"Talking Knots" by Charles C. Mann
Reading this entry actually came at an interesting time. Last weekend, at ITP there was a visually impaired conference. I did not partake in it, but I was on the floor to view the various materials that were around, including materials written with braille. I had never felt braille before in a book form. It really is a beautiful language, both physically and visually.
After reading "Talking Knots," I began to reflect on the amount of precision and effort that must have been involved in spinning, knotting, etc. to symbolize information. Whether the information was used to convey numbers, mnemonic devices, narratives, etc. is unimportant to me. What is important is that a non-traditional form of media was used to convey information. The idea of symbolizing data both visually and hands-on, is a very appealing theory. I find myself wondering why this medium was discontinued from use throughout history.
I thought a lot about how else we explicitly state information, without saying it, or spelling it out. Wedding bands came to mind, crosses and Stars of David, etc. But I could not think of a symbol that is used to both visually and physically state information.