What's That Supposed to Mean

by Paul Battley

In the talk titled "What's That Supposed to Mean," Paul Battley explores the complexities of symbols and writing systems throughout history, emphasizing the challenge of conveying abstract concepts effectively. He begins by addressing common frustrations people encounter with symbols in everyday life, from washing machines to car dashboards, highlighting the universal struggle to comprehend pictorial communication. Battley provides an overview of various writing systems, including alphabets, logograms, abugidas, and syllabaries, and explains the unique features of Chinese and Japanese.

Key points discussed include:

Historical Development: Battley traces the evolution of writing systems, noting how they began as pictorial representations but evolved into more abstract characters. He provides examples of ancient Chinese characters and their transformations over millennia.
Challenges of Learning: He illustrates the difficulty inherent in learning characters, particularly in languages like Chinese and Japanese, requiring significant memorization and understanding of context.
Rebus Symbols: The use of rebus symbols in ancient writing systems is highlighted, demonstrating how representations can shift from literal images to phonetic clues.
Modern Communication: Battley discusses how the digital age has influenced symbol comprehension, introducing challenges due to the inconsistency of icons across platforms and the outdated meanings behind some symbols, such as the floppy disk icon for saving a document.
Design Considerations: He emphasizes the importance of clarity in symbol design and the challenge of bridging cultural differences in understanding symbols.

The conclusion of the talk reiterates the ongoing need for clarity and adaptation in communication as writing systems evolve. Battley encourages his audience to embrace the complexities of symbols while striving for effective communication, recognizing the beauty in human creativity that these systems represent. He invites questions to explore personal experiences with symbols and writing systems further, fostering a dialogue on pictorial communication challenges and breakthroughs.

00:00:00.000 Hello, everyone! Welcome to my talk. Have you ever cursed at the symbols on a washing machine, puzzled at the pictorial navigation of a website, or panicked at that inscrutable symbol on the car dashboard that's flashing red? I have, especially the last one. I eventually discovered that I had been driving with the parking brake on.

00:00:25.230 All of this has happened before, and all this will happen again (except for me driving with the parking brake on). Throughout history, humanity has faced the challenge of putting complex and abstract concepts onto paper, clay, rock, or skin, or whatever. It usually starts out in the same way, but the end results have been very varied: we've ended up with alphabets, abjads, abugidas, logograms, and syllabaries. Oh, and the symbols on modern industrial devices.

00:01:02.219 In this talk, I will describe the history of some of the more interesting writing systems, explain how Chinese works, discuss why Japanese can be really hard, and highlight why you should be glad you're not an Akkadian. I hope that it will be enlightening and fascinating, but I also aim to inform the way people approach pictorial communication in the future. Additionally, I hope it will explain why there are so many hamburger menus and inspire people to do better.

00:01:22.729 My username on the internet is "three-day monkey". People often ask me what that means, which is a reasonable question. It’s a Japanese term that translates to something akin to "three-day monkey". In Japanese, it literally means "three-day monkey" but figuratively refers to someone who starts things and doesn’t finish them, which can seem immature for someone who joins a community and then quickly leaves. I know I sometimes fit that description.

00:02:12.780 The symbol for "three" in Japanese is really easy; it consists of three strokes. But the character for "day" represents the passage of the sun across the sky. Over time, this character has evolved from its ancient form found in oracle bones dating back to 3000 BC into a more stylized version that we recognize today.

00:02:32.780 Now, for the second part of my username, "monkey". You might think you could draw a picture of a monkey, but that's quite challenging. If you attempt to draw it, you quickly find it's not as straightforward as it seems. In ancient writing systems like Chinese, if a system is based on drawing pictures, how do you represent things that can't be easily illustrated? One way is to use rebus symbols, which are things that sound the same.

00:03:12.780 For instance, to represent the word 'forest,' I could use a picture of a 'four' and a picture of a 'sheep' to form a play on words. It gets the point across, but it's somewhat abstract. In Chinese, this process was used to develop characters that combine pictorial information with phonetic information. This concept is the foundation of how they approached writing.

00:03:54.780 In Chinese, the word for 'image' is "xiang", which conveniently is the same as the word for 'elephant.' The character for 'elephant' has evolved over the years, yet you can still recognize its roots. They used the Chinese character system to express complex ideas using common radicals which can be combined to create new meanings, allowing them to express ideas abstractly.

