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Preparations for discussing constructivism with a Martian

Sonesson, Göran LU orcid (2007) Les signes du monde: Interculturalité & Globalisation, 2004
Abstract
It is easy to demonstrate the naivety of many people preparing messages for intelligent beings on other planets using pictures. On the other hand, constructivism, which supposes all our perception to rely on social constructs, has long been shown to be untenable, notably by Gibson, who instead suggested that some general ecological principles have to be taken into account. In a parallel fashion, I have argued that the critique of iconicity should be supplanted by a semiotic ecology: general principles accounting for the fact that pictures are perceived as signs by human beings. In this sense, a message comprehensible to a Martian would need to go beyond the specificity of human ecology.
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to conference
publication status
published
subject
keywords
picture, iconicity, ecology, extraterrestrials, sign
conference name
Les signes du monde: Interculturalité & Globalisation, 2004
conference location
Lyon, France
conference dates
2004-07-07 - 2004-07-12
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
b864ab82-1d79-42b9-a333-603a3f05572f (old id 975521)
alternative location
http://www.arthist.lu.se/kultsem/pdf/Pictureplace.pdf
http://jgalith.univ-lyon2.fr/Actes/articleAsPDF/SONESSON_(Pictureplace)_pdf_20061114153129
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 13:14:13
date last changed
2019-06-22 02:19:44
@misc{b864ab82-1d79-42b9-a333-603a3f05572f,
  abstract     = {{It is easy to demonstrate the naivety of many people preparing messages for intelligent beings on other planets using pictures. On the other hand, constructivism, which supposes all our perception to rely on social constructs, has long been shown to be untenable, notably by Gibson, who instead suggested that some general ecological principles have to be taken into account. In a parallel fashion, I have argued that the critique of iconicity should be supplanted by a semiotic ecology: general principles accounting for the fact that pictures are perceived as signs by human beings. In this sense, a message comprehensible to a Martian would need to go beyond the specificity of human ecology.}},
  author       = {{Sonesson, Göran}},
  keywords     = {{picture; iconicity; ecology; extraterrestrials; sign}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  title        = {{Preparations for discussing constructivism with a Martian}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/6075704/975559.pdf}},
  year         = {{2007}},
}