Media as an Extension of the Senses

Media moves beyond the technology of the machine and becomes an extension of our physical senses. People assimilate media into their lives to the point where they become wholly dependent upon it, and cannot remember how to function in situations where their media has been removed or is non-functional.

McLuhan compares media to an external central nervous system. Media works and provides our senses. Without it, we cannot fully function.

As an example of this externalizing of senses, McLuhan discusses the wheel as an extension of the foot.

On another level, this extension of the senses can be demonstrated in the case of an African who listens to English language radio broadcasts, even though he doesn't understand the language.

Tim Miller, Ellen Donaghy, Stan Sanders