Things you find on the way...

Today I've been finishing the editing of a book chapter on the link between health behaviors and mortality. The final editing requires a check of all the references to be sure that everything I've cited in the paper actually is listed in the reference section. Often when I write I have a couple of articles in front of me while I'm reading and thinking and writing. I write a statement, cite the reference in the text, but sometimes forget to add that article to my reference pile or list. So, I go back at the end to clean it all up.

Today I realized I had a reference in the text and no matching entry in the references. I could not find the article on my desk or in one of my piles. So, the easiest thing to do is use a database to look it up. I type in the author's last name and the year of publication (the information I do have.) Posner 1995. The first hit that comes up is an article titled "THE PROTOTYPICAL PEDESTRIAN - PICTORIAL REPRESENTATIONS OF HUMANS ON TRAFFIC-SIGNS." What? Curious, I had to read the abstract, which I include here:

"The figures on pedestrian traffic lights do not only instruct those on foot in traffic to walk or wait, but also have a variety of other semiotic functions. A worldwide comparison reveals significant national differences; however, the prototypical figure on traffic lights is always male and mostly young and dynamic. On the other hand, figures on traffic lights are becoming increasingly standardized, on the other hand, there are designers who create the figure as an individual in relation to certain attributes of his "home environment" for example. Moreover, the material used for figures on traffic lights provides them with an individual "body", which, like any material object, can age and be damaged. Recent years have seen an increase in public prominence for the green and red men not least as a result of the projects described here. Consequently, they have also managed to establish themselves as a motif in advertising in which the dialectics of advance and pause can be spontaneously understood."

Wow, who knew you could read so much into those little red and green (or white?) guys. I remember hearing about the change of former East German crossing lights after unification. Apparently East Germany had a friendlier crossing man and those in the East were mourning his loss as the more modern Western man made his appearance.