Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!ginosko!xanth!ames!sgi!silvlis!mef From: mef@dalek.silvlis.com (Mary Ellen Foley) Newsgroups: comp.cog-eng Subject: Murmurs of Earth icons Message-ID: Date: 23 Aug 89 20:23:52 GMT Sender: news@silvlis.com Distribution: comp Organization: edaeng Lines: 21 eugene@eos.UUCP (Eugene Miya) brought up the pictures and sounds of Earth that Sagan's group designed for Pioneers 10 and 11. I recall being amazed at what they chose -- pictures of people in underwater gear swimming around with the fish, for example. Even a small human child can't recognize that that's a person in a mask and fins wearing a tank with hoses, and will think it's some other kind of creature. So how could they possibly expect an alien to understand? I also recall a pattern of dots that was "obviously" indicating the moleculare structures of H2, CO2, etc. If I see a pattern of dots, the first thing that leaps to mind is definitely NOT the molecular structures of H2 and CO2. I vote with the people who've posted the opinion that there is no such thing as a universal icon. mef -- WARNING: Opinions in posting are farther away than they appear.