# Medium for thinking A medium for thinking is a mode of expression. It's a format, a specific structure to the information, that allows us to re-present our thinking in that medium. ## What is a Medium? ### Ted Nelson's definition of a medium "A medium is a set of presentation elements, and relations among them, that may be used by a person to create an object, environment or experience for someone else." [[Ted Nelson]] in [The Crafting of Media](http://worrydream.com/refs/Nelson%20-%20The%20Crafting%20of%20Media.pdf) - "presentation" - mediums for thinking are specifically for _re-presenting_ our thoughts (are thoughts abstractions or are they always embodied in a specific form?) - "relations among the elements" - the inter-relationships of the symbols in the medium is pretty much the hard part about crafting the medium - "used to create" - a medium is a generative thing. What is created by a medium is _not_ the medium itself, but an instance of it. - "an object, an environment, an experience" - Mediums may be experiential, they may create a "surround sound"-like environment, or they may be a specific concrete object. - "for someone else" - may include the same person at a later time ### Marshall McLuhan's Definition [[Marshall McLuhan]] Media is seen as an extension of our senses, and our very selves. Or, really, any new technology. "All technologies mediate our communication; their forms or structures affect how we perceive and understand the world around us." from [the wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Understanding_Media) - "how we perceive and understand the world" - again, a medium is a way that we present our thoughts. #notebook