Author: guinyard juwan j.

Propaganda, Media, and Programming

“The environment as a processor of information is propaganda. Propaganda ends where dialogue begins. You must talk to the media, not to the programmer. To talk to the programmer is like complaining to a hot dog vendor at a ballpark about how badly your favorite team is playing.” (McLuhan 142)

The media allows for us to create conversation with one another to make sure the information is correct and checked. Many times what we see or look at has some sort of agenda attached to it instead of giving the masses the information we all should have. As soon as the angle is out there it attracts certain people it knows it’s going to hit.

With the many outlets and forms of media we have now, it doesn’t take much effort or time to find the right people or sources to get the correct point across.

The programmers are the people creating the outlets that put out the propaganda. The processors of information allow for the propaganda to continue to be visible in the media. But the media has more people that are able to interrupt the transmissions through dialogue that hopefully finds the attention it needs to end the flow of propaganda.

Writing On Clay

  1. How does writing whether on clay or on computers force us to deal with the technology at the same time we are trying to get writing done?

It makes us have to adapt to whatever device is being used at the time to get the message out. Of course today most people have either been born late enough to make an easy transition from mainly pen and paper to typing daily, or are born knowing how to use new tech at a young age. The first scriptors had to be able to get acclimated quickly to the new mode of communication because there was so few many of them. The evolution of technology and modes of communication force us to quickly learn or quickly fall behind.

2. How does technology affect the the content of the writing as well as the writing process.

Technology affects the content by allowing for it to be full of mistakes that can easily be corrected in an instant during modern times. Older technology meant making mistakes could drastically change how long it took a writer to complete whatever was being written because erasing wasn’t easily accessible. Or on the other hand, it could have made to content more precise and because every stroke mattered and they knew errors wasn’t acceptable. It also could have made content less detailed if there wasn’t enough physical space to fit a lot of material.

3. How does the type of writing they are doing influence the technology they are using?

I think changes the amount of words are used to get the message across and out there. With clay tablets, the message had to be shorter then what we are used to with multiple page analysis because it takes long to create a writing surface: then to actually use precise penmanship to make it clear and finish it off by making sure it is permanent. With modern technology, we can put out blurbs or essays without a problem.  We can type multiple words per minute, and send any and all communication across the globe just like that.

4. How does technology affect the way that we read a document or text?

Technology allows for the text to be read anywhere and then has the ability for the reader to come back to it with ease if they weren’t able to pick up the message the first time or go right to google to define words in the text.