[Script Info] Title: [Events] Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.17,0:00:21.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Intro jingle) Dialogue: 0,0:00:21.02,0:00:22.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm Paul Levinson Dialogue: 0,0:00:22.60,0:00:28.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and welcome to Light On Light Through,\Nepisode 93: Dialogue: 0,0:00:28.79,0:00:32.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Selfie and Marshall McLuhan. Dialogue: 0,0:00:33.53,0:00:43.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, you might ask how and what did\NMarshall McLuhan, who left this earth in 1980, Dialogue: 0,0:00:44.85,0:00:47.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what did he have to say about the selfie, Dialogue: 0,0:00:47.95,0:00:52.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which of course didn't even exist until \Njust a few years ago. Dialogue: 0,0:00:54.16,0:00:57.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The answer, I think, is very interesting. Dialogue: 0,0:00:57.19,0:01:01.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One of the real joys about \Nunderstanding McLuhan Dialogue: 0,0:01:02.17,0:01:07.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is how what he wrote in the 50's, \Nthe 60's and the 1970's Dialogue: 0,0:01:08.72,0:01:11.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so accurately predicted Dialogue: 0,0:01:12.50,0:01:17.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what our communications and media\Nare doing today. Dialogue: 0,0:01:18.38,0:01:26.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And even better than that in some ways,\Nis the way that some people who have read McLuhan Dialogue: 0,0:01:27.05,0:01:35.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,compound insights, just in their everyday lives,\Nwhen they realize that hey, this is something Dialogue: 0,0:01:35.46,0:01:40.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that McLuhan might have actually been\Ntalking about, Dialogue: 0,0:01:40.19,0:01:48.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and something that McLuhan's ideas\Ncan help us understand and explain Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.64,0:01:53.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in hopefully a unique and valuable way. Dialogue: 0,0:01:54.33,0:01:58.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, here is one of my favorite examples: Dialogue: 0,0:01:58.42,0:02:04.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a true story, something that happened \Nto me about 5 or 6 months ago. Dialogue: 0,0:02:04.74,0:02:06.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I actually wrote a blog post about it. Dialogue: 0,0:02:06.84,0:02:12.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now I'm finally getting around to doing \Na podcast episode about this. Dialogue: 0,0:02:13.85,0:02:19.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I posted a photo on Twitter, \Nof Marshall McLuhan, Dialogue: 0,0:02:19.60,0:02:27.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,his son Eric McLuhan and me\Nthat was taken in the late 1970's, Dialogue: 0,0:02:27.45,0:02:32.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when I had organized a conference\Nat Fairleigh Dickinson University, Dialogue: 0,0:02:32.48,0:02:37.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which is where I was teaching then:\Nit's in Teaneck, New Jersey. Dialogue: 0,0:02:37.76,0:02:43.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The conference was about the Tetrad\Nor the Laws of the Media. Dialogue: 0,0:02:44.38,0:02:47.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, I'll get back to that in a moment. Dialogue: 0,0:02:48.30,0:02:52.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But one of the first people \Nto comment on the photo Dialogue: 0,0:02:53.10,0:02:58.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was a current media theorist,\Nby the name of Ian Bogost, Dialogue: 0,0:02:58.72,0:03:02.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who said: 'Where is the fourth?' Dialogue: 0,0:03:03.50,0:03:08.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, in order to understand why\NIan asked that question, Dialogue: 0,0:03:08.56,0:03:15.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,now, I'll explain to you what the Tetrad or\NLaws of the Media are all about. Dialogue: 0,0:03:15.73,0:03:20.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And they go back to the mid to late 1970s Dialogue: 0,0:03:20.86,0:03:27.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when Marshall McLuhan began publishing\Nsome short articles and talking about Dialogue: 0,0:03:27.50,0:03:32.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what he was terming 'the laws of the media',\Nor 'laws of media'. Dialogue: 0,0:03:33.36,0:03:38.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And in fact, there were four laws:\Nhence the word 'tetrad' Dialogue: 0,0:03:38.42,0:03:46.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which is a way of saying 'four';\Na triad is three, a tetrad is four. Dialogue: 0,0:03:47.76,0:03:51.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And to give you an example, \Nyou could do a tetrad Dialogue: 0,0:03:51.60,0:04:00.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or apply McLuhan's Laws of Media to radio \Nand its impact, and how people used it. Dialogue: 0,0:04:01.33,0:04:08.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And you can begin by looking at the first \Nconsequence or effect of radio. Dialogue: 0,0:04:09.40,0:04:14.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,McLuhan called this first law, \Nthis first law of the Tetrad, Dialogue: 0,0:04:14.69,0:04:18.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,enhancement or amplification. Dialogue: 0,0:04:18.94,0:04:25.