You probably haven’t heard of Blissymbolics. It is a writing system. The dream, which up to now was impossible but thanks to the internet is now possible, is for it to become universally adopted. There is no phonology, only symbols. It is quite nice, and quite easy to learn due to the obvious denotative value of most of the symbols (I suppose, properly speaking, it’s not so much symbols as indices, which takes advantage of analagous sorts of reasoning in deciphering a word). Anyhow, I think this is worth while as the language barrier is a great hinderance to mutual understanding in this world, so this movement in the making has the potential to engender hope to those who want and/or need hope. So, what am I doing to make this dream a reality? Several things, first, there’s my website www.activebliss.com, then there’s me posting on sites such as these in hopes of inspiring people that hope is real, and thirdly, I’m directing a short film which will make use of these symbols. Anyhow, I’d love to hear from any one else who’d like to join me in this, a silent revolution. Please email me at mattlandau@activebliss.com. Not only would I be more than happy to answer any questions, but I’d also like to hear your ideas for movements in hopes that we might be mutually beneficial to each other. So have a good day, and, of course, spread the word.
Comments:
Tiara Shafiq is trying to figure out what to do with herself.
"Up with love"?
Sounds interesting, though it has to be considered that different symbols mean different things to different people.
Your system reminds me of the Alethiometer in His Dark Materials or even of the Chinese ideograms. :D
That certainly has to be considered, but I don’t think it’s a major obstacle. There are only 100 or so base symbols from which you can compose any meaning, and they are designed to be straightfoward. But of course, you are right, a symbol only has the meaning you give it. And there is some culture bias in the system; however, it is orders of magnitude smaller than the cultural bias of any given dialect or language, such as English, attaining a sort of cultural imperialism. Remember that a language is only a dialect with an army.
Thanks for pointing out the Alethiometer, I hadn’t heard of it. With regards to ideograms, Charles Bliss started developing Blissymbolics when he was living in China, partly because he was frustrated that the iconic nature of the Chinese ideograms had been obscured through the ages. Anyhow, have a wonderful evening.

