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Understanding McLuhan
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Understanding McLuhan (1996)(Voyager)[Mac-PC].iso
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07240_Field_TCUM T805.txt
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1996-04-10
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The city, like a ship, is a collective extension of the castle
of our skins, even as clothing is an extension of our individual
skins. But weapons proper are extensions of hands, nails, and
teeth, and come into existence as tools needed for accelerating
the processing of matter. Today, when we live in a time of
sudden transition from mechanical to electric technology, it is
easier to see the character of all previous technologies, we
being detached from all of them for the time being. Since our
new electric technology is not an extension of our bodies but of
our central nervous systems, we now see all technology,
including language, as a means of processing experience, a
means of storing and speeding information. And in such a
situation all technology can plausibly be regarded as weapons.
Previous wars can now be regarded as the processing of
difficult and resistant materials by the latest technology, the
speedy dumping of industrial products on an enemy market to