So this obviously strikes a chord with you. 🙂 Very interesting comments! I wonder what reactions you would have if you read the book directly. I may or may not have given off a proper vibe of it.

I need to think more about this:
“IMHO, the “language” of images is just a limited, primitive subset of real language.” I’m questioning now what is language, really? We have so many diverse ways we communicate, and image is definitely just one of many. I suppose it depends on what we’re trying to communicate as to what mode is the most functional for it. I definitely am a word lover so I’ll never argue that words are “less” but I do appreciate the and/with approach.

Your examples of literacy are worthy. I wonder how Stephen Hawking would respond to it all, with his warnings of artificial intelligence taking over the world one day….

IMHO, the “language” of images is just a limited, primitive subset of real language.

One thing that is more to the fore in iconography is rhetoric, and I do think rhetoric is badly neglected in language education. I think rhetoric is not something corrupt, to be avoided, but is part and parcel of language: how an argument (set of linked statements) should be set out in time (speech) or space (graphics).

I’m a computer programmer (among other things;) so I see other layers here too:
– People who use real language will always have more power than people who are limited to image languages: you can use wordpress, but who decides what wordpress can do? (not limited to computers of course: the priest who can read the sacred text might have more power than the illiterate warlord who has to accept the priest’s interpretation).

– Computer use is often overlaid with metaphors. I don’t know if these have any effect, but they strike me as noteworthy. e.g. deleting a file:
– WIMP (Windows, Icons, Mouse, Pointer): the user clicks on the document icon, ‘drags’ it over the the bin icon, and ‘drops’ the document icon onto the bin icon. The user is doing the work. The metaphor is that the human takes the document and puts it in the bin.
– Command-line: the user types “rm filename” and presses return. The computer is doing the work. The metaphor is that the human tells the computer to do something and the computer does it.

Sorry for talking shop 🙂

David

I agree with you, Linda–it’s now time for us to figure this thing out, how to live with it without it taking us over….

And I think we’ll be figuring out how best to enfold it into our lives without it defining every move we make for a long, long time.

Weekend rest and joy, friend!

I am definitely a word-lover myself, from way back. Words have always fascinated me and they continue to. That’s one reason I loved “The Book Thief” so much–the writing in that book was so incredible. But images–I do love those as well. My skills are still lacking in being a producer of them but I’m learning. 🙂 That’s cool that you identified your sons visual acuity from early childhood.