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And what the radio clearly does is\Nit amplifies or enhances Dialogue: 0,0:04:26.58,0:04:34.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,instant verbal, acoustic communication\Nacross long distances. Dialogue: 0,0:04:35.62,0:04:41.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The second law has to do with what\Nthe new technology or media replaces Dialogue: 0,0:04:41.16,0:04:44.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and McLuhan called this obsolescence. Dialogue: 0,0:04:45.09,0:04:50.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, you can clearly see that one of the \Nthings that radio obsolesced Dialogue: 0,0:04:50.92,0:04:57.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was the printed word, in a variety of ways: \Nsay, newspapers. Dialogue: 0,0:04:57.62,0:05:01.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They used to be the only way \Nthat people received news. Dialogue: 0,0:05:02.14,0:05:08.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Once radio came along, in the 1920's\Nand really began expanding in the 1930's, Dialogue: 0,0:05:09.05,0:05:14.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,people increasingly began to get \Ntheir news, not just from newspapers, Dialogue: 0,0:05:14.82,0:05:16.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but from radio reports. Dialogue: 0,0:05:17.55,0:05:21.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Or consider something \Nlike a sporting event. Dialogue: 0,0:05:22.12,0:05:26.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's something where,\Nup until the introduction of radio, Dialogue: 0,0:05:26.71,0:05:32.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,people had to read about what their favorite \Nteams did, in the newspaper: Dialogue: 0,0:05:33.54,0:05:36.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,either later in the day, or the next day. Dialogue: 0,0:05:37.04,0:05:42.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But what radio did is, \Nit also allowed people to listen to games Dialogue: 0,0:05:42.72,0:05:47.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as they were actually occurring, \Nin real time. Dialogue: 0,0:05:48.69,0:05:53.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The third law, or third part of the tetrad, \Ngets even more interesting, Dialogue: 0,0:05:53.10,0:05:57.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because McLuhan said that \Nevery new medium or technology Dialogue: 0,0:05:57.90,0:06:00.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,first of all enhances something, Dialogue: 0,0:06:00.43,0:06:05.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,second of all obsolesces \Nor eclipses something, something else, Dialogue: 0,0:06:06.12,0:06:11.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and third of all, retrieves \Nsome kind of communication Dialogue: 0,0:06:11.29,0:06:15.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which itself had been previously obsolesced. Dialogue: 0,0:06:15.68,0:06:23.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so, again clearly, what radio does is\Nit retrieves the spoken word. Dialogue: 0,0:06:23.62,0:06:26.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now the spoken word, \Nof course, never disappeared. Dialogue: 0,0:06:26.70,0:06:31.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So it's not as if this retrieval was \Ndigging something up Dialogue: 0,0:06:31.86,0:06:33.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which had been out of use. Dialogue: 0,0:06:33.49,0:06:38.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The spoken word continued to be important,\Nand continues to be important right now. Dialogue: 0,0:06:38.74,0:06:41.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's the way it has been \Nthroughout human history. Dialogue: 0,0:06:41.60,0:06:46.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But there's also no doubt that \Nwhat the written word did Dialogue: 0,0:06:46.72,0:06:54.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is, to some extent in some cases,\Ntake emphasis away from the spoken word. Dialogue: 0,0:06:54.61,0:06:59.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For example, once upon a time, \Nthe spoken word was Dialogue: 0,0:06:59.32,0:07:05.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a more important commitment, \Nin a contractual, legal sense, Dialogue: 0,0:07:05.51,0:07:07.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,than the written word. Dialogue: 0,0:07:07.78,0:07:11.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But after the printing press, \Nfor a variety of reasons, Dialogue: 0,0:07:11.88,0:07:18.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the written word became legally much more \Nbinding than the spoken word. Dialogue: 0,0:07:19.23,0:07:24.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So radio obviously retrieves \Nthe spoken word. Dialogue: 0,0:07:24.90,0:07:30.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, in some ways, \Nthe fourth law of the Tetrad, Dialogue: 0,0:07:30.27,0:07:35.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or the fourth law in MacLuhan's \NLaws of Media Dialogue: 0,0:07:35.09,0:07:38.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think is probably \Nthe most interesting and fascinating, Dialogue: 0,0:07:38.97,0:07:45.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because McLuhan said that eventually, \Nwhen a medium is pushed to its limits, Dialogue: 0,0:07:46.64,0:07:51.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,meaning that it can't do any more \Nas that media, Dialogue: 0,0:07:52.59,0:07:58.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at that point, \Nit flips into something else. Dialogue: 0,0:07:59.06,0:08:01.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And again, \Nif you look at the history of radio, Dialogue: 0,0:08:01.44,0:08:04.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what happened with radio eventually? Dialogue: 0,0:08:04.61,0:08:09.