From Wikipedia  entry :
 According to communication theorist Harold Innis, monopolies  of knowledge are created in the atmosphere of hostility between time-biased and  space-biased media, wherein one tradition marginalizes the other. In this  context, the term "knowledge" refers to all  information and data in addition to the products of literacy and science. Those  who control knowledge through the dominant media of a given society also  control reality, in that they are in a position to define what knowledge is  legitimate. Thus, monopolies of knowledge encourage centralization of  power.
 Innis concluded that monopolies of knowledge lead to an imbalance of power in society, which inhibits development by stifling competition among ideas, traditions and institutions.
From entry on Harold Innis :
Innis also tried to defend universities from political and economic pressures. He believed that independent universities, as centres of critical thought, were essential to the survival of Western civilization. His intellectual disciple and university colleague, Marshall McLuhan, lamented Innis's premature death as a disastrous loss for human understanding. McLuhan wrote: "I am pleased to think of my own book The Gutenberg Galaxy as a footnote to the observations of Innis on the subject of the psychic and social consequences, first of writing then of printing."
No comments:
Post a Comment