FREE ESSAY ON MONEY AS A MEDIUM

MONEY AS A MEDIUM

Money as a Medium
Marshall McLuhan's lasting contribution is his vision of the ways technology affects and
changes history and culture. McLuhan proposes that technologies are not mere add-ons to
who and what humans are but, rather, alter them as though the technologies really are
extensions of humans. Technology determines culture and history to the extent that it
"shapes and controls the scale and form of human association and action." The
introduction of money affected culture in that this new technology gave rise to
accelerated change and growth within society.
Money increases the volume and diversity of trade and it facilitates the exchange of
goods and ideas. It also provides a means of showing who gives and who takes to and from
society. Money is an extension of mankind's ability to give, receive, and exchange.
McLuhan claims that all media are extensions of man, and subsequently, money extends the
human faculty of giving and taking work. McLuhan states in Understanding Media:
Money, which had been for centuries the principle transmitter and exchange of
information, is now having its function increasingly transferred to science and
automation. (142)
Moreover, money makes possible many other enterprises and technologies. The invention of
money changed society and caused change. For example, seventeenth century Japan was
affected by this new technology. It caused a slow revolution, the breakdown of the feudal
government, and a revival of foreign trade. McLuhan also emphasizes in Understanding
Media:
Like any other medium, it is a staple, a natural resource. As an outward and visible form
of the urge to change and to exchange, it is a corporate image, depending on society for
its institutional status. (133)
McLuhan implies that money is a chief item in society, but depends on the members to
define it. Giving value to an object creates money. A person then takes on the role of
tracking the exchanges of the object, or issuing notes or tokens that are accepted by the
community. 
Pythagoras introduced coinage into Southern Italy around 500 B.C. In his time, one of the
prominent questions thinkers were asking was "What are things made of?" Some said 
fire, some said water, or earth, air, or some combination thereof. Pythagoras was one of
the first to introduce the idea that it is not so much what things are made of, but that
their form is important. The particular type of form he was interested in was
mathematical. It is fitting that he introduced money that abstracts worth into a value
and provides a common unit of measurement. In its abstraction of worth into numeric
value, it habituates humans into dealing with numbers and, more generally, promotes the
sort of quantitative analysis that is prerequisite for deeper mathematical thought. 
This deeper mathematical thought acquires a position in daily life because of money. The
language of number becomes as common as other forms of language. Money makes humans into
precise bean counters, then geometricians, and then urban engineers. Modern probability
theory came about in the eighteenth century as a result of attempts to solve gambling
problems. Considerable mathematical ingenuity has been exercised on problems wherein the
entities under consideration were dollars. Money, in addition to providing motivation
toward knowing elementary mathematics, comes also to mediate the environment that builds
the paths society walks. Banks and depositories were created just on the basis for
lending and storing money. Stocks are based on the idea of investing money. One cannot
picture today's society without the use of money. McLuhan feels that a mechanized culture
needs money for coordination and communication between different specialist functions.
Work, time, and money become interrelated, but separate. He remarks that money "separates
work from other social functions." In this, McLuhan reveals that money makes a job
rewarding, and therefore that job serves a specific purpose in life. The job provides
money, which is necessary for everyday living. 
Money mints a hot connection between numbers and desire. It is not money that gives rise
to human calculations and schemes, but rather desire to experience certain feelings.
Humans do not want a particular item for its own sake, but rather to have certain
feelings. Humans have knowledge of how they want to feel; this gives rise to what they
think they want; at this point, if the item he or she wants has a monetary price attached
to it, then he or she will calculate or observe the price and whether they have enough
money. Humans do not often think in terms of trades and counter trades, talks and
negotiations, but proceed directly to the balance of dollars and cents. Numbers, in such
case, are no longer remote abstractions, but useful measures of human desire, need, and
power. Money creates in humans a range of emotions toward numbers, given how much money
counts in the fulfillment or frustration of needs and desires. The affective relation
between numbers and need is dramatized and formalized with the introduction of money.
The technology of money is a dramatic and relatively obvious example of McLuhan's idea of
inventions changing cultures and societies fundamental ways. Not only did money pave the
way for mathematical thinking, but also extended mankind's ability to give, receive, and
exchange. In conclusion, money clearly exemplifies McLuhan's proposition that "the medium
is the message."