During this period I have read several posts, online, that tend to emphasize the importance of having the right words to define things. Also quotes from Italian philosophers such as, for example, Umberto Galimberti, who in one of his posts argues that ”thoughts are proportionate to the words you have. I cannot think something of which I have no words. If I have few words, I think little.”
Then there are words that already exist for a long time, with a well-defined meaning defined in the Italian dictionary, which can instead change the concept behind their use. It happens very often when there are terms that come into common use for categories of people to identify a specific technological innovation, or paradigm shift. And which instead seem ‘bad words’ in the eyes of others.
The Treccani encyclopedic dictionary defines the meaning of “hybrid”-[from Latin hybrĭda “bastard,” of uncertain etymology]-and even further goes on to clarify that as an adjective it means “Of a thing formed of heterogeneous elements that do not bind together well: friendshipsi., ill-assorted; building of style i., without its own architectural line;”
I invite you to read this issue and the special issue devoted to Hybrid Printing to share the thought of how important the right words are for defining things, but also how one should always pay attention to the context and community to which the words being used refer. In Printing, I am convinced that the word ‘hybrid’ is of thing formed of heterogeneous elements that enable things that individual elements alone could not do. And as you will read, with great satisfaction for those using the new solutions. Which will play a big role in the future of printing.
