[LINK] IFIP Digital Library

[Roger Clarke]

>On 19/08/2008, at 10:32 AM, Stephen Wilson wrote:
>>  And if so, was such research presented as text or something else?  ;-)

At 12:51 +1000 19/8/08, Stilgherrian wrote:
>Well, I did say "might" be better. Still, "a picture is a thousand
>words", and I'm sure that in some circumstances a moving image might
>convey meaning quite well... humans being visual creatures n'all.

Just to be clear about this ... I don't mean to demean formats other 
than text.  They can be valuable for idea transmission and 
infotainment as well as entertainment.

But (repeating Steve's point) disciplined argument and presentation 
demand a medium that is sufficiently precise and sufficiently rich 
(for the expressor) and sufficiently precise and sufficiently 
attractive (for the observer).

Image and especially video seldom deliver, and even sound has 
significant weaknesses.  Or, maybe more to the point, they 
*over*-deliver on the emotional content, and that undermines the 
logical content.  (Sorry, but I can never remember which side of the 
brain is supposed to be which.  I suppose that makes me 
dominant-one-side-or-the-other).

Like all natural languages, conventional english presents problems in 
achieving precision (because of its richness, maybe even *more* than 
some other languages.  Latin anyone?  Evan, where are you?).

So some disciplines use precise dialects of natural language, and 
others use more precise languages as much as possible (e.g. maths in 
all its forms has scores of 'em, and chemistry has multiples too).

As a test-case on images, consider diagrams.  Many, even ones that 
seem to 'readers' to be quite good, are very imprecisely defined, and 
readers infer very different things from them.  (My usual example is 
diagrams comprising boxes and arrows.  What do the arrows mean? 
Relationships?  Movement?  And if so, of what?).  So diagrams can be 
'good' conveyors of something in the sense of the reader thinking 
they understand, but not 'good' in the sense of conveying 
consistently to multiple readers.

</aside>

(The history of diagramming conventions in systems analysis and 
design has been one of alternative tightening to achieve precision, 
and loosening - because most human beings find such levels of 
precision daunting and even suffocating).

</aside>


-- 
Roger Clarke                  http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/

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Visiting Professor in Info Science & Eng  Australian National University
Visiting Professor in the eCommerce Program      University of Hong Kong
Visiting Professor in the Cyberspace Law & Policy Centre      Uni of NSW