and the tribal trap. This dual translation of the individual out of 
the grip of Nature and out of the clutch of the tribe was not 
without its own penalties. But the return to Nature and the 
return to the tribe are, under electric conditions, fatally simple. 
We need beware of those who announce programs for restoring 
man to the original state and language of the race. These 
crusaders have never examined the role of media and 
technology in tossing man about from dimension to dimension. 
They are like the somnambulistic African chief with the alarm 
clock strapped to his back.

     Mircea Eliade, professor of comparative religion, is 
unaware, in The Sacred and the Profane , that a “sacred” 
universe in his sense is one dominated by the spoken word and 
by auditory media. A “profane” universe, on the other hand, is 
one dominated by the visual sense. The clock and the alphabet,