I think this isn't about communications (with an s) but rather communication. And I'm pleased to see (having now read the report from 1984) that the government recognized this and commissioned U. Indiana to do the study grounded in semiotics.
Meaning changes. It is the mature of communication itself to be a situated phenomenon. Techniques of communications do not change that reality.
Which is why the report recommended a series of relays and re-coding (re-"meaning-making" so to speak) to bring messages forward, which sounds spot on to me.
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On Sunday, March 27, 2011 at 7:24 PM, Filippo A. Salustri wrote:
> The naivety makes me think that perhaps we've missed one feature: our
> growing understanding of how to make communications work.
> That is, the general consensus may be (and I'd say it was) that we
> haven't the first clue how to design a communication that'll last 10k
> yrs.
> But maybe in 100 yrs, we /will/ understand enough to conceive of the
> possibility, and maybe in 200 yrs we'll be able to do it.
> And that'd be in plenty of time for such a message to actually serve
> its purpose.
>
> So maybe we should resist the urge to self-flagellate on this for now. :)
>
> Cheers.
> Fil
>
> On 27 March 2011 13:19, Klaus Krippendorff <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> > thanks,
> >
> > fil,
> >
> > for sending the link. i've looked into sebeok's "report" and am amazed how naive it reads 27 years later. even at his time i thought of semiotics as an unproductive conceptual framework. it is now clearer than ever
> >
> > klaus krippendorff
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: PhD-Design - This list is for discussion of PhD studies and related research in Design [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Filippo A. Salustri
> > Sent: Sunday, March 27, 2011 12:41 PM
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: Re: Does anyone remember: NASA, 1980s, Hazmat, the future …
> >
> > The URL for the Sebeok report is
> > http://www.osti.gov/bridge/product.biblio.jsp?osti_id=6705990
> > Cheers.
> > Fil
> >
> > On 27 March 2011 10:04, Harold Nelson <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> > > Hi Derek
> > >
> > > I first came across this article many years ago which led to my giving the challenge to design students in different countries (architects to HCI) over the past few decades. The technical report is:
> > >
> > > Communication Measures to Bridge Ten Millennia, Thomas A. Sebeok of Research Center for Language and Semiotic Studies, Indiana University
> > > Prepared for Office of Nuclear Waste Isolation, Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus OH, April 1984
> > > BMI/ONWI-532
> > > Distribution Category UC-70
> > >
> > > I would ask the students to do a timeline covering the past ten millennia before thinking about how to imagine the next ten. Reactions and responses from the students have covered a broad spectrum over the years.
> > >
> > > Regards
> > >
> > > Harold
> > > [...]
> >
> >
> > --
> > Filippo A. Salustri, Ph.D., P.Eng.
> > Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
> > Ryerson University
> > 350 Victoria St, Toronto, ON
> > M5B 2K3, Canada
> > Tel: 416/979-5000 ext 7749
> > Fax: 416/979-5265
> > Email: [log in to unmask]
> > http://deseng.ryerson.ca/~fil/
>
>
>
> --
> Filippo A. Salustri, Ph.D., P.Eng.
> Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
> Ryerson University
> 350 Victoria St, Toronto, ON
> M5B 2K3, Canada
> Tel: 416/979-5000 ext 7749
> Fax: 416/979-5265
> Email: [log in to unmask]
> http://deseng.ryerson.ca/~fil/
>
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