Alphabet effect

The theory claims that a greater level of abstraction is required due to the greater economy of symbols in alphabetic systems; and this abstraction and the analytic skills needed to interpret phonemic symbols in turn has contributed to the cognitive development of its users.

Proponents of this theory hold that the development of phonetic writing and the alphabet in particular (as distinct from other types of writing systems) has made a significant impact on Western thinking and development precisely because it introduced a new level of abstraction, analysis, coding, decoding and classification.

The alphabet effect provides an alternative explanation to what is known as Needham's Grand Question, namely why China had been overshot by the West in science and technology, despite its earlier successes.

Thus the introduction of the alphabet substantially limited the power of the priests and religious texts were now open to society for questioning.

Therefore, the written word has deprived both images and beautiful objects of the correct level of emotion with which to express their exact appearance.

John DeFrancis suggests the use of the term semasiographic rather than logographic, because the idea of Chinese characters as pictorial in nature is only partially true.