Tuesday, 12 May, 2020
Wines of South Africa, Fiona Macdonald
McLuhan was ahead of his time in thinking about and theorising the impact of interconnectedness by means of media. Way back in the 50s and 60s he was convinced that new technologies had a gravitational impact on cognition and thus an effect on social organisation... which in turn affects perceptual habits which has a knock-on effect on social interactions. (I’m crudely paraphrasing what Wikipedia stated...)
McLuhan coined the term “global village” before the internet was even developed and had no way of knowing just how massive a gravitational impact the WorldWide Web would have when Facebook and Twitter became THE media...
“In the early 1960s, McLuhan wrote that the visual, individualistic print culture would soon be brought to an end by what he called "electronic interdependence": when electronic media replaces visual culture with aural/oral culture. In this new age, humankind will move from individualism and fragmentation to a collective identity, with a "tribal base." McLuhan's coinage for this new social organization is the global village.”- Wikipedia
The current global pandemic has highlighted the interconnectedness by means of viral spread – but also by how quickly the message can be disseminated.
The South African wine industry’s struggles with bureaucracy and officialdom have been well documented and communicated – almost instantaneously. But it’s also been interesting seeing how interwoven and linked we all are ... to positive effect.
Click HERE to read the full article