The most elementary communication is not possible without some degree of conformity to the "conventions” of the symbolic system. Talcott Parsons
The revolutionary artist is born into a world of clichés, of stale images and signs which no longer pierce the consciousness to express reality. He therefore invents new symbols, perhaps a whole new symbolic system. Herbert Read
Is A=A useful? Does logic come in handy? Is math a magnificent symbolic system with which to comprehend what's around us? And is math based on A=A? Yes. Absolutely. But math and logic are... very, very simplified representations. Howard Bloom
People without an internalized symbolic system can all too easily become captives of the media. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi