FROM EXTENSION TO INTRUSION: A MEDIAL PARADIGM SHIFT?
FROM EXTENSION TO INTRUSION: A MEDIAL PARADIGM SHIFT?

Summary/Abstract: McLuhan's definition of media as an extension of human senses and bodies leads us to the complementary notion of contraction, which he describes as an implosion. In this context, the present contribution deals with the question of the media with a receiver function. They are mostly to be found in body proximity. With an increasing frequency, however, media get implanted too. As a consequence of this intrusion, man and machine get into an increasingly close symbiosis regarding the field of communication. That’s why, as a reference to the broadly formulated media definition by Luhmann, the connection between technology and biology is discussed under the scope of systemics. The connection of trivial and autopoietic media is illustrated by several examples, many of which come from the field of neuroprosthetics. The question about a paradigm shift of the relationship between the nature of humans and the media therefore arises.

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