Symboleracy and its 3 branches

The Trikirion of Literacy

Dr. Jacques COULARDEAU

Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne

dondaine@orange.fr

In our modern digital and AI world, we need to become literate, autonomous, and endowed with self-learning sustainability in three domains, autonomous yet articulated together.

SYMBOLERACY — First, in articulated language, we have to develop the symbolic value of images, hence imageracy, then, the symbolic value of words, semantic references, and syntactic constructions, utterancy. Finally, the symbolic value of sounds, hence sounderacy for music, intonation, and tempo for linguistic emotions. That is literacy

NUMERACY — Second, numbers. We do not know if even the three basic numbers are captured by children as compact single, dual, or trial. Henceforth, plain number numeracy, percentage numeracy, fraction numeracy, and many mathematical operational numeracy.

TECHNERACY — Third, we used a stone to chip in marks on a durable medium at the beginning, tools to write down data, long before writing systems made it complicated, and yet simpler from stylus/brush inscriptions to the printing press. Then came machines transmitting oral messages like telephone, telegram, morse…