If you read the heading to this blog in a non-linear manner you will have read it as “my opinion on hypertext”. Thus in the process understanding the point of consuming and understanding information in a non-linear format.

Your Hypertext 101.

well done, 10 points for gryffindor…

Anyway, I think it’s great to be able to put a label on the way we choose to research, process and understand factual information. Hypertext is such a natural practice in everyday life, that it goes unnoticed by many. We only want to process and form opinions on the information we’re interested in, this is why the ability to access information through links, content pages and indices is so vital to us. The ability to be able to disregard unwanted information so quickly and be able pinpoint what we want to understand most, is crucial in our races ever on going quest for efficiency and laziness.

Although I think Hypertext is great for the world of non-fiction perusal, I believe that fiction narratives need a linear structure to be an effective format for readers. If you started reading a book from the back and knew the resolution and then headed back to the starting chapters. You would lose all interest and not become emotionally involved with the narrative, as you already know what’s going to happen. Making majority of the text and the need for a beginning, redundant.

I think hypertext is one of those practices, that we have always done and will continue to do.. But I don’t think its applicable all situations…