A dictionary of Marshall McLuhan’s quotations

Well, the ideal, the visual world as compared to the world of resonance. The visual world offers evidence of a very different kind, that toward which you can feel an inclination of attention you can have, you can focus your attention on it we speak of having, you're conscious of visual life vocalized on concentrate upon an object, this gives you a point of view, now you can have a point of view about anything, you can see, but you cannot have a point of view about something you hear, especially something you overhear. There's a mystery there that we are much more powerfully involved in what we overhear then in what we hear. But in the world of resonance, man somehow, or other, becomes completely involved, he is not involved in the visual world as much, because this offers a means of detachment, you can stand back, you can look at it from different distances and so on. The world of resonance requires a complete involvement and consent on the part of the listener.
“A Matter of Faith”(TV Interview), Father Peyton’s Family Theatre, 1972; Transcript, p 5
Year: 1972
Compiled by William Kuhns
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