While discussing different types of writing surfaces in class, it occurred to me that everything from cave walls to an iPhone are simply mediums meant to convey ideas. What i mean by this, is that we use words, pictures, and our voices to tell something; a story, idea, or simple information, and as a result we need mediums to convey and carry these symbols and noises that somehow mean something to us. When it is all broken down, it is a little abstract. What is a word? And on a more basic level, what is a letter? It is a symbol that represents a sound, and when many of those sounds are put together, a word is formed. So a group of symbols, with sounds relating to those symbols, are joined together to create a bigger, longer symbol with a bigger, longer sound which ultimately relates to an object or idea.
Get it?
My point is that as arbitrary as words and their associated sounds are, they still mean something. And as long as they mean something to someone, they will have a purpose and an action. And now that we have mediums to type, print, text, photocopy, paint, and scan these words on, ideas and information can travel that much faster. Words may only be symbols, but now they are fast-moving and potent. When literacy ceased being the issue, speed of information became the new challenge and now that is being overcome.
After watching the in-class NOVA special on the Dead Sea Scrolls, I decided to do a little poking around at NOVA.com. I found a really interesting episode on Mayan Hieroglyphics, which you can watch online. I think, since you wrote about the nature of symbols in your post, you would really enjoy it.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/mayacode/