The document discusses how visual communication is an important way that humans process and share information. It notes that around 80% of the brain is dedicated to visual processing. Some key points made include: - Since birth, humans learn visually through things like the Japanese way of teaching mathematics. - As humans grow up, visuals are used to make ideas more understandable and to communicate things more effectively. - The rise of fields like analytic geometry, probability theory, and demographic statistics in 1600 led to a rise in visual displays of information. - Examples are given of visualizations created by people like Charles Joseph Minard, Étienne Jules Marey, and John Snow that effectively displayed information.