An extension of the heart.

I have been thinking about how McLuhan expressed mediums as an extension of our human physical self. E.g. clothes as an extension of the skin; the wheel as an extension of the foot.  But in my time away I have been thinking about how our bodies are an extension of our hearts.

Sitting in transit at Singapore airport there were a couple of times, when despite not being able to understand the full content of what was being said, I was able to still clearly get the message between two people.  The language of their bodies spoke volumes.  I have, in attempting to share more with the Cambodian people I am visiting, again observed this occurance. It's like all of a sudden the clarity of the body itself as a medium becomes apparent.

In the Gospel of Mark 7:15 Jesus says "It's not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart."

I think Jesus is challenging us to see our body, then, as the medium through which the deepest elements of who we are get communicated. It seems those that started this discussion with him had the idea that the body was the medium for the world/outside to get into our hearts; Jesus, it seems, wants to help us see that the body medium works the other way around.

This for me raises the interesting question of: If we accept McLuhan's extension of man concept, is our ability to not be worked over by our mediums ultimately an issue of the heart?  If the answer is yes, which I would be leaning towards, then each new medium will, in how we utilise it, be a reflection of who we are, and what has captured our heart.  It also means that to work against the natural tendencies of the medium we will first have to understand how it is an extension of our heart.