In this quote, McLuhan brings up a rational concern for security in a digital age. In today's world, surveillance is a significant concern of the public, especially by the government. More specifically, this reminds me of the concern of privacy with the rollout of contact tracing apps built and dispatched by the government for the fight against COVID-19. This relates directly to McLuhan's dilemma "between our claim to privacy and the community's need to know."

Honestly, had no idea what a "sage" was so I had to look it up. According to wise Google, a sage is someone who is a good or virtuous person. McLuhan refers to the fact that, before the digital age, the character of someone was largely shaped by our parents. However, this generation now has access to limitless information and connections to other people who may have equal significant to influencing our character compared to our parents.

Once again, McLuhan loves using big words that I have to Google. "Parochialism" is defined as "a limited or narrow outlook, especially focused on a local area." In this context, I believe he is referring to how the digital and technological medium allows us to break physical barriers and, therefore, broaden our perspective.

I am very puzzled by this quote. I would argue that today's child is growing up absurd because both worlds inclines them to grow up too fast. In the real world, this generation faces the pressure of many societal issues that are out of their hands. Time spent online also forces them to grow up faster as they encounter more dangers like developing a poor self image based on mainstream media's unrealistic portrayal of the human body. TL;DR: It's tough growing up.

I swear McLuhan has a time machine because !! this is a genuine concern of the working class!! Automation threatens the livelihood of America's working class because their labor can be easily and cheaply replaced by machines. To answer this question, I direct you to Kai-Fu Lee's TedTalk here. Kai-Fu Lee is a Taiwanese-born American computer scientist, businessman, and writer. He brilliantly wrote the book "AI Superpowers" and basically answers McLuhan's question. If the circuits, machines, or automation replace our jobs we can just create new caretaking jobs and humans can use our innate ability to empathize and care -- abilities that machines do not have.

The government is just one old rickety machine that needs an upgrade.

The tools of the digital age are enabling us to organize and speak out like never before. The beauty is that anyone essentially has this megaphone that can blast to hundreds, thousands, millions, and even billions of people. In an instant, the minority can become the majority.