ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Harold Innis

Harold Innis was a really smart man who lived a long time ago and studied how communication worked in different societies. He was interested in how people shared ideas and information without the help of the modern technology we have today, like phones and computers.

Innis believed that the way people communicated had a big impact on how societies developed over time. He talked about two types of communication: time-bound and space-bound.

Time-bound communication is when people use things like storytelling, art, or music to pass on their ideas and knowledge from generation to generation. Innis thought that this type of communication was really important because it helped people remember their traditions and customs.

Space-bound communication, on the other hand, is when people use things like books, newspapers, and the internet to share information across large distances. Innis thought this type of communication was important too because it allowed people in different places to learn from each other and work together.

One of Innis's big ideas was that different types of communication could have different effects on a society. For example, he thought that societies that relied too much on space-bound communication could become really focused on competition and individualism, while societies that relied more on time-bound communication could be more community-focused and cooperative.

Overall, Innis was a really smart person who studied how communication worked and how it affected societies in Canada and around the world.