The Medium is the Message

Some brief thoughts about the McLuhan reading:
What struck me as the best part of the passage was concerned with the idea that it is not the medium itself that matters, it is how it is used. As such, we cannot excuse our behaviours for using electronic communications. Often I see folks walking around with heads down sending a text message. Often this happens when making plans without a set timeline. E.g. "I'll text you when I'm close by" instead of "Let's meet at 4pm at a designated area." With the use of this form of technology, accountability in being on time is fragmented. The piece of IQ testings as being "the grestest flood of misbegotten standards" (158) is well-known. IQ is not a reliable measure of intelligence due to the biases presented that McLuhan outlines: cultural bias and the unincorporation of other forms of intelligences: tactile and aural as the other two identified. This reminds me of Elton's idea of history being a through and through written craft.