Fragmentation
As I continue to study identity in the online world, I am becoming more interested in the idea of fragmentation of online identities as well as the reconstitution of these identities via technological means. McLuhan speaks to not only this fragmentation, but also to irrational rationalism and (I think) even borrows heavily from some Marxist notions.
First, I would like to say that I think this text SHOULD have taken a great deal longer for me to read. I think that what McLuhan was attempting to do...in the juxtaposition of text and image, was to get us to pause and reflect on those images and how media tends to fragment and control the self. I am so used to just grabbing a book and reading the text, I had to pace myself and take more time to consider images that were selected.
Irrational Rationalism: We live in a bureaucratic world that forces us to follow strictures and rules to the point of excess. While this bureacracy is a natural part of the human condition, the quotation by Whitehead that advances in civilization eventually wreck the societies in which they exist holds true for me. Consider simply the Purdue Bureacracy--I have to pay for someone to unlock doors at my tournament, ....and even though I have talked with space management three times via phone, and have email confirmations, I still had to walk to ENAD to get a signature verifying to them that I had indeed talked to them, even though I have the email reservation! Augh!!
The notion of fragmentation is an unsettling one for me, as McLuhan in his section "your neighborhood" argues that technology changes the landscape. "You can't go home anymore" has an unsettling message that is true. The landscape is ever changing now. And when we lose some sense of consistency, does our identity become fragmented? How does that relate to fragmentation of identity in an ever-changing online landscape?
Fragmentation of one's job sounds like it is influenced by Marx...but McLuhan speaks to this notion as well. As we begin to have more global corporations, and work in a global world connected to strange cultures in different countries---well one could argue this is a good thing! Does this fragment one identity and reconstitute it in a more meaningful, better identity? Still, the Marxist roots--fragmentation of one's work .....it is even more present today..
I am interested in the discussion of Television, in which the author claims it absorbs us and require no participation. This is not true of the internet, which both absorbs us and requires our participation. Still, I think fragmentation becomes even more of an issue online--multiple profiles and multiple faces.
Alas, I have more to say...and write. But time...TIME? I'm fragmented to the hilt right now........