Man Is The Scale Of Media

This thesis takes the media theory of Paul Levinson, the standard banner of the third generation of the media ecology school, as the research objective, analyzes Levinson’s status and major media theories in the media ecology school with the research approach of knowledge sociology. Besides, combing the application of media technology with media environment, this thesis further proves the predictive theories of Levinson which are history-concerned and insightful to provide our current media research with vision for reference and samples for research.With the shifting technology, media, while satisfying human needs, also violate human nature in some aspects or promote the defects in human nature. Therefore, despite the fact that technology has realized human’s ideals for life, it also pushes us into more serious communication problems. Some scholars are alert enough about it, for example, the Frankfurt school regards mass media as the mental slavery and overall control of human beings. We should analyze specifically the dehumanization of media. We should not deny the progressive role that communication technology plays and the growing humanization of media technology through changes and reject technology. These are attitudes and principles Paul Levinson has sticked to throughout his lifetime media research. He inherits and develops the research perspectives used by Marshall Mcluhan in media analysis. Besides, borrowing the theory of natural selection of Darwin and Piecemeal social engineering of Karl Raimund Popper, he brings forward his own soft power determinism theory that the development of information technology and the change of media form are parts of the dynamic evolution of nature as well as important, but not the only decisive power in social progress and development. Levinson is positive about the reform of media form pushed by technology. According to him, human subjectivity is the fundamental reason for the media humanization. Human, with subjective initiative, is able to not only make reasonable choices in media evolution but also select and improve media of his own accord, a major reason which decides the use, transmission and development of media. This, demonstrating his active attitude towards media technology as well the core of media ecology, is one of Levinson’s most important media theories. Meanwhile, he considers subsequent media as a kind of remedy for congenitally deficient media function of the past so as to perfect and humanize media. His humanization theory, remedial media theory and technology evolution theory help him transcend Mcluhan, being a Mcluhan in the digital age and the best scholar of post Mcluhamism.This thesis is divided into five chapters. It puts Paul Levinson in the media ecology school and analyses his status in three generations of researchers and his inheritance as well as transcendence of the first two generations. In terms of the relationship between media technology and human, Levinson takes Mcluhan’s neutral morality. On the basis of media is the message, he refines his humanization theory, develops Mcluhan’s four laws of media theory and improves his own remedial media theory. Nevertheless, he is not that obedient to his own mentor Neil Postman, being different from him in academic interest and ideological origin. When it comes to the form of media, Postman argues that words cultivate reason while images decrease thinking. On the contrary, Levinson states that words are vulnerable to interference while images agree with perception. With regard to new media created by technology, Postman thinks that the electronic culture subverts print culture while Levinson regard electronic culture a remedy for print culture. The toughest contradiction between the two scholars lies in their attitude towards man’s status in technology evolution: Postman is pessimistic, worrying that human is loosing power in technological development; Levinson, however, claims that human can make reasonable choices on technology, select and improve media actively.Evolution theory is the key in the formation of Levinson’s media theory system. Enlightened by the technological optimism of Chicago School of Sociology, he takes Kant’s Transcendental epistemology and Marx’s Materialism interaction theory as his philosophical foundation, uses and develops Darwin’s evolution theory, draws lessons from Donald Thomas Campbell’s biological evolution trilogy to bring out his knowledge evolution trilogy, revises the three world theory of Karl Popper and comes up with his three tech-world conception. Levinson’s technology evolution theory provides the philosophical foundation for his media evolution theory. He puts forward in a creative way that each kind of media develops along the evolution path of toy-mirror-art and satisfies human needs. For example, words allow human to communicate beyond biological boundaries for the fist time; the transmission and spreading of information and thoughts go across time and space; print, newspaper, telegraph and photograph tend to meet human’s vision need; radio, telephone and phonograph satisfy human’s hearing need, remedied by movie and television which satisfy both needs.The digital communication theory and practice of Levinson.Compared with Mcluhan and Postman, Levinson has the fortune to witness the whole process of digital media development. His major works were completed in10years around the turn of the century when he spent a great deal of time and energy to analyze the effect of social relations and social organizations in digital communication. This thesis uses two chapters to discuss his digital communication theory. He pays great attention to the huge deconstruction brought by mobile media to traditional media and society. As a representative of remedial media, cellphone solves the problem that man is confined to rooms during remote communication and brings the once fixed office with people all the time. Cellphone was written by Levinson in2004.10years later, cellphone, bringing irresistible reforms, is not only the transmitter of media information but also shockingly strikes and subverts traditional industries in our society, creating the new era of mobile internet. What’s more, Levinson names new web apps after1990s "new media" since they are different from earlier web apps like online chat room, e-mail and BBS. In fact,"new" and "old" are relative concepts and many people think differently on them. Although, the author is not totally in this concept, it indeed helps us to observe and study new media forms represented by blog, twitter, micro-blog and we chat in a more convenient and more direct way. New media is also known as we media. It, bringing new hits and digestions to major traditional media and social management methods, seems to create a democratic society where all are in the center and become the public opinion field by forcing government to grant rights to civilians. Besides, the individuality of netizens is fully displayed through social network. In China, especially, netizens manage to achieve a series of self-redemptions through the platform provided by we media. However, Levinson also notices that media is a double-edged sword which brings both advantages and disadvantages. Take the right of discourse in network for example. It decreases the authority of experts on professional issues which is proved by Baidupedia and Wikipedia for they include good and bad entries at the same time and therefore, lack authority. Another example is related to social elite. They control the discourse power. As a result, grassroots loose their discourse power and self-criticism spirit. Furthermore, network circusee makes group polarization even worse.If Levinson’s mentor Neil Postman’s research parts from a human and moral dimension of negative cutting technology, Levinson focuses on the root causes and trends in technology development, social and cultural changes of the medium, from the analysis of the evolution of media history to start by revealing patterns and trends in the evolution of media, not only affirmed the importance of the spread of technology and media, but also highlights the dominant position of people who create. and control the media as, and thus more comprehensive analysis of our in which the digital age. Compared to Bozeman to award the media is beneficial or harmful humanist perspective, Levinson’s perspective is more ambitious. He believes that the evolution of the media subject to human reason, there are endless potential for development, more humane and rational. So Levinson treats technology and media attitudes to bright and more and more positive about the future with optimism.