The quality of the instantaneous in the replay of experience is somewhat like the difference between cognition and recognition. Recognition may come somewhat after the event and is a form of awareness in which we say: "Oh, I didn't realize it was you" or "Oh, now I see what it's all about." Recognition is an altogether higher order of awareness from cognition, and yet it is now taken for granted as a normal feature of daily life in the electric age.
“At the Moment of Sputnik” (1974), in Marshall McLuhan: The Man and His Message (1989), p 80
Year: 1974
Chapter:
Cognition and Recognition
Compiled by William Kuhns
© 2026, The Estate of Marshall McLuhan
© 2026, The Estate of Marshall McLuhan