Pictures Versus Text

The way of expressing our ideas has been evolving since the early stages of human history. Since then, from the ancient times, our ancestors have used pictures for expressing the ideas of hope, action or even for religious purposes. The written text and alphabet is relatively a new invention. Majority of human history it was the drawing that captures the meaning of the message. Over the time it evolved fom simple to complex and even mysterious forms.

It means that for thousands of years our brains have learned to understand the abstract messages via visual interpretations and not via alphabet. Even if we can say that the alphabet is the set of pictures, however, the image or illustration is better fit to our mind than written text.

That's why the art crosses the border of time, cultures, ethnicity and civilizations. The visual representation of an author's message is understantable and likable to people even hundreds or thousands years after.

The inclination of human brain to visual objects more than to the text explains also current popularity of infographics. It translates the mass of information into simple, visually clean, attractive and understandable picture. It's the transformation of the text into visual illustration. Its huge popularity is easily explained not only by the visual attractivness but also by quick comprehension for human mind.

We live in the information society with billions of messages fighting for our attention. Tons of text messages requires more attention than pictures of videos. The message of the picture is mentally absorbed instantly. No need to read the text till the end to get the whole idea. The picture is captured in its completness instantly.

The historical excursion is crucial when you are about to prepare your next presentation. Learn how human mind works and adjust your form accordingly. It will save you from the bored faces during the speech. In my view, people leaving without remembering anything out of the message is the tragic failure of the speaker. It's just the waste of time for the presenter and for the audience. Maybe, it would be better to go hiking or play football together. It would, for sure, leave at least some emotional track definitely lasting longer than the message from the speech.

“People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use.”

Soren Kierkegaard