Digit / Figure/ Numeral / Number (Ziffer)
The Ziffer [digit, figure, numeral, number] is a
crucial notion in Vilém Flusser’s thinking. For
Flusser the Ziffer is the first representation of
the alphanumeric code and logical and mathematical
thinking. The most important aspect for
Flusser, however, is not the Ziffer as mathematical
zero, but as “emptiness.” This ties in with the
word’s etymology, from the Arabic as-sifr [empty]
which evolved to mean zero when used to translate
Sanskrit sunya [zero, empty]. According to
Flusser, the empty shell of a Ziffer can be filled
with anything: a sound, an object, or a set of objects.
In this way a Ziffer becomes a constructive
module that enables endless games with combinations,
that can generate forms and meanings
which can then be canceled and quickly transformed
into others. This connects the concept of
Ziffer to calculation. A Ziffer, just like an empty
shell, can contain grains or calculi (limestone
pebbles) that represent other objects, and it endows
them with real existence and meaning for
as long as they fill the shell. Thus transmutations
of multiple Ziffern can be performed easily,
whereby the calculus is either deconfigured or
reconfigured. (Does Writing Have a Future?, 2011,
p. 87)
According to Flusser, the German noun Ziffer [digit, figure, numeral, number] originates from the verbs beziffern [to number] and entziffern [decipher, decode]. A Ziffer is an “empty containe[ r] meant to peck out quantities of something” (ibid.) In Flusserian terms texts are rows of Ziffern, whether letters or other characters, that follow a specific code, and reading them means to decode or decipher (entziffern) them; specifically, to pick out quantities, contents, that the Ziffern contain. Written texts pick out certain contents through Ziffern, and the act of reading them picks out in turn what had been picked out beforehand (ibid.). Ziffern, and the operations of beziffern [numbering] and entziffern [deciphering] – assigning meaning according to a code and recognizing preprogrammed meaning – are the core of programs.
Original article by Norval Baitello, Jr. in Flusseriana