Theory Technological Determinism

First: the concept of theory

One of the modern theories that emerged from the role of the media
and the nature of its influence on various societies, and the creator of
this theory (Marshall MacLuhan) was a professor of English at the
University of Toronto in Canada, and is considered one of the most
.famous intellectuals in the second half of the twentieth century

Marshall McLuhan says that the "content" of the media cannot be

viewed independently of the technology of the media itself. How the
media institutions present the topics, and the audience to which their
message is directed, affect what these means say, but the nature of the
media that a person is connected to makes societies more than the
content of communication, so when McLaughan looks at history he
takes a position that we can call (technological determinism) While Karl
Marx believed in economic determinism, and that the economic
organization of society constitutes an essential aspect of his life, and
while Freud believed that sex plays a fundamental role in the life of an
individual and society, Macluhan believed that important technological
inventions influenced A major impact on societies. Macluhan says that
the fundamental shift in technology communication makes major
transformations begin, not only in social organization, but also in human
sensitivities. In his opinion, the social system is determined by the
content carried by these means. Without understanding the way the
media works, we cannot understand the social and cultural changes that
.are taking place in societies

McLuhan offers four stages that, in his view, reflect the development of
:human history

The oral stage completely, the pre-learning stage, that is, the tribal
.stage

The stage of writing copies that appeared after Homer in ancient Greece
and lasted for two thousand years

The era of printing: from about 1500 to 1900

 .The era of electronic media: from approximately 1900 to the present

McLuhan Technology Theory of the media is one of the modern theories

that have emerged about the role of the media and the nature of its
.impact on various societies

While McLuhan believes in what he called "technological determinism",

the question remains: does this determinism eliminate the human
feeling that a creature has a separate entity capable of overcoming this
determinism that arises as a result of people ignoring what is happening
around them, where important technological inventions have a
.fundamental impact on Societies

This opposite trend between the inevitability of technology and its

independence from it poses another question: Can technological change
be considered an inevitable imperative ?, McLaughan answers that in
that if we understand the elements of change, technology can be
.controlled and used at the time we want instead of standing up to it

But the most important question that McLuhan answers: Is it possible

for the media to address the problems of society, then it shows that the
media that society uses or is forced to use will determine its nature (i.e.
society) and how to address its problems, and any means or extension of
the human being that creates conditions that affect the way he thinks It
.out and works according to it

MacLohan's theory links the message to the media. While some media
researchers see that the medium is the determinant of the quality of
communication and its impact, MacLohan sees that the medium is the
message, indicating that the content of the media cannot be viewed
independently of the media’s technologies, as topics and the public
affect According to what these means say, but the nature of the media
to which a person relates is the most important of which is the content
.of communication

If we touch upon the four stages presented by McLuhan about the

development of human history: oral pre-learning, writing or
transcription, the print age, and the age of electronic media,
MacLaughan points out that the nature of the media used at each stage
helps to shape society more than helps content Those means to form. In
his theory, MacLohan sees how the media institutions present the topics
and the audience to whom their message is directed affect what they
say, but the nature of the media that a person relates to forms more
.societies than the content of communication

McLuhan divides the means of communication into

First: Al-Baredah: which requires from the future a positive effort to

participate, coexist and integrate into it, such as: writing, telephone and
,television

Second: Hot: It is the ready means that are definitively determined, so

the recipient does not need to exert effort, participation or coexistence,
such as: printing, radio and cinema. And since the globe has become a
"global village", McCluhan confirms that this led to what he called "the
era of anxiety", where McLaughlin theory explains that the electronic
media helped to shrink the globe and shrink it in time and space until it
was described as a "global village". Human awareness of his
responsibility to the utmost degree, and this situation led to what might
be called the "era of anxiety", because the new immediate electronic
.revolution forces the individual to commit and participate deeply

This vision by McLuhan has been the subject of criticism and skepticism
from some researchers in recent years. Some of them see that the
“global village” needs to be adjusted that is commensurate with the
times and is consistent with its data. Richard Black notes that the “global
village” no longer has a real presence in society The contemporary,
explaining that the technical development that MacLohan had relied
upon when describing the global village continued to develop further,
and led to the destruction of this global village and its transformation
into fragments, indicating that the world is now closer to the huge
building that includes dozens of residential apartments within which
many people reside. Each of them lives in isolation and does not come Y
about his neighbors who live with him in the building This indicates that
the technological development, as some researchers emphasize, has
shifted from "aggregation" to "fragmentation", as modern
communication technologies have enabled a number of diverse
communication services (all of which are integrated into the global
network "the Internet") to address individuals and meet their own
desires, and have resulted from This new technology reduces the
number of audiences watching major network software and audio and
television broadcasting services that operate on the traditional air
broadcast system. And an explanation of the vision of "grouping" and
"fragmentation", the new trend of communication and the flow of
information globally is beginning to decentralize communication, as it
provides multiple messages that suit individuals and groups, through a
manifestation controlled by the sender and another controlled by the
future, after the previous trend of means has remained Mass
communication tends to unify messages and multiplicity of receiving
audiences. From the above, the theory can be defined as the
technological determinism: it is a reductionist theory that aims to
provide a causal link between technology and the nature of society. It
tries to explain to whom or what may have dominant authority in
humanitarian affairs. The theory questions the extent to which human
.thought or action is influenced by technological factors