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, by the end of the 1940's, \Nradio flipped into television, Dialogue: 0,0:08:10.09,0:08:12.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which has a lot of similarities to radio: Dialogue: 0,0:08:12.43,0:08:14.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's broadcast, it could be live, Dialogue: 0,0:08:16.22,0:08:21.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but it's very different from radio, \Nbecause you have a visual component. Dialogue: 0,0:08:21.52,0:08:28.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And in a way, what television does is, \Nit retrieves the visual component Dialogue: 0,0:08:28.76,0:08:32.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that radio had formerly obsolesced. Dialogue: 0,0:08:32.77,0:08:35.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, one of the nice things of the Tetrad \Nis, you can apply it Dialogue: 0,0:08:35.93,0:08:40.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to many different threads \Nof media evolution. Dialogue: 0,0:08:40.50,0:08:45.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And that's something that I've been doing \Never since I first wrote the preface Dialogue: 0,0:08:45.59,0:08:49.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to the publication of \NMcLuhan's 'Laws of the Media' Dialogue: 0,0:08:49.99,0:08:54.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,back in 1977, in Etcetera magazine, Dialogue: 0,0:08:54.51,0:08:59.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I did that when I was actually \Na Ph.D. student at New York University. Dialogue: 0,0:09:00.41,0:09:03.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But one of the things that \Ndidn't exist back then Dialogue: 0,0:09:03.86,0:09:07.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was what you're listening to right now:\Nthe podcast. Dialogue: 0,0:09:08.24,0:09:12.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so, one of the things that radio \Nverses into is the podcast. Dialogue: 0,0:09:13.16,0:09:17.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Like television, the podcast \Nhas similarities with radio. Dialogue: 0,0:09:17.59,0:09:20.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's the spoken word, it's sound. Dialogue: 0,0:09:20.45,0:09:24.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But unlike radio, \Nanybody can do a podcast. Dialogue: 0,0:09:24.84,0:09:26.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm a professor, I'm an author, Dialogue: 0,0:09:26.94,0:09:32.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but I certainly have no \Nradio professional experience. Dialogue: 0,0:09:32.69,0:09:36.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I've been on a few radio shows: actually, \Nprobably dozens over the years, Dialogue: 0,0:09:36.89,0:09:39.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but I've never had my own radio show. Dialogue: 0,0:09:40.31,0:09:45.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm not a professional, I'm not considered \Na professional in the radio business. Dialogue: 0,0:09:45.91,0:09:50.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But that doesn't matter, \Nbecause anybody can do a podcast. Dialogue: 0,0:09:50.76,0:09:58.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, one of the things that radio has \Nrecently flipped into is the podcast. Dialogue: 0,0:09:59.17,0:10:03.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, now let's go back to what \NIan Bogost was asking Dialogue: 0,0:10:03.68,0:10:09.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when I posted this photo of \NMarshall McLuhan, Eric McLuhan and me, Dialogue: 0,0:10:10.01,0:10:14.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,taken at the conference \Nat Fairleigh Dickinson University Dialogue: 0,0:10:14.55,0:10:23.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where we were considering the Tetrad\Nand the Laws of Media, back in 1977. Dialogue: 0,0:10:25.58,0:10:30.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, why was Ian Bogost saying \N"Where is the fourth?"? Dialogue: 0,0:10:30.56,0:10:36.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He was talking about \Nthe Tetrad having four parts Dialogue: 0,0:10:36.31,0:10:39.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and he only saw three people \Nin the photograph. Dialogue: 0,0:10:39.99,0:10:42.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So that was a pretty clever question. Dialogue: 0,0:10:43.02,0:10:46.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But as soon \Nas I read that question on Twitter, Dialogue: 0,0:10:46.88,0:10:49.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the answer popped into my head immediately. Dialogue: 0,0:10:50.82,0:10:54.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The fourth in that photograph is the selfie. Dialogue: 0,0:10:55.50,0:11:00.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, actually, somebody else, \NMary-Lou Bale, one of my students Dialogue: 0,0:11:00.14,0:11:01.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,took that photograph. Dialogue: 0,0:11:02.27,0:11:10.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But nowadays, you can clearly see that \Nthe photograph has flipped into the selfie. Dialogue: 0,0:11:10.65,0:11:13.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So let's do a Tetrad for the photograph. Dialogue: 0,0:11:14.00,0:11:16.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What does it enhance or amplify? Dialogue: 0,0:11:17.24,0:11:22.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, capturing the visual world \Nas it actually is. Dialogue: 0,0:11:23.91,0:11:29.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And that clearly points at what \Nthe photograph obsolesces: the painting, Dialogue: 0,0:11:30.02,0:11:35.