T hroughout US history, political parties have packaged their candidates much the same way as manufacturers prepare products for the public, but instead of colorful labels and snappy brand names, the strategists rely on catch phrases, slogans, graphics, songs, and posters to lure voters. Of course, symbols provide the medium of understanding. As S.I. Hayakawa and Alan R. Hayakawa have written, “In all forms of symbolism, language is the most highly developed, most subtle, and most complicated.” Symbols prevent most humans from existing as parallel lines, which never intersect. An alphabet of shared cyphers empowers people to communicate within their circle. Technology enlarges the circumference of social reality or shrinks the boundaries to exclude those whose icons challenge outsiders to see the old earth in new ways. Through symbols, we perceive our world in a glance. These signs form a cognitive alphabet that empowers us to attach meaning to our experiences. Therein, ciphers shape our thinking invisibly. A code emerges for ordinary things (like stop signs or restrooms), and during elections, symbols often evoke more emotional than rational understanding. In fact, political leaders may cleverly manipulate symbols to control the public heart as well as mind. Hyperbole often dominates. Herd mentality and conformity arise from crafty invocation of lofty symbols that in truth rely on assumptions more than substance. Therein, when these signs reinforce preconceived notions that do not reflect reality, the parade of satisfying images obscures the bitter truth. In the election of 1852, the Whigs circulated a book an inch tall and half-inch wide, The Military Services of General Pierce. The Louisville Journal satirized Franklin Pierce’s Mexican War service, reporting that

中文翻译：

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选举符号：心灵的语言，心灵的面纱？

纵观美国历史，政党对候选人的包装方式与制造商为公众准备产品的方式大致相同，但战略家们依靠标语、口号、图形、歌曲和海报来吸引他们，而不是色彩缤纷的标签和活泼的品牌名称。选民。当然，符号提供了理解的媒介。正如 SI Hayakawa 和 Alan R. Hayakawa 所写，“在所有形式的象征主义中，语言是最发达、最微妙和最复杂的。” 符号阻止大多数人以永远不会相交的平行线存在。共享密码字母表使人们能够在他们的圈子内进行交流。技术扩大了社会现实的范围或缩小了界限，以排除那些图标挑战外人以新方式看待旧地球的人。通过符号，我们一目了然地感知我们的世界。这些符号形成了一个认知字母表，使我们能够为我们的经历赋予意义。其中，密码无形中塑造了我们的思维。为普通事物（如停车标志或洗手间）而出现的代码，在选举期间，符号往往比理性理解更能唤起情感。事实上，政治领导人可能会巧妙地操纵符号来控制公众的心灵和思想。夸张往往占主导地位。从众心理和一致性源于对崇高符号的巧妙调用，这些符号实际上更多地依赖于假设而不是实质。其中，当这些标志强化了不反映现实的先入为主的观念时，令人满意的图像的游行掩盖了痛苦的真相。在 1852 年的选举中，辉格党人散发了一本书，一英寸高，半英寸宽，皮尔斯将军的军事服务。路易斯维尔日报讽刺富兰克林皮尔斯的墨西哥战争服务，报道说