The theory is one of the modern theories that have emerged as a result
of developments in information and communication technologies and
that express the role that the media plays in the social milieu and the
most important fundamental effects that the main reason was caused by
the media and its technologies that have typically changed the system of
.information and human behavior

Second: What is meant by technological drift and what is its relationship

to the inevitable theory

Winner believes that changes in technology have sometimes had

unintended or unintended consequences as well. Wiener described this
phenomenon as a "technological diversion" as people begin to drift
more and more into a sea of unforeseen and unexpected consequences.
According to Wiener, technology is not a human slave but rather a slave
to technology where they are forced to adapt to the technological
environment that surrounds them. Here is a view that says that
technology serves an intermediate function because although it leads to
changes in culture, it is actually controlled by humans. When control of
technology slowly decreases from being in the hands of a few people, it
is completely transferred to control of technology itself. This view of
humans who have no control is referred to as an "independent
."technological determinism

Third: technological determinism and the media

New media is not just an addition to existing media, it is also new

technologies, and therefore has a decisive factor as well. Marshall
McLuhan made a famous statement that "the mediator is the message."
This means that the method used to communicate affects the mind of
the recipient. The introduction of news, television and internet
publications has shown how technological advances have an impact on
.the society in which we live

Fourth: Assumptions of technological determinist theory

The "Marshall Mc Lohan" theory is a conceptualization of the

development of means of communication and its effects on modern
:societies. This theory is based on three basic assumptions as follows

First: The means of communication are an extension of the human

senses: Marshall McLuhan believes that "people adapt to environmental
conditions in every age by using certain senses that are closely related to
the type of communication medium used. The content of those means,
because the nature of the means of communication that prevail in a
period of time is what constitutes the societies more than the content of
the communication messages, where Mac Lohan believes in what he
calls technological determinism “Technological Determinism”, meaning
that the important technological inventions affect the formation of
societies Any method c A hand is an extension of a person, which affects
the way he thinks and behaves, as a television camera stretches our
eyes, the microphone extends our hearing, and calculators provide
mental effort and lead to an extension of consciousness. “Mac Lohan
believes that electronic means of communication have changed the
distribution of perceptual perception, or as he calls it” ratios Using
Sensory Ration, the extension of any sense modifies the way we think
and behave in a corner of the world around us. Politically, Mc Lohan
believes that electronic media has turned the world into a “global
village” that connects all of its parts to each other, and urges those
.means to Return to tribal life

Second: The medium is the message: McLuhan's theory has attached

great importance to the role of the medium, the medium, and the risk of
the medium increases in the modern era, where he was able to seize all
space, dominating all dimensions of human life, as the message in the
modern era of its importance became the prisoner of the mediator Who
appreciates it and amplifies it despite its negligence or nihilism, or
dwarfs it and kills it despite the majesty of its affair. The message as a
signified, it is totally dissolved in the medium that became a message
and an indication and a signification at the same time, where "Mac
Lohan" sees that the main message in the book is the print, and the
main message in Television is the TV itself, the content Unimportant,
and that what is important is the medium that transmits the content, as
previously mentioned through the examples provided previously, which
confirm that the medium is the message, and Mac Lohan notes that
each means has its own characteristics of people whose love for this
medium exceeds their interest in its content, TV As a medium is a focus
of great interest, just as people like to read in order to enjoy the
experience of the publication, they love TV because of the screen that
displays images, sound, movement and colors, as there is a better way
than another to provoke a specific experience, for example: watching a
match in football is better in Television about it on the radio or
streaming E, football match bad on the screen more exciting than a great
match to be broadcast by radio. It seems that each medium has its own
.characteristics that make it the best to raise certain topics

:Third: The hot and cold means of communication

Mac Lohan is divided into stages of change according to the theory of

technological determinism in communication, which moved from the
oral stage to the stage of writing to the era of printing to the era of mass
communication, at another level this was the transition from hot
communication as the relationship is directly interacting between the
sender and the future which is the world of books And cinema, to cold
contact, as this relationship is still static like television, so the cooler the
medium, the more information needs to be provided to the audience.
From here the wide screen cinemas came hot, and the "dwarf" TV
.picture is cool

