes or the camera that makes the story work better despite their anachronistic nature? Is it possible to tell a horror story through a more contemporary documentary format like Let's Plays or vlogs?

[DANLESAC]

I'm a bit late to this video BUT I'm wondering how the medium (aka Spotify) affects music, with the thought that, as you don't get paid for a stream until someone hits the 30 second mark, does that change the way a musician approaches that first 30 seconds... do you draw out the intro to stealthly hold people there? Do you make that intro overly bombastic to grab? Or do you skip the intro altogether and get to the meat of the verse?

[Packbat]

Trying to see if I understand this:

- Tumblr's architecture enshrines reblogging as the primary form of interaction between posters. 'Likes' are severely broken, being attached primarily to original posts as opposed to specific replies to those posts, and therefore prone to collisions (I want to like this new reply, but I already liked a different reply to a different chain of replies in another thread so I can't); and private messaging only exist through fanmail (which keeps no records of sent messages and which can only be sent to people you follow), with the alternatives of replies (which are visible on the post they reply to and in the notifications of the poster, but nowhere else, and which offer no way to reply) and asks (which are built to be replied to via public posts) both equally unsuited to conversation. As a consequence of this, the only measure of success that exists for a post is its ability to be propagated sympathetically through the social network: a post fails which is not reblogged, and a post fails severely if its reblogs are predominantly accompanied by negative criticism of the original post. This has the negative effect of chain-letter type posts being disproportionately successful on Tumblr, but the positive effect of encouraging users to promote visibility of good content.

- Using your final example of genre as medium, I might say that superhero stories, by the nature of the genre, convey the message that dramatic, world-changing events happen through the action of people whose innate qualities grant them agency on this scale, and this agency will be exercised either towards a clear good or evil. This pattern can be subverted, e.g. in the ferry scene of _The Dark Knight_ (2008), but in the superhero normal _only_ superheroes and supervillains - people who, be they supernaturally powerful or not, do not and almost certainly cannot exist - can affect the course of events, and ordinary people are mostly powerless.

[neilsjmcmahon]

That, Sir, is one hell of a video. You brought it to life. Chapeau.

[zombielijah]

My art has always been, first and foremost- a simulator for all the things I wish I could be. It keeps my mind firmly grounded in my youth(staying curious of the world around me) while at the same time I become more and more knowledgeable and critical of the stories I play around with, and my medium of choice(Drawing). And with this knowledge I gain more respect for other mediums, and then I want to know how to use them to see my own from their perspective... nothing more than dabbling, but enough to respect the effort put into the product.

Over the past year or two the mediums I've been clinging to are Movies, and to a lesser extent Books, only because I am more familiar with film, having watched so many movies in my life already and become so critical that even my favorites end up under the knife for the sake of understanding what holds up, and why. This is all because I want to be able to make a compelling graphic novel that neither holds the readers hands(with familiarity in archetypes and and cliches moments), nor alienates the reader(with nonsensical characters, and hard to follow story)... I've been racking my brain trying to build this story/world, and every time I come across a channel on here where someone obviously has a great love and understanding for these mediums I tend to binge a little because I am so fascinated by what fascinates them/you(If more of my teachers in school liked their subject matter this much, I'd probably be a lot better off right now)..

I've been watching your channel for a couple months now and I find your videos immensely helpful. If this comment has found it's way to you(despite it being on an old video and you probably get a crap ton of messages a day) I just wanted you to know I really appreciate all the work you do, thank you.

[parikshithshashikumar]

Thank you very much for your videos. Your tone, insight and more over interest, singular and poignant prove to be most educating.

[NadiaAtmaji]

I think this is the most palpable content about Mc Luhan's "The Medium is the Message" theory that I have ever watched. Thank you!