It [the coming transformation of culture] is formed as a vast global resonant unity. It ignores all forms of specialization, all fragmentation, all logic. Faced with this invasion, Greco-Roman culture cannot resist and it is in the process of rapidly falling apart, abruptly and suddenly, so much so that we faced an unbelievable crisis. The Church is watching its cultural infrastructure crumble beneath its feet. When everything happens at the speed of light — at electric speed — the Greco-Roman world gives way. Doubtless the Church was always built for this civilization, but there is nothing in the new technology to sustain it. Of course, there will be a strong reaction when we catch our breath, but for now our young have been conquered by this electric world.
“Keys to the Electronic Revolution: First Conversation with Pierre Babin” (1977) in The Medium and the Light, 1999, p 50
Year: 1977
Chapter:
Catholic Church
Compiled by William Kuhns
© 2026, The Estate of Marshall McLuhan
© 2026, The Estate of Marshall McLuhan