"On the other hand, in order to distinguish two road signals or two Manet paintings one resorts to both space and color parameters. In the first case the pertinent elements are the normal spatial dimensions, with features such as 'up/down', 'larger/smaller' and so on; in the second one, pertinent elements are wavelengths, frequencies or, more commonly speaking, cues. The fact that a road signal is enormously simpler than a Manet painting does not matter. Thus in detecting two tactile signals, one has recourse to certain thermal and pressure gradients, while in detecting the difference between the two signs channelled through a solid matter, like two gestural signals, one relies on positional or kinetic parameters such as the direction of the gesture, its stress, and so on...."
[Umberto Eco]
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