Not separating the message from the medium was a shortfall of Narcissus – the Greek mythological hero. Narcissus was blessed with supernatural good looks. All the women of the world adored him. All the maidens could not have him and wined and complained to the Greek gods. So the gods created a pool of pure silver water in the woods. Narcissus discovered this pool and when he leaned over to drink he was stunned by his own reflection. He mistook the image for a handsome water spirit and he fell in love with his own reflection.
When he leaned over to kiss his fair face, the reflection fled upon contact as the liquid was disturbed. In time the image would return and he would become enamored once again. This continued over and over until in time Narcissus withered and died.
Most people say He fell in love with himself and that this was a story to warn against self love. But perhaps the chief error of narcissus was that he failed to recognize himself in the reflection. He was numb to his own extended image in the low tech medium of the silver water. He did not see the image as an extension of himself and so the image had the power to harm and ultimately kill him. If he had only understood the water was simply a medium, a mirror reflecting his own image, he would have gained control.
You must separate the message from the medium. Media is only as good as the message. Media itself is not evil. Now you may be thinking that the production value of some media is very bad, but that’s another topic all together.
Media shapes your belief ~ part 2
When he leaned over to kiss his fair face, the reflection fled upon contact as the liquid was disturbed. In time the image would return and he would become enamored once again. This continued over and over until in time Narcissus withered and died.
Most people say He fell in love with himself and that this was a story to warn against self love. But perhaps the chief error of narcissus was that he failed to recognize himself in the reflection. He was numb to his own extended image in the low tech medium of the silver water. He did not see the image as an extension of himself and so the image had the power to harm and ultimately kill him. If he had only understood the water was simply a medium, a mirror reflecting his own image, he would have gained control.
You must separate the message from the medium. Media is only as good as the message. Media itself is not evil. Now you may be thinking that the production value of some media is very bad, but that’s another topic all together.
This post was inspired from the book “ Flickering Pixels: How Technology Shapes Your Faith” by Shane Hipps
… to be continued
###
This entry was posted on June 23, 2009 at 10:31 pm and is filed under Marketing, audio production, commentary, communication, faith, technology, video production with tags Marketing, Media, message. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.