The introductory post about definitions (Definitions (101)) noted that finding a simple definition for terms and concepts is often problematic. Definitions may change over time as word use changes. The changeability of language is easy to overlook. The academic literature demonstrates this. Older textbooks show subtle differences in vocabulary. Words often have slightly different connotations. In even older textbooks, this becomes particularly noticeable. Unfortunately, scientists only read the most recently published work. Old books and academic articles go largely unread. Therefore, scientists are less likely to appreciate how language changes. When scientists think they are expressing ideas clearly and unambiguously, they are not. There is an added complication: different individuals may interpret the same statement differently. Using words alone to express ideas requires considerable care.
A characteristic of academic texts is their inclusion of visual material ranging from simple line drawings to detailed photographs. Tangible physical objects and intangible mental concepts are each presented. In this, we must include graphs as these give data shape - and perhaps tables since the numbers they contain can sometimes demonstrate patterns. Using visual material allows the writer to convey ideas without words.
Academic books and articles were not always well illustrated. Limitations to printing, in the past, meant a heavy reliance on words alone. Reading such works was onerous. Today, there is greater scope for conveying ideas.
When we are thinking, what is it that appears in our minds? (Interestingly, the word ‘appears’ - a visual word - seems the most apt to use here.) Do we ‘see’ pictures, or do we ‘see’ sentences? Is our thinking visual or verbal? I believe that, whatever it is, it is more closely akin to the former rather than the latter. That would also seem to make sense. As we evolved as a species, our visual sense preceded our use of words. As we develop as infants, the use of our eyes precedes our use of words. The visual precedes the verbal and may even have primacy. I consider myself somebody who engages very much in what might be called ‘Visual Thinking’. My notebooks are full of diagrams, doodles and scrawls. Although there are also many words jotted down, proper sentences are rare. What I write is augmented by symbols. Ideas are linked using lines and arrows. What I am describing is something akin to a mind map.
Even though they include words, mind maps are predominantly visual ways of presenting ideas. They provide a way of turning what is in our minds into something visual. They help us make sense of what is in our minds. Our ideas can, in turn, be conveyed to others quite rapidly. What we see - through our eyes or mentally - cannot be expressed accurately using only words. It is impossible to reproduce with precision even a simple line drawing from a verbal description alone. (Try it!)
The same image can mean different things to different people in a beneficial way. Likewise, new insights can come from depicting extant data differently. As a post-graduate student, I remember looking at data plotted by a colleague in a series of graphs. In light of something only I had read, I suggested a completely different interpretation of what the graphs showed. This realisation changed the whole course of my post-graduate work and the thesis I wrote.
Thus, visual material can provide scope for an enlargement of our knowledge and understanding in ways that I do not believe words can. I intend to devote some of my blog posts to visual material - augmented by a few words. These will be focused primarily on images that I find interesting or informative. I have collected these over many years. There will also be images I have been making for myself - for private use when trying to get to grips with an idea - or for presentations made in the past.
