The Culture explores 40K II: Now With 100% more Fanfiction

[Gavinfoxx]

I think you're getting into the trap of taking the Imperium's capabilities and applying them on an out-of-universe level of efficiency again...the Imperium could develop a standardized image-code that translates to alphabetic codes, but they don't do it that way. Prophetic visual imagery works where actual coded messages don't, so why force one to behave like the other?

Agreed. Getting the most message into the fewest number of images possible is vitally important because sending and receiving messages is stressful and dangerous. Astropaths are doing psyker stuff, anyone that gives them less psyker stuff to do, is highly encouraged! And there's also the fact that the message you send isn't always what is received (at least in the same method) -- this is going through the Warp. The Warp changes things, you know? Also, there is the fact that The Warp works best in sending messages via 'prophetic vision' sort of things in general...

What I am trying to say is, sometimes you can brute force a way of sending actual letters and words, but not always...