biblical studies, threat saturation | marshall mcluhan 3

On theological studies...

"Scriptural scholars of both the Old and New Testaments frequently say that while their treatment must be linear, the subject is not. The subject treats of the relations between God and man, and between God and the world, and of the relationship between man and his neighbor - all these subsist together, and act and react upon one another at the same time.
The Hebrew and Eastern mode of though tackles problem and resolution, at the outset of a discussion, in a way typical of oral societies in general. The entire message is then traced and retraced, again and again, on the rounds of a concentric spiral… one can stop anywhere after the first few sentences and have the full message, if one is prepared to "dig" it." p43

In the context of the cold war...

Is a severe penalty the best deterrent to serious crime? With regard to the bomb and the cold war, is the threat of massive retaliation the most effective means to peace? Is it not evident in every human situation that is pushed to a point of saturation that some precipitation occurs?... It is obvious that numbness is the result of any prolonged terror. The price of eternal vigilance is indifference." p48

~ Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man : Critical Edition