There are different tools a person can use to describe information in a fixed state and in motion. A tool is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as:

  • 1. A device, such as a saw, used to perform or facilitate manual or mechanical work.
  • 4. Something used in the performance of an operation; an instrument

    http://www.bartleby.com/61/62/TO266200.html

    Many descriptive tools are variations of three distinct types of representation -- mathematical (written mathematical notation), linguistic (written text), and visual (diagrams).

    Mathematics is perhaps the most abstract form of human representation. A closed, self-contained mathematical system can be used to represent, measure, divide, and manipulate concepts and physical substance.

    Mathematical and linguistic notations have no direct resemblance or relationship to what they represent. Numbers and other symbols, in particular structures, can be used to represent particular processes. For instance, consider these common symbols +, -,´, and ¸ that represent the processes of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division respectively.

    Then there are other symbols, and combinations of symbols, that can be used to represent more complicated and complex processes such as Euclidian transformation, iterative processes, stochastic processes, and Markov processes to name a few. These processes might be found in mechanical and natural events or they may exist on an abstract plane, or they bay begin as abstract ideas that are applied to real world situations to direct change.For instance, take a look at the following:

    Also, algorithms represent mechanical processes.

    Language, the most universal human mode of communication, can be defined as: "a system of conventional spoken or written symbols by means of which human beings, as members of a social group and participants in its culture, communicate."

    http://www.britannica.com/search?query=language&ct=&fuzzy=N

    Written and spoken English are transmitted linearly, one word symbol at a time. The words that comprise English are not semantically unique. Mathematical notation consists of defined, unambiguous axioms and terms. It is more abstract than language and useful for describing applications or ideal situations that can be measured or divided into discrete parts with little or no ambiguity.

    http://www.siam.org/mii/node11.html

    Diagrams generally resemble basic visual features of things or ideas, or spatial or temporal vector features of processes or energy they represent. "graphics of various types preceded written language and serve many of the same functions. What renders graphics privileged is the possibility of using space and elements in space to express relations a meanings directly, relations and meanings that are spatial literally as well as metaphorically." http://graphics.stanford.edu/~maneesh/augcog/webpage/docs/mapscommunicate.pdf

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