00:04:42.310 The difficulty of writing systems becomes apparent when transforming characters into usable symbols. For example, the Japanese language borrowed Chinese characters around the 4th century. However, Japanese is unrelated to Chinese. This borrowing formed a complex relationship where Japanese developed its own system called kana, allowing them to phonetically express their language using simplified characters. The writing system creates a distinct challenge, especially since there are multiple ways to represent the same sounds.

00:05:38.370 As a result of this convoluted history, there are countless characters and pronunciations. To learn how to read Chinese is much harder than one would initially expect. Even educated speakers find it a bit daunting due to this complexity. Chinese and Japanese both require substantial memorization of characters, bearing the burden of distinguishing between meanings and pronunciations.

00:06:31.220 Writing systems can vary greatly, and the evolution of these systems can lead to complications for learners. For instance, the Sumerians in Mesopotamia created cuneiform, which began as a pictorial writing system but later simplified to marks impressed on clay. This method was based on practicality since writing in wet clay was easier with fewer distinctive marks. So, it’s vital to understand how these systems adapt.

00:07:25.150 Similarly, Chinese began to simplify complex characters into components that could represent both meanings and sounds. They mixed ideograms, logograms, and phonetic symbols to create a system where phonetics provided a way to clarify meaning through context, which allowed for much more flexibility than older systems.

00:08:07.680 However, this also leads to confusion! For example, a single character can represent multiple meanings or pronunciations depending on context. Thus, unlike the less flexible systems, modern languages require users to navigate a myriad of symbols.

00:08:37.920 On a similar note, the modern digital age has also greatly influenced how we communicate with one another, particularly in our method of pictorial representation. Today, logos, icons, and emoji have taken the place of many traditional symbols in our daily communications. Yet, despite their general understanding, the rapid evolution of this language often complicates comprehension.

00:09:30.240 The inconsistencies across platforms further complicate this problem. Each device and website often has its own set of icons, leading to a plethora of visual languages that one must learn to navigate. This variety can be overwhelming and can create a disconnect between intended meaning and interpretation.

00:10:14.899 For instance, consumer products and appliances often come with symbols that make sense to the manufacturers but are unclear to consumers. This situation can lead to frustration and misunderstanding because a simple washing machine symbol may not clearly represent its actual function.

00:10:59.200 On the topic of symbols misrepresenting concepts, consider the icon for saving a document, which resembles the outdated floppy disk. Many young designers today have never encountered this object but still effectively use its symbol without understanding its original context.

00:11:50.360 The challenge lies in maintaining a visual language that communicates effectively to diverse audiences and across numerous platforms without losing its meaning or essence. Each design choice comes with its set of expectations, as designers must consider the time-worn associations that certain symbols carry. This situation leads to potential gaps in understanding as meanings clash from culture to culture.

00:12:38.870 To summarize, despite our advancements over thousands of years from pictograms to our modern visual languages, we still rely heavily on the notions that underpinned ancient systems of writing. The gripping nature of written language tends to endure, and we see this in the attempt to create systems that consistently communicate effectively. Many of the same pitfalls we experienced in previous writing systems are now reappearing in the digital realm.

00:13:01.550 As with anything, the evolution of communication and writing technology will continue to adapt and transform, and thus optimizing our current approaches and systems will be essential. It's important to recognize that symbols are versatile but also can be confusing. Henceforth, we need to embrace change while being meticulous as we transition from this one era of communication into another.

00:14:08.970 In conclusion, while the complexities of languages and writing systems may feel daunting, they also highlight the beauty of human creativity. Symbols are more than just letters or simple figures; they represent our desire to convey thoughts and feelings, bridging the gaps between individuals from diverse backgrounds. Let’s continue to strive for clarity in communication as we navigate through this complex landscape together.

00:15:01.890 Thank you for attending my talk! I hope you found it informative and enjoyable. I welcome any questions you may have about the subjects we've discussed today, but also about your own experiences with symbols and writing systems in your lives. What challenges or breakthroughs have you recognized in your encounters with pictorial communication? Share those thoughts with me; I'm eager to explore them further!

Paul Battley

@threedaymonk

Keep Ruby Weird 2014