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From: dbruck@ciss.Dayton.NCR.COM (Don Bruck@ciss.Dayton.NCR.COM)
Newsgroups: comp.cog-eng
Subject: Re: Possibility of universal icons
Summary: No universal icons
Keywords: language, icons, culture
Message-ID: <953@ciss.Dayton.NCR.COM>
Date: 25 Aug 89 16:27:54 GMT
References: <9268@cs.Buffalo.EDU> <1985@softway.oz> <6531@stiatl.UUCP> <30800@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
Reply-To: dbruck@ciss.Dayton.NCR.COM (Don Bruck@ciss.Dayton.NCR.COM)
Organization: NCR Corp. Network Application Services
Lines: 26


I think that it is interesting that we can consider anything to be universal. 
All of the examples that I have seen in this discussion work on the basis that
people have intuitive knowledge, that we begin life with a set of values and,
therefore, we can all understand the same icons.

Take for example the thermometer/chili on the Mexican food container. That
assumes that a) thermometers are used in the local culture because temperature 
is socially significant. In an area with very consistent temperatures, the
meaning of temperature may be mixed with the meanings for daylight/darkness.

Also, the idea that certain sounds are "dangerous" means that all listeners have
placed a situational value on a sound, i.e. that rattling is dangerous. This
assumes that the person involved, at a minimum, has heard of rattlesnakes,
otherwise there is no reason to connect the sound with imminent danger.

The acceptance of icons, including the circle-slash, is the acceptance of
one set of cultural symbols by members of separate cultures. They are language
and must be learned by the users. As such, icons cannot be automatically 
universal but can be multi-cultural because of similarities in the connected 
cultures.


--Don

All opinions are my own except when specifically claimed by my employeer.