Hot and Cold Mediums, Extensions of Man, and Gene Therapy

Three Questions

  1. Would McLuhan consider video games like Wii Fit a hot or cold medium, since it both generates rich information but also requires user participation?
  2. How do recent technological innovations and hybridizations function as extensions of man?
  3. Should gene therapy qualify as "an extension of man," since genes occur naturally rather than as a newly-developed technology? And if so, would the product of gene therapy qualify as technology hybridization?

Response

"How are technological innovations/hybridizations extensions of man?"

When McLuhan discusses technology as extension of ourselves and our nervous system, he touches on simulations. The Sims series represents close to the ultimate simulated extension of man; the term "Sim" even stands for "simulated." In fact, the game comes from a series of simulations originally produced by Maxis: Simcity, Simfarm, Simant, Simworld, Simlife, Simpark. In every game, including The Sims, users simulate a real-life situation but can manipulate certain characteristics that influence the situation.

SimFarm

SimAnt

SimPark

In Simlife, for example, the users could determine biological factors like size, gestation time, diet, and so on. Simulations like these truly extend us by allowing us to interact with and partially control other systems. Still, the user's range of control is itself constrained by the game developers, and the experience occurs in a safe, albeit fake, setting.

This concept of simulations functioning as extensions of man reminds me of Jean Baudrillard's essay "Simulacra and Simulations" and the precession of simulacra, an essay I read last semester for English 682 with Dr. Allen. Baudrillard claims that symbols replace their referents in society, and to that degree, simulations like The Sims function as symbols by representing the real thing. They exist in the second phase by masking the reality (Rivkin and Ryan 368). They cannot be the third or fourth phase, however, because the simulation does not mask the absence of the reality because we experience both realities. Then again, that's what The Matrix postulates about the future intersection of technological simulacra and humanity.

References

McLuhan, Marshall. Understanding Media. Massachusettes: The MIT Press, 1994. Print.

Rivkin, Julie, and Michael Ryan. Literary Theory: An Anthology. Second ed. MA: Blackwell, 2004. Print.