Symbols: Shorthand For Ideas

Let's return to one of the most basic parts of your day When we think about symbols, these are the sort of things red that come to mind — signs that act as a stand-in or shorthand for a whole set of ideas. But in fact symbols play a much larger role in our lives.

Let's return to one of the most basic parts of your day. Getting dressed.Every piece of clothing you place on your body is a symbol. That leather motorcycle jacket or button-down polo communicates to the world who you are, what you believe in, and where you sit on the social ladder, and it does that instantly.

Alison Brooks, an anthropology professor at George Washington University, points out that her school is located only 30 feet away from the office of the World Bank, so students and bankers are constantly walking the same streets. But, she says, you can tell in a second which ones are the students and which are the bankers. "Because the students dress like students and the world bankers dress like bankers. The [bankers] all wear red suits or very formal clothing. Each of those different populations gets up in the morning and puts on symbols of their status."