early alarm system,” as it were, enabling us to discover social 
and psychic targets in lots of time to prepare to cope with 
them. This concept of the arts as prophetic, contrasts with the 
popular idea of them as mere self-expression. If art is an “early 
warning system,” to use the phrase from World War II, when 
radar was new, art has the utmost relevance not only to media 
study but do the development of media controls.

    When radar was new it was found necessary to eliminate the 
balloon system for city protection that had preceded radar. 
The balloons got in the way of the electric feedback of the new 
radar information. Such may well prove to be the case with 
much of our existing school curriculum, to say nothing of the 
generality of the arts. We can afford to use only those 
portions of them that enhance the perception of our 
technologies, and their psychic and social consequences. Art