We will talk a little about SIGNS. In semiotics, a sign is composed by two elements: the signifier and the signified.
Let us consider the word Dog. The written or the phonetic word for Dog is the signifier, and the idea that the word Dog brings to our mind is the signified.
So, it is possible for two individuals to talk about dogs knowing that in the external word, there are dogs. By the way, the factual dog, the real dog is the referent.
The same understanding happens when we talk about chairs, trees, women, men of clouds.
The Sign (signifier-signified.) refers to something that exists out there, in the world.
Now, how about trying to talk about Extraterrestrials? You will find that now the signification is not so easy. The signified is unclear, perhaps contradictory, simply because there is no referent, no clear extraterrestrial entity in the outside world.
Of course, if this is so, two or more people talking about Extraterrestrials do not know exactly what are they talking about.
The ET. of Salla is not the ET. of Webre or of Greer, and the ET of Richard Boylan has nothing to do with the previously mentioned ETs.
ET is a sign without referent.
Tomas Scolarici
