I goofed on the html, if a Mud elf could remove that post and this remark, here is what I meant to say:
A similar topic arose on a literature discussion list of mine. Here was one response (aimed at the line "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar"):
well, a pipe is a pipe, but a painting of a pipe is quite a different thing. i sometimes discuss how our language leaves out the 'middle' -- meaning, we see a representation of something and call it by the thing it represents instead of the representation of.
A photo of a pipe, is not a pipe. We did not see Pres. Bush on TV, we saw a series of dots/lights that simulated him. And to top it off, all these images are through other people's eyes, other perspectives not our own.
We accept this distance without question. I find that very odd.