Eloquent Images

Several points struck me as being important in Eloquent Images. Images are eloquent because of the fact that they can convey much more emotion to an audience than text could ever do. It's difficult to communicate feelings and emotions in text, but a picture can do it easily. As the saying goes, "a picture is worth a thousand words."

Images also tend to be much more believable. It's easy to twist words around and exagerate a story, but when people look at a picture they believe what they see. Pictures are easier to understand because they put complex ideas into an image. Words originated as images, so it is difficult to put some images into words.

In ancient Egypt, words originated as images in hieroglyphic writing. Pictures were used to convey meanings, thoughts, and feelings. This was an early form of communication, and it was very useful to their culture. However, I think that text is essential; society could not sustain itself on images alone. There are many things that cannot be communicated through images that are necessary to put into text.

People tend to learn and understand more from pictures than from words. It's difficult to put information on a chart into words and still get the same effect. This is evident in textbooks sometimes. If there's a chart it is easier to get the information straight, understand it, and compare it than if the information is put into text. Sometimes (although not all the time) information is more easier to understand as an image than as text.