The Cunning of Geist 021 - The Rise/(Return) of Tribalism: Technology, McLuhan, and Hegel
All technological advances involve extensions of the human body/mind, argued Marshall McLuhan. As such, no matter how disruptive a breakthrough may be, it is based on our own consciousness and its needs. Hegel knew that a primary motivator in life is recognition. But how is this need met in the interconnected world of the Internet? We see this in the profound shift occurring today from individual recognition to group recognition. According to McLuhan, this is due to the electronic revolution overturning the individualistic orientation of the previous print/visual left brain society and moving to (returning to) the more acoustic right-brain tribalism, which is found in today’s electronic “global village,” where group recognition becomes paramount. This podcast episode explores.