« »  Modern Hieroglyphics: Writing Fluidly in a Picture Language
What must the world be like in order for a person to understand
what the phrase “copy and paste” means? As we look about us, we
can distinguish between those things that can be “copied and
pasted,” and those things that cannot. That bunch of flowers
growing in the pot in my garden cannot be copied. I can grow
similar flowers, but I can’t grow identical flowers.  While
mechanical reproduction at the industrial level creates many
seemingly identical products, the pen I write with, or the
coffee mug from which I’m sipping– these things cannot be
“copied and pasted.” As we continue to look about, our
inclination would be to skip directly to the digital; for surely
that’s the world from which “copy and paste” comes. But in our
haste, we would be passing over vast continents.  “Copy and
paste” makes sense to us because its most common usage is not
digital. Its basis is in our language– both spoken and written.
Language, words, can be quoted. I can c