And if we discover that the new medium brings along effects that might be detrimental to our society or culture, we have the opportunity to influence the development and evolution of the new innovation before the effects becomes pervasive .

"The medium is the message" tells us that noticing change in our societal or cultural ground conditions indicates the presence of a new message, that is, the effects of a new medium.

And it is the character of the medium that is its potency or effect -its message. In other words, "This is merely to say that the personal and social consequences of any medium -that is, of any extension of o urselves -result from the new scale that is introduced into our affairs by each extension of ourselves, or by any new technology."

We can know the nature and characteristics of anything we conceive or create (medium) by virtue of the changes -often unnoticed and non -obvious changes -that they effect (message.)

McLuhan defines medium for us as well. Righ t at the beginning of Understanding Media, he tells us that a medium is "any extension of ourselves."

. A McLuhan message always tells us to look beyond the obvious and seek the non -obvious changes or effects that are enabled, enhanced, accelerated or extended by the new thing

McLuhan tells us that a "message" is, "the change of scale or pa ce or pattern" that a new invention or innovation "introduces into human affairs." (

If one thinks about it, there are far more dynamic pr ocesses occurring in the ground than comprise the actions of the figures, or things that we do notice. But when something changes, it often becomes noticeable. And noticing change is the key

We sometimes call these effects "unintended consequences," al though " unanticipated consequences" might be a more accurate description.