Is the Netflix Documentary a Paean to Marshall McLuhan?
The Social Dilemma uses the intellectual framework built by McLuhan, but the similarities stop there
The Social Dilemma documentary has broken records. According to its main star, Tristan Harris, 38 million households in the first 28 days saw it on Netflix.
That’s incredible.
What’s even more incredible?
The whole documentary is a salute to Marshall McLuhan.
Well, it’s a tribute to Neil Postman, who was a loyal McLuhan disciple.
Harris, who is largely responsible for sounding the alarm bell about what the social media industry is up to, appeared on “The Joe Rogan Experience” last week. He concluded the interview with these glowing words about Postman’s classic work, Amusing Ourselves to Death:
It literally predicts everything that is going on now. I frankly think that I’m adding nothing . . . Neil Postman called it all in 1982.
I appreciate it when contemporaries admit that they are standing on the shoulders of giants — and McLuhan/Postman were giants — but I think Harris’ comment is a little too generous.
