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Flusser 1988 interview about technical revolution in Osnabrück

Flusser states that linguistic communication can no longer transmit our concepts of the world. Images are now needed to do so. He believes that this is a revolution in thinking.

Being asked about his book Die Schrift, Flusser talks about how a total transformation happened when the alphabet was invented. He states that before the invention of the alphabet, images were looked at as maps of the world in a mythical way. And he describes they way people thought as the prehistoric way. According to him a historical consciousness evolved with the invention of the alphabet because of the linear structure of writing. Through this linear structure of writing a linear way of thinking followed. He calls it the systemic or structural way of thinking. In the current cultural revolution we are now in the process of elaborating a post historic / structural way of thinking. He states that all previous revolutions were technical ones, so is this one. But there is a major difference: Previous revolutions have simulated the body whereas the current revolution now for the first time simulates the nervous system. For this reason Flusser calls it an immaterial or spiritual revolution. He also states that due to the change in the way of thinking that is triggered, we are now witnessing a revolution that is comparable to the one there was that gave origin to history - the invention of the alphabet.

Talking about complexity, Flusser states that systems can be complex either structurally or functionally. A structural complex system like for example a TV can be used very easily. Whereas a functionally complex system like a chess game is a challenge to creative thought. The evolving new systems will be structurally complex and the use depends on the people. Currently the systems are being used for simple uses which results in a reduction of ethics. His aim is to promote a functional complexity.

Being asked about a philosophy of images, Flusser declares that images are no longer representation of the world but articulations of thought. Therefore a new attitude towards images is necessary (like Walter Benjamin already articulated). Influences for Flusser are Roland Barthes, McLuhen and Abraham Moles, although he disagrees with their ideas.

Marshall McLuhan „The medium is the message“ 1977 part 1v3

McLuhan is introduced as someone who sees new media (radio and TV at the time) as a way of understanding society and as an extension of our central nervous system (he doesn't elaborate on that).

McLuhan states that the medium sets up an environment that effects the individual substantially, whereas the content effects only very few. He takes the phone as an example: the extend of the the invention of the phone effects everybody drastically but what is said on the phone effects only a few people. In his opinion the medium rather creates a structure of awareness. He also calls literacy a form of awareness. A form that is in his eyes objective, whereas TV is subjective. McLuhan states that a highly literate person is a good executive because s/he is used to quick decision making through reading. He regards reading is an activity of rapid guessing because words have various meanings.

McLuhan sees advertising as a folk art form because it’s concern is to make an effect. In his view the nature of art is to set traps for attention. The criteria for measuring the greatness of (pop) art only comes later because at it’s time being there is no criteria for measuring it. As an example he talks about Shakespeare who was a popular artist in his times.

Flusser VS McLuhan by Irma Oldenburg

Vilém Flusser - 1988 interview about technical revolution (intellectual level is lowering)

Flusser makes the statement that spoken and written words are no longer capable of transmitting the information to the world. The form of communication has changed and therefore you have to change your way of storytelling to keep on transmitting your concept into this new world. This changes the way of thinking of the person who wants to give information, he needs to learn a new way of communicating. In the opinion of Flusser, this new language is based on codes and numbers to create synthetic images. If you want to communicate you have to calculate the words, for example, number 2 represents words as couple or pair.

Flusser divides the time into three different periods.

Pre-historical period :

The period before the invention of the alphabet where people communicate by drawings, mythologies. This gives a mythical way of thinking and interpretation.

Historical period :

When the alphabet was invented it gave the structure of sharing information was linear based, line by line, first the cause and then the effect. This gave a more critical way of communication and thinking.

Post-historical period

The period where the audience gets their information by coded language, based on images. This gives more a structural way of thinking.

Flusser sees the problem of this recent technical revolution and thinks that people need to find a new way of dealing with this structure of storytelling. He divides the complex of systems in two different forms:

• Structural complexity: For example, a television is a very complex made system, although using this system is extremely simple.

• Functional complexity : a chessboard is made in a very simple matter but using a chessboard is very complex. This influences the manipulation. This process could be interesting and challenging for the creative way of thinking.

At this moment the new complex made systems that are used for simple uses, but we should use it to communicate more complex subjects wich challenge a creative way of thinking. It’s the responsibility of the users of to use every system in the function to communicate the complexity.

Marshall Mcluhan Full lecture: The medium is the message - 1977 part 1 v 3n

McLuhan’s statement is that technology is an extension of men. The meaning of the message is influenced by medium and the technology of the storytelling. The way the information is interpreted is affected by the form of communicating. Mc Luhan statement is that TV is communicating in a figurative form, whereby the audience is manipulated by the structure being used by the medium. Literature is a literary form of  communication, it needs to be taken in a linear way, therefore it is more factual and the reader can observe the information more objectively. Television creates an other form of awareness, a subjective point of view and what is been communicated has less meaning then trough the written way of storytelling.