[Freeciv-Dev] Re: Artillery and sea units (PR#1476)

["Ross W. Wetmore" <rwetmore@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 03:12 PM 02/05/24 -0600, Richard Stallman wrote:
>    There was no real proliferation of writing and written records until
>    *after* there were standardized alphabets.
>
>The Sumerians did this with cuneiform, which was not alphabetic at
>all.  (Signs in Sumerian stood for syllables or ideas.)  The Chinese
>did it too.

Point taken, though I tend to have a broader definition of alphabet
than just the Phoenician-based system.

Perhaps the technology name needs to focus on the standardization of
symbols used to convey the exact (meaning of the) spoken word which
thus replaces earlier pictographic forms that were far more subject
to interpretation. 

Alphabet (or whatever you want to call it) is to Writing what Code of
Laws was to government. It is also the pivotal technology that split
the Arts into the subjective elements we now call Art and the more
rigorous forms of communication that lead to accurate record keeping,
logic based philosophy plus various forms of laws and the scientific 
methodology.

Cheers,
RossW
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