WEBVTT - The Artifact: The Boustrophedon

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of

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<v Speaker 1>My Heart Radio. Hi. My name is Robert Lamb, and

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<v Speaker 1>this is the artifact a short form series from Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>to Blow Your Mind, focusing in on particular objects, ideas,

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<v Speaker 1>and moments in time. For many of you, the flow

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<v Speaker 1>of written text goes left to right, top to bottom.

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<v Speaker 1>When your eyes reached the end of a line of

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<v Speaker 1>text by the far right margins, your eyes jump back

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<v Speaker 1>to the beginning of the line below it over by

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<v Speaker 1>the left hand margin. While this is true of various

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<v Speaker 1>modern European languages, other scripts such as Arabic, Hebrew, Persian,

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<v Speaker 1>and Urdu, run right to left, top to bottom. Still

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<v Speaker 1>other writing systems, however, are bi directional. Traditionally, Chinese script

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<v Speaker 1>was read right to left and top to them, but

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<v Speaker 1>European influences subsequently introduced a left to right, top to

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<v Speaker 1>bottom styling. Chinese signs may be encountered written in either direction. Likewise,

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<v Speaker 1>Egyptian hieroglyphics can be read in almost any direction. This

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<v Speaker 1>enabled the production of Egyptian steelers that could encode multiple readings,

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<v Speaker 1>as discussed in our core episodes on document duplication. But

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<v Speaker 1>this leads me to the main topic of discussion today.

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<v Speaker 1>Booster feed on style. This was an ancient Greek style

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<v Speaker 1>of writing that moved in a kind of snaking pattern,

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<v Speaker 1>alternating direction by line. When a line of text moving

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<v Speaker 1>left to right reached the end of the line, it

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<v Speaker 1>continued on the next line sure enough, But it didn't

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<v Speaker 1>jump to the far left again. No, it began at

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<v Speaker 1>the far right, directly underneath where the last line ended,

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<v Speaker 1>and then it moved right to left in reversed script.

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<v Speaker 1>You might think of it as a textual snake, unable

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<v Speaker 1>to teleport or type brighter its body to the beginning

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<v Speaker 1>of the next line. You can look up examples of

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<v Speaker 1>the booster feed on style using modern English language, and

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<v Speaker 1>you might be surprised that you can certainly read it

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<v Speaker 1>even with the reversed letters of the right to left

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<v Speaker 1>traveling lines. The name booster feed on literally means as

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<v Speaker 1>the ox plows, which makes perfect sense. The directional details

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<v Speaker 1>of reading and writing concern more than just the written word, however,

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<v Speaker 1>is E. W. J. Swan noted in ninety left and

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<v Speaker 1>right in visual perception as a function of the direction

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<v Speaker 1>of writing. The direction one writes in is tied to

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<v Speaker 1>one's visual perception of the passage of time. For individuals

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<v Speaker 1>whose language travels left to right, the left side of

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<v Speaker 1>the page is associated with proximity past and self, and

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<v Speaker 1>the right side of the page is associated with distance,

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<v Speaker 1>others and the future. In short, such left to right

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<v Speaker 1>writing styles result and a visual concept of time is

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<v Speaker 1>a straight line traveling from the left to the right.

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<v Speaker 1>The reverse is true of right to left scripted cultures. Thus,

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<v Speaker 1>the readers and writers of the Booster feed On would

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<v Speaker 1>have likely viewed time differently, at least when visualizing its flow,

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<v Speaker 1>has pointed out by Marilyn Mitchell in two thousand four's

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<v Speaker 1>The Visual Representation of Time in Timelines, Graphs, and Charts.

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<v Speaker 1>None of this means that we're restricted, of course, to

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<v Speaker 1>a given visual depiction of times flow. We can draw

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<v Speaker 1>on multiple different visual depictions of time, but it's interesting

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<v Speaker 1>how different models give us different ideas. Booster feed On,

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<v Speaker 1>for instance, is still used in timeline designs due to

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<v Speaker 1>its emphasis on snaking continuity from one event or item

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<v Speaker 1>to the next. The author writes quote in a booster

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<v Speaker 1>feed on design, neither the hand nor the eye has

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<v Speaker 1>to be raised back to one side of the pay

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<v Speaker 1>to continue writing or reading, Unlike a horizontal timeline. Booster

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<v Speaker 1>feed on timelines always show an arrow or arrows showing

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<v Speaker 1>how to read the line. Now, I can't help be

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<v Speaker 1>reminded in all of this of the classic board game

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<v Speaker 1>Snakes and Ladders, which entails alternating directions of travel, but

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<v Speaker 1>with the added element of special roots connecting different portions

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<v Speaker 1>of the procession of tiles. Game boards, after all, are

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<v Speaker 1>also a visual depiction of time and space. A different

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<v Speaker 1>board game, just like a different writing system, can provide

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<v Speaker 1>us with an alternative means of visualizing the flow of time.

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<v Speaker 1>Tune in for additional editions of the Artifact or the

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<v Speaker 1>Monster Fact each week. As always, you can email us

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<v Speaker 1>at contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff to Blow Your Mind is a production of I

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<v Speaker 1>Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit

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<v Speaker 1>the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen

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<v Speaker 1>to your favorite shows.