Literate man, civilized man, tends to restrict and enclose space and to separate functions, whereas tribal man had freely extended the form of his body to include the universe.
McLuhan suggests here that the literate, educated men of the world will organize and cordon off the information and data from the world around them, just by nature. In doing so, they—whether intentionally or not—will limit themselves in their ability to perceive the world around them as a whole. The man that McLuhan refers to as being tribal, who does not have the ability to speak, will not restrict the world around him, for he does not have the vernacular to do so. Instead, the man views the world as it is; he does not categorize it or divide it—he merely appreciates it and accepts it.
Language does for intelligence what the wheel does for the feet and the body. It enables them to move from thing to thing with greater ease and speed and ever less involvement.
Language is a propelling force, one that has bridged the gap between our thoughts and our ability to share those thoughts. McLuhan suggests here that language has propelled us forward by enabling us to communicate fully and with articulation our thoughts. No longer are we confined by our own minds. Rather, we are able to share our intelligence with those around us and form connections in a way that simply cannot be accomplished without the spoken word. Language is, itself, a medium of technology and invention, as it bridged a gap between our thoughts and our actions. The invention of language, much like the invention of the wheel, propelled us forward and allowed us to move from one proverbial location to another much faster than ever before.
War and the fear of war have always been considered the main incentives to technological extension of our bodies.
The author suggests that it has always been assumed that our greatest technological advances have been spurned in response to an act of war or in anticipation for it. In other words, humanity has been forced to create greater, more powerful forms of technology directly as an adaptation to different forms of war. The atom bomb, for example—one of the greatest and most powerful advancements in technological warfare and weaponry—was born from the bowels of war and in direct response to perceived threats. As such, McLuhan is making the point that much of our technological innovation can and must be contributed to mankind’s propensity for war and/or fear of it.
