3 October 2024

Symbology (æ)

If there is one thing I have learned by meeting and becoming different types of people, it is the fact that we don’t all communicate the same way. This is not only about reasons and emotions, or about language and culture, it is also about timing, tone, pitch, and even the intentional or unintentional occurrence of silence itself.

So communication is a matter of how I as an individual and we as a culture understand ourselves across space, time, and ‘music’ (for lack of a better word). And don’t even get me started on how Structure comes into play in regard to culture. It’s hard enough for one individual to communicate well with another, so cross-cultural communication is a whole new beast and, in my 2020 opinion, impossible because it always depends on the individual.

All of the things that I described above are more easy to communicate in person and through speech than through text. Well, unfortunately this is a text right here?, so we might wanna get on the same page about some things before you read what I am trying to write. I’m not gonna bore you with the whole philosophical rant, I’m just gonna leave these here and reference them if there’s some miscommunication between us…

For the time being, we’ll call it InterLinguistic Punctuation.
(Let’s not go into Grammar just yet).

Identity

SymbolMeaningDefinition/Example
/unite/differentiate ideasidentity/equality
/ = /= / = identity/identity
equality=equality
=unite=differentiate ideasequality=identity

**sigh** This entire operation is an attempt to define these two symbols, what they mean/do, and how/why they are identical-yet-different. Believe me, if it were that simple to just write the definition, we wouldn’t be having these conversations in the first place. But I know most people still want the “short version” so here it is:

Being = Becoming/DoingBecoming = Being/DoingDoing = Being/Becoming

However there is oh-so-much-more to this because the entire logic, math and set theory have to be re-written. So just bear with me for the next lifetime or ten while we hash this out ?

Thinking

What are parentheses and brackets for? Don’t answer. Some will say one thing, others will say another. And we could go into the whole history of each. So I’m just going to decide that for my writings, these weird brackety things that interrupt texts are a symbolic representation of thinking.

SymbolMeaningDefinition/Example
()clarification through synonym (“in other words”)Communications is hard (people don’t always hear what you say). I might just say this (but you might hear this)
[]elaboration [with words that provide more context]Sometimes it’s enough to say this [other times people expected you to also say this and they will argue for ages if you didn’t because they refused to simply assume it]
{}connection with a whole other universe of topics {empty set}Unless you are really into math, don’t worry much about this one lol. Even I forget to use it when I want to, so it rarely shows up.
underlineinternal or external link to set contextSometimes we assume that people know the entire story behind something, so we need to at least give them a chance to read it.

For the Math lovers in the room, I am aware of interval notation with (open sets), [closed sets], and {elements}, but let’s not get too caught up on the connection between them yet. I’m hoping I’ll have time to get to the connection eventually.

Speaking

In the same way that not everyone speaks the same language (duh), not everyone quotes the same way. This is an English speaker, «This is or was a Mexican», ,,This is a German, and again, we could go on forever.

So when it comes to actual “language” (verbal or non-verbal), here are my symbols:

directly from thought to speechI said: Communication is hard
(1) indirectly referring to someone’s words,
(2) disagreeing with something, including self
(1) He said: “communication is hard“.
(2) All of this is obvious, I think, but don’t quote me on it.
«»internal monologue/voice«I really hope I don’t have to explain this»
**non-verbal/behavioralAwesome, right? **rolls eyes**
¿?question/doubt/openMindWe all know how to use question marks, right?
But sometimes it’s good to let someone know that they are headed into a question rather than a statement (?)
¿It could also be useful to preface a question with a symbol like in Spanish?
(Alternatively: rhetorical questions probably don’t need a question mark, am I right)
¡!exclamation/confidence/closedMindPretty self-explanatory!
But could also be useful in writing to say: ¡The last part of the sentence you just started reading packs some emotion!

Emphasis

Most of us use these the same way, but better safe than sorry ?

italicsimportant nowSometimes you want people to remember this
boldimportant foreverOther times you need them to remember this
BoldItalicsimportant now and foreverWhen trying to point out the specific point being made
CAPSYELLINGTHIS IS PRETTY OBVIOUS FOR MOST OF US EVEN WITHOUT EXCLAMATION MARKS

Punctuation

Again, ‘obvious’ but I am sure that we are gonna have some problems at times (I even have them with myself, honestly, but no surprise there ?).

.end of basic idea .
,combination of basic , connected ideas
;related but independent ideas ; sentences ; listed sets (not items)
:breaking down previous word or phrase into : explanation/elaboration, list, description or definition.
definition that one word stands for many
~rough definition ~ let’s sort of pretend/postulate that this word means that

Listing

«Fuck, this is never-ending»; I KNOOOWWW…??
Please just have some sympathy/empathy for my brain cause I’m the one who has to put up with this guy 24/7/365. I’ll be short:

A. LettersList of limited categorized options (essentially you have to choose one or more but eventually we run out of options/letters)These usually have some connection with ‘binary’ thinking, which pins some ideas against others.
For example, you can be:
A. Introverted
B. Extroverted
C. Ambivert
1. NumbersPre-determined list of categorized-yet-limitless options (so we could keep going forever)In a nutshell, you can probably break these down into even more categories.
For example, an individual is generally defined by:
1. Their Gender
—A. Male
—B. Female
—C. Other
2. Their Race
3. Their Nationality
4. Their Personality
5. …
¤.- SymbolsEndless un-categorized ideasPeople can be:
¤ Happy
¤ Sad
¤ Happy or Sad
¤ Happy and sad
¤ Hope you get the memo cause I’m not gonna keep going…

Others

&“and” but with 3+?This is partly to avoid debates about the Oxford comma. To me this means that there is probably a third but essentially it comes down to:
A) Thank you, mom and dad
B) Thank you, mom & dad
One of those says thank you to my parents exclusively, the other says thank you to the reader as well. But I haven’t decided which should be which. Why? Because all hell breaks loose if I add another unit and say:
A) Thank you, mom, dad and brother
B) Thank you, mom, dad & brother
Am I thanking three people or four? Who is “you”? «I sweat that was good grammar just now thanks to my notation». We can debate on how to use this symbol (hence why I haven’t decided how to), but there is a world of difference between including or excluding the reader. Want more evidence?
C) F*ck you, people I know and people I don’t know!
(?)
#grouping of topics or ideas
banner to rally around
Think of this as either summarizing lots of individual things into a simplified collective, “long story short”, or herd mentality. All of which reminds me how much I hate nationalism and why I can’t seem to get into Twitter? #FML
$, €, £Different languages and culturesNot sure how much or when I will actually use this one, but good to have symbols to denote differences between languages and cultures ? ?? ??