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I am just despairing the state of the species. We're communicating through comic pictograms like we're reverting to a neolithic state.

xboxnolifes 1y ago
Pictographic communication continued into, and separately came about, far more recently than the neolithic era. And history isn't a linear movement of only progress. There is no obvious reason to think the pictographic communication is a degradation of communication.
- WalterBright 1y ago
  > There is no obvious reason to think the pictographic communication is a degradation of communication. Phonetic alphabets evolved from pictograms, not the other way around. For example, A is an upside down bull's head. Pictograms are definitely a degradation.
  - xboxnolifes 1y ago
    Why is using alphabets and pictograms a degradation? Explained in a way that is something other than "pictograms were used long ago so they are bad". It also seems that the assumption is that alphabets were an improvement in every way. Why is this a given?
    - WalterBright 1y ago
      Because you cannot look up a pictogram to divine its meaning. There are a million words in English. You can trivially look any of them up. > "pictograms were used long ago so they are bad" Please don't put words in my mouth that I never wrote. Pictograms evolved into phonetic alphabets over and over in history, because phonetic alphabets are objectively better. Take a chapter from "Lord of the Rings" and redo it with pictograms. Good luck with that.
542354234235 1y ago
How is using comic pictograms as one of the many ways we communicate some sort of reversion? We use different vocabularies when talking to different audiences, for instance I speak much more casually with friends than with my boss. We often specifically use vocabulary and word choice to provide context to the nature of the conversation. Like using formal and respectful wording to highlight professionalism, or using casual slang to highlight a joking or lighthearted tone. As we have moved more informal conversations to written form (texting everyday with friends is a lot more casual than sending paper letter correspondence through the mail to friends), we have added ways to provide tonal context that is lost by not hearing someone’s voice or seeing their body language. Adding “LOL” or “haha” to indicate your statement is meant to be a joking tone, for instance. Emojis are just another way to do that and to reinforce the casual nature of the communication. Someone might use the turtle emoji when messaging their girlfriend about how long they have been waiting in line to give the message a cute playful tone, where they wouldn’t use it when talking about a production slowdown in a message to their coworkers. Its fine not to like emojis, but it is eyerollingly pretentious to act like it is some indication of the de-evolution of society.

xboxnolifes 1y ago

Pictographic communication continued into, and separately came about, far more recently than the neolithic era. And history isn't a linear movement of only progress. There is no obvious reason to think the pictographic communication is a degradation of communication.

WalterBright 1y ago
> There is no obvious reason to think the pictographic communication is a degradation of communication. Phonetic alphabets evolved from pictograms, not the other way around. For example, A is an upside down bull's head. Pictograms are definitely a degradation.
- xboxnolifes 1y ago
  Why is using alphabets and pictograms a degradation? Explained in a way that is something other than "pictograms were used long ago so they are bad". It also seems that the assumption is that alphabets were an improvement in every way. Why is this a given?
  - WalterBright 1y ago
    Because you cannot look up a pictogram to divine its meaning. There are a million words in English. You can trivially look any of them up. > "pictograms were used long ago so they are bad" Please don't put words in my mouth that I never wrote. Pictograms evolved into phonetic alphabets over and over in history, because phonetic alphabets are objectively better. Take a chapter from "Lord of the Rings" and redo it with pictograms. Good luck with that.

542354234235 1y ago

How is using comic pictograms as one of the many ways we communicate some sort of reversion? We use different vocabularies when talking to different audiences, for instance I speak much more casually with friends than with my boss. We often specifically use vocabulary and word choice to provide context to the nature of the conversation. Like using formal and respectful wording to highlight professionalism, or using casual slang to highlight a joking or lighthearted tone. As we have moved more informal conversations to written form (texting everyday with friends is a lot more casual than sending paper letter correspondence through the mail to friends), we have added ways to provide tonal context that is lost by not hearing someone’s voice or seeing their body language. Adding “LOL” or “haha” to indicate your statement is meant to be a joking tone, for instance. Emojis are just another way to do that and to reinforce the casual nature of the communication. Someone might use the turtle emoji when messaging their girlfriend about how long they have been waiting in line to give the message a cute playful tone, where they wouldn’t use it when talking about a production slowdown in a message to their coworkers. Its fine not to like emojis, but it is eyerollingly pretentious to act like it is some indication of the de-evolution of society.