Gists, Semiotics, & Culture

Language comprehension  We remember syntax, constraints for how our language is structured  We chunk into clauses - the gist, not the data  We make inferences as we go  Why we’re reading [or listening] (goal) is a factor  We synthesize gists into mental models - what the text is about Does this process description sound familiar?

Semiotics  Semiotics: the study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation. The Triad of Semiotics

Semiotics: Text Refers to a message which has been recorded in some way (e.g. writing, audio- and video- recording) so that it is physically independent of its sender or receiver.  A text is an assemblage of signs (such as words, images, sounds and/or gestures) constructed (and interpreted) by the reader with reference to the conventions associated with a genre and in a particular medium of communication.

Semiotics: Medium  Different media and genres provide different frameworks for representing experience, facilitating some forms of expression and inhibiting others.  Human experience is inherently multisensory, and every representation of experience is subject to the constraints and affordances of the medium involved. Every medium is constrained by the channels (visual, auditory, tactile, …) which it utilizes.

Semiotics: Language redefined Information or meaning is not contained in the world or in books, computers or audio-visual media. Meaning is not transmitted to us - we actively construct it according to a complex interplay of codes or conventions of which we are normally unaware

Movie Time  Semiotic Hyperreality and its Effect on Design (10) Semiotic Hyperreality and its Effect on Design

… and the language? It’s relative Speakers of different languages are obliged to think about the world differently.  Semi-gendered languages like English: I spent yesterday evening with a neighbor. How tall is that bridge? The fork said, “Wash your hands.”  Mostly gendered languages like German: I spent yesterday evening with a male neighbor. How tall is that feminine bridge? The masculine fork said, “Female, wash your feminine hands.”

… and the language? It’s relative  English (egocentric & geographic direction): Look out for that big ant in front of your foot. Now raise your left hand and move your right leg forward. [Looking at the dorm room across the hall] It’s just like mine! I jumped out of the boat and in the water, then she did; we saw a shark swimming behind us…  Guugu Yimithirr (geographic direction only): Look out for that big ant just north of your foot. Now raise your north hand and move your south leg eastward. [Looking at the dorm room across the hall] It’s laid out so different. I jumped in the water on the western side of the boat, then she jumped in on the east side; we saw a shark swimming north…

… and the language? It’s relative “An animal passed here,” is tantamount to lying in Matses (Peru). Use different verb form depending how you came to know what you are reporting:  “[I saw] an animal pass here.” // direct experience  “[I saw the footprints of] an animal who passed here.” // inference  “An animal [probably] passed here [because this is when they usually come by].” // conjecture  “[She told me] an animal passed here.” // hearsay

… and the language? It’s relative  Nubians of Sudan don’t speak of “color”. Only 4 words represent what we call colors.  Castillians (Spanish) have more than 2 dozen words describing mountains and hills.  Culture cannot exist without language. Want to learn a language better? Learn about the culture. Want to learn about a culture? Learn the language.

Moral of the Story, I  How we socialize today depends to a large extent on learning a complex system of signs and codes.

Moral of the Story, II  The use of Metaphors in design is fundamental.  Whether in products, graphics, film or media, metaphors are a key element.  Roland Barthes says that “No sooner is a form seen than it must resemble something: humanity seems domed to analogy.”  A study showed that English speakers produced an average of novel metaphors per week.

Moral of the Story, III  Contemporary semiotics has moved away from the classification of sign systems to study how meanings are made … and how meanings are not only being concerned with communication but also with the construction and maintenance of reality.  Studying semiotics can assist us to become more aware of reality as a construction and of the roles played by ourselves constructing or designing it.  It can help us understand that information or meaning is not ’contained’ in the world, in books or products.  Meaning is not ’transmitted’ to us – we actively create it according to a complex interplay of codes of which we are normally not aware.

ICD: Why Should IxDers Care?  Semiotics as a necessary skill for designers?