Conscious Fingering of the Remote Controller
The well known Radio and Television producer Malcom Maggeridge in his lecture series on 'Christ and the Media' (1977) related Jesus to truth and reality, and the devil to phantasy and images. In his reflection on the temptation of Christ in the desert Maggeridge places the fourth temptation that Jesus was asked by the devil to show his power in order to get the fame and name. The temptation of the modern world is to be showy and to be in the limelight of the media. The common view is that the success is the only true story of life and suffering in its fruits are to be rejected. There is a gulf between the reality and imaginary. The media is more on unreal imageries.
The famous media theorist Marshal McLuhan said that the media is the extension of our central nervous system. What the role of the nervous system in human body, that is exactly what the media meant for the modern society. Media creates a subculture in the society and its influence can be negative or positive. In another metaphor McLuhan said that the media is the extension of our senses. Television is the extension of our eyes, radio and mobile phones are of ears, and computer is our touching faculty. The eyesight of an elderly person in our remote village is now far brighter than of a person in the same village ten years ago. Today by the presence of television set in our living rooms, one is able to witness every event that takes place around the world in each moment. The concepts of our food habit, of our cloths, of our manners and of our language have got an international touch. Nothing is any taboo in the modern world. In the so-called global village everything become permissible. This is the modern threat from the media. A kind of relativism is overshadowing our life. Pope Benedict XVI calls this the tyranny of relativism. The modern media programs project no absolute truth. The existing values are not respected but new values are created at the whims and fancies of individuals. This is the danger that we face in a televised world.
No one can stop the onward march of the modern media and communication techniques and technologies. The scientific world is fast-forwarding. What we have to develop is but a filtering mind. It is not the media persons who have to dictate our values but we have to make our valuable life. We need a conscious mind in seeing and hearing the news and views. We have to count on our filtering capacity to identify the good and the evil. Basically we are blessed with the capacity to choose. And that is my right and might. Not that everything that the media telecast has to be believed or imitated. Each person has to decide what is good for him according the familial and religious values that one has learnt. The media always appeals to our emotional and dreamy appetites. A person who takes a decision in his subconscious or unconscious mind may be at the brim of dangers. A conscious decision is always healthy.
Franz Joseph Eliers in his book “Communicating in Community” gives certain propositions on the effects of television in our society. Television replaces other meaningful activities like taking leisure and free time. It seems to limit the creativity: non T.V Viewing persons were more creative in problem solving. It may encourage viewers to relay on readymade ideas, that is, to be mentally passive. It changes social attitudes in reducing social interaction and commitment in community. It reduces activities especially of elderly people and thus might contribute to a widening generation gap. It promotes a stereotyped view on person, social groups and the world. Television seems to contribute to aggressive behavior: in seeing on TV the viewer might learn his own control of aggression for his own behavior. The television is not the real entertainer but sometimes it takes away our real relationship and our friendship. We have to be very prudent in entertaining this intruder in our family life.
Through violence and pornography today’s media exploits and degrades the human person. It undermines marriages and families and twists personal and social relations. It is not the media that has to dominate our life and influence our decisions but we have to master the media for the good of the society. The famous axiom of St. Paul, ‘faith comes from what is heard’, I will add to it ‘and what is seen’. Let us open our eyes to see the goodness, truth and unity of the creation and especially of human being and let us tune our ears to listen the Word of God that will guide our footsteps to the glory for God and of human person.
The well known Radio and Television producer Malcom Maggeridge in his lecture series on 'Christ and the Media' (1977) related Jesus to truth and reality, and the devil to phantasy and images. In his reflection on the temptation of Christ in the desert Maggeridge places the fourth temptation that Jesus was asked by the devil to show his power in order to get the fame and name. The temptation of the modern world is to be showy and to be in the limelight of the media. The common view is that the success is the only true story of life and suffering in its fruits are to be rejected. There is a gulf between the reality and imaginary. The media is more on unreal imageries.
The famous media theorist Marshal McLuhan said that the media is the extension of our central nervous system. What the role of the nervous system in human body, that is exactly what the media meant for the modern society. Media creates a subculture in the society and its influence can be negative or positive. In another metaphor McLuhan said that the media is the extension of our senses. Television is the extension of our eyes, radio and mobile phones are of ears, and computer is our touching faculty. The eyesight of an elderly person in our remote village is now far brighter than of a person in the same village ten years ago. Today by the presence of television set in our living rooms, one is able to witness every event that takes place around the world in each moment. The concepts of our food habit, of our cloths, of our manners and of our language have got an international touch. Nothing is any taboo in the modern world. In the so-called global village everything become permissible. This is the modern threat from the media. A kind of relativism is overshadowing our life. Pope Benedict XVI calls this the tyranny of relativism. The modern media programs project no absolute truth. The existing values are not respected but new values are created at the whims and fancies of individuals. This is the danger that we face in a televised world.
No one can stop the onward march of the modern media and communication techniques and technologies. The scientific world is fast-forwarding. What we have to develop is but a filtering mind. It is not the media persons who have to dictate our values but we have to make our valuable life. We need a conscious mind in seeing and hearing the news and views. We have to count on our filtering capacity to identify the good and the evil. Basically we are blessed with the capacity to choose. And that is my right and might. Not that everything that the media telecast has to be believed or imitated. Each person has to decide what is good for him according the familial and religious values that one has learnt. The media always appeals to our emotional and dreamy appetites. A person who takes a decision in his subconscious or unconscious mind may be at the brim of dangers. A conscious decision is always healthy.
Franz Joseph Eliers in his book “Communicating in Community” gives certain propositions on the effects of television in our society. Television replaces other meaningful activities like taking leisure and free time. It seems to limit the creativity: non T.V Viewing persons were more creative in problem solving. It may encourage viewers to relay on readymade ideas, that is, to be mentally passive. It changes social attitudes in reducing social interaction and commitment in community. It reduces activities especially of elderly people and thus might contribute to a widening generation gap. It promotes a stereotyped view on person, social groups and the world. Television seems to contribute to aggressive behavior: in seeing on TV the viewer might learn his own control of aggression for his own behavior. The television is not the real entertainer but sometimes it takes away our real relationship and our friendship. We have to be very prudent in entertaining this intruder in our family life.
Through violence and pornography today’s media exploits and degrades the human person. It undermines marriages and families and twists personal and social relations. It is not the media that has to dominate our life and influence our decisions but we have to master the media for the good of the society. The famous axiom of St. Paul, ‘faith comes from what is heard’, I will add to it ‘and what is seen’. Let us open our eyes to see the goodness, truth and unity of the creation and especially of human being and let us tune our ears to listen the Word of God that will guide our footsteps to the glory for God and of human person.