.Fifth: Criticisms of the theory of technological determinism

The researcher "Richard Dublake" is considered one of the most critical

of this theory, as he considers that the term "global" village that Mac
Lohan claimed its existence no longer has a real presence in
contemporary society, and in this regard, "Black" says that the
development on which he relied Mc Lohan "When describing the global
village, he continued to develop further, leading to the destruction of
this global village and its fragmentation. The world is now closer to the
building that includes dozens of apartments in which many people
reside, but each of them lives in isolation and does not He knows
something about his neighbors who reside with him in the building, and
what he calls "Mac Lohan" Balan Cultural mag between peoples
transformation of the world into a global village is not present, where
we find ourselves polarizers Polarizd to thousands of provinces isolated
using each individual and his method own, develops the language that
suits him, and thus the differences and differentiation increase among
individuals rather than consolidate the cohesion and integration into a
single nation. Among the advantages of contemporary television, that he
created what is called "television interactive", to develop the
participation of the viewer, this change will turn the balance of "Mac
Lohan" theory, in terms of its classification of the media, to cold and hot
media, and put the TV within the cold means that do not It requires
what is called the future participation in making the media message, and
an example of this is the finding of a Canadian company, as it
transformed viewers from a passive reception mode to a participant or
an "additional director", as it can choose the position of the camera or
the angles from which the image is taken, and the possibility Return the
footage that he wants, especially In sports interviews, or boxing battles
in addition to these criticisms, we find the theory of value determinism
in the media has come as a criticism of the theory of technological
determinism of "Marshall Mac Lohan", where Dr. "Azi Abdel Rahman"
does not agree with the presentations of "Mac Lohan" at the level of
both The process of linking historical development with the form of
communication and combining hearing and sight as a unit versus the
printed text. The historical development in the eyes of the Algerian
thinker "Azi Abdel Rahman" is related to transformations or divisions at
the level of cognitive structures or meanings, and the value determinism
theory of Dr. "Azi Abdel Rahman" is located in The opposite direction
:from the theory of deterministism Nologih, on more than one level

The first level: The theory of value determinism in the media takes the
principle of the primacy of the message (value), as opposed to "the
".medium is the message

The second level: the value determinism theory considers senses such as
hearing and sight a value act, not just technical issues in relation to the
.media

The third level: The theory of value determinism in the media holds that
value is the basis for taking the global human dimension, while the
proposed and dominant “global village” is made by dominant media.
Thus what can be said in the last that the thought of "Marshall Mc
Lohan" reflects his time or history the discovery of radio, television,
computers, satellites, which indicate the beginning of technological
development and an introduction to the society of Societies
Communicational. On the contrary, the thought of “Abdul Aziz Abdul
Rahman” reflects the development of ideas, civilizations, and the
struggle of values towards means, according to only Dr. “Nasir Bou Ali”
that shows that the contextual model of “Marshall Mac Lohan” is linked
to technological imperative means in the fifties, sixties and seventies of
the twentieth century in Western society, As for Dr. "Azi Abdel Rahman,"
he is linked to the eligibility of values and spirituality of the message
during the last two decades of the twentieth century, in all Muslim
societies and others
Sixth: The relationship of theory with the determinist value theory in the
media

Theoreticalism in the field of media and communication in the fifties,

sixties and seventies of the twentieth century was a monopoly on the
West with the theory of technological determinism of Marshall Mac
Lohan, and the Arab Arabs had only a share of attempts to drop the
theory of "Mac Lohan" on local communities. Until the Algerian thinker,
Dr. "Azzi Abdel Rahman *" who removed the shyness, which was
characterized by the academic reality at that time, and as a result of his
research and scientific studies, he produced a new theory called "the
theory of value determinism in the media", in refutation of
"technological determinism", where he came A new concept is the
concept of "value", and in this way it considers "the message is the
means" or "the message is the value". Positive cultural standing and
standing as an impenetrable dam against the dangers of globalization
and cleft Rough the culture of some countries from melting, and if the
original values depart from their correct source, which is religion, they
turned into a culture without a fixed teacher, and thus lose their basic
characteristic, which is stability. The new, which came to the value
deterministic theory is the impact of the media on the public. Previous
theories examined the impact of the media, but they are considered
incomplete studies that dealt with

Aspects and neglected more important aspects, which led Professor Azzi
Abdul Rahman to bring this new theory out of the premise that
communication is a phenomenon with multiple dimensions, and its
manifestations may be more intellectual than empirical, so whenever
the content of the media message is related to the values, the effect is
positive, but if it deviates from the values The effect is negative, and this
is the essence of the theory. We find the concept of negative and
obligatory compared to the concepts of latent and apparent in empirical
studies, direct and indirect impact, and the effect of long-term and
short-term. The idea of value determinism theory has been linked to the
.connection of science to value on three levels
The first level: is the emergence of science in the embrace of value in a
.specific historical stage

The second level: represented in the internal values of science in terms 

.of an approach that has cultural and civilizational assumptions

The third level: There is the value that science brings to and adds to the
values of the human world. Based on these three levels, the theory of
value determinism was born in the media. The cultural and value milieu
.is a major factor that may generate science in its arms and grow

The concepts of value determinism theory in the media are a result of

the environment and are in harmony with the civilization to which the
owners of this theory belong. Perhaps an attempt to discover these
concepts and the correct penetration into their understanding
constitutes a focal point in understanding the value determinism theory
.in the media