A First Look At Communication Theory, 10e (Griffin)
Chapter 25 Media Ecology
1) Marshall McLuhan alleged that the invention of ________ fostered the sudden emergence of
mathematics, science, and philosophy in ancient Greece.
A) hand signs
B) drawing tools
C) the alphabet
D) the number system
2) ________ is the study of different personal and social environments created by the use of
different communication technologies.
A) Media ecology
B) Community ecology
C) Interaction ecology
D) Social ecology
3) According to Marshall McLuhan, which of the following was a crucial invention that changed
life on Earth?
A) the number system
B) the phonetic alphabet
C) the spinning wheel
D) the metric system
4) McLuhan believed that the course of history was determined by:
A) modes of production.
B) localities of living.
C) changes in technology.
D) conceptions of time.
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5) McLuhan claimed that the “primitive” people of the tribal village:
A) had well-developed senses of hearing, touch, taste, and smell.
B) developed deep feeling of community.
C) led richer, more complex lives than their literate descendants.
D) All of the answers are correct.
6) McLuhan’s aphorism “The medium is the message” suggests that:
A) the channel is more influential than the content it carries.
B) television is the most effective form of communication ever invented.
C) print culture was superior to the global village.
D) television is a hot medium.
7) According to Marshall McLuhan, a transition from the present age into a complete electronic
age will take another ________.
A) 200 years
B) 50 years
C) 100 years
D) 10 years
8) Scholars suggest that we may be in the ________ age, the next epoch in human history.
A) digital
B) Internet
C) multimedia
D) web
9) What is a Faustian bargain?
A) a deal with the devil
B) attributing status to a higher priced technology
C) exchanging one media for another
D) the expectation that the new form of technology will be of greater worth than what it replaces
10) According to Marshall McLuhan, the ________ was the dominant sense organ in humans
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during the tribal age.
A) eye
B) nose
C) ear
D) tongue
11) The phonetic alphabet transformed the world into a global village.
12) McLuhan was widely accepted academically, but failed to connect with popular thinking.
13) McLuhan felt that the electronic media were retribalizing the human race.
14) The dominant medium of any age shapes its people.
15) McLuhan held that we should focus attention on the everyday experience of technology.
16) According to Marshall McLuhan, the tribal village was a visual place where the sense of
vision was developed far beyond the ability to hear.
17) McLuhan proposed that we have entered the digital age.
18) Postman, unlike McLuhan, believed that media ecology should make moral judgments.
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19) For Postman, television has cost society more than what it has given the society in return.
20) In the years since his death, McLuhan has achieved a rather rare feat—unanimous approval
from the academic community.
21) ________ is McLuhan’s most notable or memorable aphorism.
22) According to McLuhan, human history is divided into four epochs, with each period marked
by ________.
23) A(n) ________, which is referred to as a “deal with the devil,” is an exchange that at first
seems beneficial but may come at a high price.
24) Outline the principal characteristics of the four ages or epochs featured in McLuhan’s history
of humanity.
25) Define and critique McLuhan’s assertion that the medium is the message.
26) What are the major strengths and weaknesses of McLuhan’s theory?
27) How might McLuhan respond to research that suggests that people who spend considerable
time online experience higher levels of depression and loneliness than they would if they used
the computer network less frequently?
28) Does McLuhan create a romanticized (or perhaps paternalistic) notion of the lives of so-
called “primitive” people?
29) Compare McLuhan’s approach to the channel (or medium) and the content (or message) of
the mass media with the information theory championed by Shannon and Weaver.
30) Could media ecology be considered a theory of public rhetoric?
31) Image a conversation between McLuhan and Walther. How might McLuhan respond to
social information processing theory? Conversely, what comments would Walther make in
regard to McLuhan’s assumptions about technology’s negative impact on our social realities?