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in which what is on the painting \Nis dependent on the talent of the painter, Dialogue: 0,0:11:36.43,0:11:41.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in contrast to the photograph, where \Nthe photographer has to have some talent Dialogue: 0,0:11:41.79,0:11:45.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but the essence of the photograph is just the purely Dialogue: 0,0:11:45.94,0:11:50.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,-- originally, photo-chemical process -- \Nnow digital process Dialogue: 0,0:11:50.52,0:11:56.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in which the light bounces off the real world or \Nwhatever you are taking a photograph of, Dialogue: 0,0:11:56.73,0:11:59.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and you then have a photograph. Dialogue: 0,0:11:59.73,0:12:07.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So the painter, the pen-and-ink sketcher, \Nis obsolesced by the photograph Dialogue: 0,0:12:07.68,0:12:09.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and by the photographer. Dialogue: 0,0:12:10.13,0:12:14.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, what does the photograph \Nand the photographer retrieve, Dialogue: 0,0:12:14.17,0:12:16.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which had been previously lost? Dialogue: 0,0:12:16.46,0:12:19.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, you can look into a pool of water. Dialogue: 0,0:12:19.57,0:12:26.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And in fact, McLuhan talked about this when he \Ntalked about the Greek myth of Narcisus Dialogue: 0,0:12:26.57,0:12:32.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who stared at his reflection \Nin a crystal-clear pool of water. Dialogue: 0,0:12:32.69,0:12:36.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's in effect what \Na photograph is retrieving, Dialogue: 0,0:12:36.99,0:12:43.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because that's not an artist's interpretation,\Nthat's an actual reflection of the world. Dialogue: 0,0:12:44.19,0:12:45.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so, we get to the end: Dialogue: 0,0:12:45.78,0:12:51.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What does the photograph, let's even say, \Nthe still photograph, Dialogue: 0,0:12:51.23,0:12:53.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what does it flip into? Dialogue: 0,0:12:53.01,0:12:55.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, over the years, \Nit has flipped into many things. Dialogue: 0,0:12:56.51,0:12:58.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's flipped into motion pictures, Dialogue: 0,0:12:59.54,0:13:05.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's flipped into the Kodak photograph\Nwhich could be taken by anyone: Dialogue: 0,0:13:05.40,0:13:09.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the first photographs were only taken \Nby professional photographers. Dialogue: 0,0:13:10.26,0:13:14.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's flipped into the polaroid, \Nwhich is an instant photograph. Dialogue: 0,0:13:15.26,0:13:18.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And of course, it's flipped very recently \Ninto the photographs Dialogue: 0,0:13:18.75,0:13:21.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that we all take with our phones. Dialogue: 0,0:13:21.68,0:13:28.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I think the selfie most epitomizes what \Nthe photograph has currently flipped into. Dialogue: 0,0:13:29.36,0:13:34.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because as we all know, millions of photographs \Nare now taken by simply pointing Dialogue: 0,0:13:34.94,0:13:40.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the camera in our smart phone at ourselves. Dialogue: 0,0:13:41.29,0:13:47.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so, that's what the photographer, \NI think, has flipped into. Dialogue: 0,0:13:48.62,0:13:57.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Anyway, you can read more about McLuhan \Nand the Tetrad in many places. Dialogue: 0,0:13:57.19,0:13:59.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'll recommend one of my books, Dialogue: 0,0:13:59.08,0:14:04.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Digital McLuhan - a Guide to \Nthe Information Millennium" Dialogue: 0,0:14:04.23,0:14:08.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which I wrote back in 1999. Dialogue: 0,0:14:08.84,0:14:12.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You'll find a link to that \Non the podcast page, Dialogue: 0,0:14:13.99,0:14:24.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which is lightonlightthrough.com. Dialogue: 0,0:14:25.43,0:14:30.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And by the way, Light On Light Through \Nis a term I also got from McLuhan. Dialogue: 0,0:14:32.56,0:14:39.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, if you ever have a chance, read not only \Nmy books and other books about McLuhan Dialogue: 0,0:14:39.77,0:14:43.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but read some of McLuhan's \Noriginal works themselves. Dialogue: 0,0:14:44.43,0:14:46.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Some people find them \Na little hard to get into, Dialogue: 0,0:14:46.86,0:14:54.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but if you give them some time, you'll be \Nrewarded by a cornucopia of insights Dialogue: 0,0:14:55.08,0:15:04.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and tools that we can use to help make \Nsense of our rapidly evolving media age. Dialogue: 0,0:15:05.07,0:15:07.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Female voice) The Light On Light Through podcast Dialogue: 0,0:15:07.54,0:16:18.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Music and announcements) Dialogue: 0,0:16:18.75,0:16:44.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Outro jingle)