From a Nick Carr piece in the Guardian about reading Marshall McLuhan in light of the modern internet (emphasis added):
Although he is often presented as a glorifier of technological progress, he painted a subtle, sometimes disturbing picture of the future. In one striking sentence from Understanding Media, he offered a dark view of the commercial exploitation of electric media: Once we have surrendered our senses and nervous systems to the private manipulation of those who would try to benefit by taking a lease on our eyes and ears and nerves, we dont really have any rights left.
The focus of the piece is on media, but when reading that McLuhan quote I couldn’t help but also think of neuromarketing.
-Greg Dahlmann
photo: MarshallMcLuhan.com