a conversation (with my mom)
So it’s close to the middle of the semester and I’m unsure of the direction of this project. I was explaining it to my parents and I had a good conversation with my mom about it.
I was designing a different interface for texting that would show the distance travelled by the message and something to signify the extension of the sender into the space of the receiver. But as I reflected on my design, it seemed like I was making things up and moving farther from the reality. Talking to my mom, she pointed out that messages don’t travel in a straight direct line from me to you. Texts are transmitted through radio waves, which means the letters I’ve typed on a screen turn into energy which travels through space. We also talked about language as a mediator. We communicate something (which we code) then that bit of information is decoded by the receiver.
I guess the interesting part about this whole interaction was also the fact that my mom was speaking to me in Romanian and I was replying back in English. This is what she said:
mesajul pe care vrei sal trimit unui persoane e energie
(the message you want to transmit to another person is energy)energia asta care sa transmit trei sa o pui intrun vehicol
(this energy needs a vehicle)cuvintele encript energia
(words encrypt energy)So now I have a rough idea for something I can possibly execute but it’s starting to feel disconnected from my previous work.