Hi Willeke
Not only you provide amusementbut you also provide food for thought.
So we get " the butter and the money for the butter", winning both ways.
IMO this kind of discussion can help for the "new Igkt project" ;-)
Hi Squarerigger
You read me correctly :
I was speaking of 'image' acquisition by the human brain
and not of the computer ways.
There is nothing 'graphics' or 'text' for computers,
only for the language human devised for'contacting' the basic binary language.
Human brain cannot ( must not ) be likened to a computer.
In fact the "bytes" have been 'calculated' by
physiologists and psychologist and are hugely in favor of image.
Speed and quantity transfered are better for an
image 'read' as a
whole than for a text
which of necessity is accessed words by words, no
gestalt perception with text. ( Advantage of
Nature (vision ) over Nurture ( verbal ).
This explain why control panels in aircraft say,
are more and more massively "graphics" than text.
Even with the best disposition : 50 characters per
line and the best chosen font ( or speech)verbal cannot beat the
speed of acquisition of an image by the human brain
Appreciation of spatial relationship if much better
an image than with words.
As for quality then there are "optical" mistakes that
happen for both text and image - not the same sort.
I was careful to write 'ink'.
I had in mind more brain/ paper that brain/computer
but I stand by my words for the computer too :
There are too many physiological and psychological
verified facts that lead in that direction :-0)
A good web site or paper publication must always be reader's oriented
not only in style but even to the point of choosing colours or fonts
that will not hinder readers with vision defect.
As for the text it is 'the very basic move' to write always in a "reader's oriented" manner.
One write for readers not for oneself.
So...to get published
and to get read + easily retained one must obey/learn some rules.
But DerekSmith has a point ( ancient ;-)):
the first computers were not colours and when too much colours are used it make
for heavy
computer acquisition of files.The first 'coloured-PC'
had processors that were not 'up to it'.
Hence a certain 'bias' for some people.
Plus there is a more ' intellectual' or 'academic' aspect to verbal versus ' image'
and much more social pressure and incentive towards words mastery.
Still we are
born to images and
trained to words.
E.g : but anyway in diagrams ( graphics communication versus graphics aesthetics)A
one is well advised not to get a fireworks display of colours.
One do not add a colour if it does not add
to the data-content and give a better noise/signal ratio.
Why do people thinks that ABOK of Cyrus Day books are so "readers friendly" ?
IMO simple : images.
If someone wants to see how a person can intelligently get
a very adequately functional mix of words and pictures just look at Lindsey Philpott books.
Not wanting to do that without his express permission I do not put here a picture of one of the pages.
Hi DerekSmith
I am not really sure you made me change a mind. It has been set after personal experiences
and reading quite a lot( communication people, graphists but more so scientists) plus my
colleagues in the military : huge use of 'visual' )about text image and the advantage of one over the other.
I have yet to see one study saying that a text is more efficient 'intrinsically' than an image.
Why do you think most people prefer a diagrammatic map of the way to follow than verbal instruction?
Have you look at the picture of the Grande Armée Russia campain I put in my previous post ?:
it summarize several chapters of a written book.
The data on the epidemic exposed in one 'map'
will need several pages to be related in full.
Moreover the ' conclusion' is just more 'obvious' with such a representation.
A well thought text can be worth many bad image.
A well thought about/conceived image following the rules
of graphics communication of data can be worth many well written words.
Just a test ( diagrams are 'ugly' and could be made much more performant ) I propose:
with this diagram nobody complained of being unable to do the knot with ease.
it is
ABOK#1391.
Picture is 800 x 582 not overly small and 7/10 in compression factor.
I ask you :
- to write verbal instruction for a non-reading person or a non English-speaking person
that you will send to that person and further clarify on the phone afterwards
( that is silly problem in fact : reduction ad absurdum)
- to give verbal instruction over the phone so the person do not commit even one mistake in laying it.
We will see how you both you and that person will fare.
In fact it is not fair of me : picture has already won.
so the conclusion is :
you are right in your own set of mind and sure of it,
I am right in my own set of mind and sure of it
and we both stay with our personal conviction.
See the
first knot Willeke describe here in diagram.
:
Who says that I must use several drawings ?
I think this (ugly/unrefined ) representation is faster than verbal in conveying'how to do it'.
I do not want to go in a dispute or be over-boring so will let this matter rest.
Cheers
Nautile
PS:
ABOK#1391 : I can get it made by someone with whom I do not have a word in common.
I can convey to you with one image what I could not even begin to write about( even using my own language )
image = direct tap into the brain.( that is what make them 'dangerous')
In the middle age ( see St Marc of Venice in Italy ) the "religious teaching"
( the sole available to "the plebe" was by images and certainly not by 'print'