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"I suspect that religion is a necessary evil in the childhood of our particular species. And that's one of the interesting things about contact with other intelligences: we could see what role, if any, religion plays in their development."
- Arthur C. Clarke

Mediaglyphic  
  Animated symbols to help those who haven't bothered to learn to read in a multimedia age.  

I liked this little touch a lot. In a polyglot world, it makes sense to use symbols that can be recognized without needing to use language.

They lived in the L.T., which according to Harv was short for Leased Territories in letters. Nell already knew the mediaglyphics for it. Harv had also taught her the sign for Enchantment, which was the name of the Territory they lived; it was a princess sprinkling golden specks onto some gray houses, which turned yellow and bright were the specs touched them.
Technovelgy from The Diamond Age, by Neal Stephenson.
Published by Bantam Books in 1995
Additional resources -

The word "mediaglyphic" just means a glyph (a symbol that imparts information nonverbally) created or seen in commercial media. The root word for media means middle; the media stands between us and the events or things it covers.

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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from The Diamond Age
  More Ideas and Technology by Neal Stephenson
  Tech news articles related to The Diamond Age
  Tech news articles related to works by Neal Stephenson

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