Answers?... we'll see Part 1

Ok so at this point I really feel it’s time I did something constructive as so far I’ll hold my hands up and say I’ve been “cautiously passive” in my attitude to documenting my thoughts within this blog. (An alternative way of putting this would be to say I’ve been really lazy.) Now picking up on that word “passive” it seems wise to begin by jotting down my thoughts on the quote itself, what it could mean how I feel it relates to the technology we are looking at. (This is a very odd post to make because I’m not sure who I’m addressing it too, Steve or Anneke? Let’s go with Anneke as Steve already knows what I think as we discussed it and helped each other to form many of the opinions contained in the pages bellow this post.) Anyway less waffle more thoughts, ‘We are all robots when uncritically involved with our technologies.’ This can be very simply split into three different parts the “robots” part the “uncritically involved” part and the “technologies” part (now that all seems slightly obvious but go with on this one.) By choosing to describe us as robots Mr McLuhan is attaching our preconceived notions of what a robot is to his ponderings, that is to say in my mind he could just as easily used the word passive but then that doesn’t have quite the same dramatic overtones and god forbid we fail to inject a large dose of drama into everything we say Mr McLuhan (criticising him for being over elaborate in his style of writing feels a little like the pot calling the kettle black…) The point being I believe that’s what McLuhan is simply saying that we have a passive attitude towards technology and possibly life in general, the large majority of us being perfectly happy to sit back and watch things play out in front of us with little involvement on our parts other than to occasional complain when things don’t seem to be moving in beneficial tandem with our own experiences. Think of it all like being sat on a comfortable sofa watching television, your mouth slightly open, eyes glazed over casually tossing the remote around between your sweaty digits when ITV news suggests you text in to offer your opinions on the northern rock crisis. Or course being the financial expert you so clearly are moral obligation drives you to pick up the phone and venture forth with your sound piece of financial advice. Perhaps this is getting off track ever so slightly (does that matter when writing a blog?) the point is we act in a passive manner when dealing with technology, choosing to be lead rather than guide. “Uncritically involved” this is fairly self explanatory and doesn’t much levy its way beyond its own meaning, such as how a Buddhist monk may walk the white path between heaven and hell along the assassins road, choosing neither the light nor the dark but becoming a black void (perhaps an automobile would be a more succinct metaphor.) Silliness aside more can be extrapolated on this subject in essence contradicting what I just typed out. How can we be uncritically involved?