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Music and speech are two separate domains according to McLuhan (or the article?). Poor hearing is a technical fault, one that can be fixed by e.g. upping the v

Music and speech are two separate domains according to McLuhan (or the article?). Poor hearing is a technical fault, one that can be fixed by e.g. upping the volume or speaking more clearly, and thus shouldn't infer discrimination in cool/hot category. Poe's Law[0] basically states that it's impossible to decipher sarcasm on the (text-based) Internet without a clear indication of intent. The same can hardly be said for speech, or it basically misses its point. I believe that is the author's intended discrimination between "cold" and "hot" media. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe%27s_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe%27s_law

skybrian 7y ago
The use of sarcasm is basically artistic expression and speakers are often intentionally ambiguous. There are different techniques for being clear versus ambiguous depending on which medium you're using, but this is still largely under the author's control, not inherent in the medium. I still think of speech as very lossy. In ordinary conversation, you need a lot of back and forth to clarify what you're saying and make sure that the other person heard you. Consider how easily mistakes can be made ordering food over the telephone, which is why it's standard to repeat the order back to you. There are also special alphabets used by pilots and the military to avoid mistakes transmitting information.
- anon1m0us 7y ago
  I've lost count of the number of times I've been listening to two people talk to each other and they both have no idea what the other is saying. I'll understand both people and know that the response doesn't follow what was just said by the other person, but then the other person will respond in kind with something equally or more ... non sequitur for the lack of a better word. Then I think, "How many times have I, myself, been in such a conversation?" How much of what someone is saying to me do I think I understand but really didn't? How many times has someone said to me, "You aren't understanding what I'm saying." and I say, "No I get it!" But I don't. And then what do I do in that situation? I used to say stuff like, "Wait a minute, you are talking about Looper and you're talking about Inception and you both think you're talking about the same movie." But then I just decided to let them talk and not worry so much about miscommunication. It seems like such a high percentage of communication that I realized it doesn't really matter. Talking to someone isn't about communicating ideas, it's mostly about the comfort of having someone to talk to. Likewise, podcasts, youtubes, etc are more about the background noise than they are the content. People just don't want to feel alone.

skybrian 7y ago

The use of sarcasm is basically artistic expression and speakers are often intentionally ambiguous. There are different techniques for being clear versus ambiguous depending on which medium you're using, but this is still largely under the author's control, not inherent in the medium. I still think of speech as very lossy. In ordinary conversation, you need a lot of back and forth to clarify what you're saying and make sure that the other person heard you. Consider how easily mistakes can be made ordering food over the telephone, which is why it's standard to repeat the order back to you. There are also special alphabets used by pilots and the military to avoid mistakes transmitting information.

anon1m0us 7y ago
I've lost count of the number of times I've been listening to two people talk to each other and they both have no idea what the other is saying. I'll understand both people and know that the response doesn't follow what was just said by the other person, but then the other person will respond in kind with something equally or more ... non sequitur for the lack of a better word. Then I think, "How many times have I, myself, been in such a conversation?" How much of what someone is saying to me do I think I understand but really didn't? How many times has someone said to me, "You aren't understanding what I'm saying." and I say, "No I get it!" But I don't. And then what do I do in that situation? I used to say stuff like, "Wait a minute, you are talking about Looper and you're talking about Inception and you both think you're talking about the same movie." But then I just decided to let them talk and not worry so much about miscommunication. It seems like such a high percentage of communication that I realized it doesn't really matter. Talking to someone isn't about communicating ideas, it's mostly about the comfort of having someone to talk to. Likewise, podcasts, youtubes, etc are more about the background noise than they are the content. People just don't want to feel alone.