The five colors blind the eye.
The five tones deafen the ear.
The five flavors dull the taste.
Racing and hunting madden the mind.
Precious things lead one astray.

Therefore the sage is guided by what he feels and not by what he sees.
He lets go of that and chooses this.

Tao Te Ching, Chapter 12

Mcluhan would take this verse, including the lines "The five colors blind the eye. The five tones deafen the ear," and relate it to television medium. He might say that, after the television was invented, after it was "turned on," and now that it can not be "turned off," we have been mesmorized by its visual and audio sensory output. We have become "blind" to actual reality in favor of the "five colors" and "five tones." Case in point, the California Recall. Arnold could be governor because he comes across well on TV. Politics is so much a "reality" show, except we don't get to see the producer telling the participants what to say and do.