Representation and Language

Abstract This chapter looks at the nature of information: numinous, without intrinsic physical form itself, and yet only ever possible to transmit, communicate, or record through representation in physical media. Ideas are given legal protection in patents, but paradoxically only protected when recorded in that patent. The notions in our head need to be externalized in order to communicate to others or give rise to action. However, this is not mere transmission of existing notions in our heads but is a crucial part of crystallizing those notions and indeed enabling us to reflect upon our own thinking. Language is at the heart of this transformation of learning from imitation to oral, written and now digital culture, and yet the origins of language are themselves rooted in our physical existence and our innate abilities as meaning seekers to interpret one another and the world. Internalizing these processes of representation and interpretation is perhaps what makes us human.