Woke up to a great paradoxical notion from : sometimes the main benefit of non-linear authoring (whiteboard, hypertext, Muse) is actually linear thought! These envs offer a “release valve” for tangential stuff so you can focus on your “main” idea.
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One thing I really like about this is that it subverts the usual narrative around e.g. densely-linked note systems: maybe the value of non-linear writing isn’t (just) in the future value of the embedded links to you/readers—but rather in helping you focus in the moment.
In this framing, the tangential stuff and non-linear associations are ephemeral chaff, not durable future working material!
Too strong as stated, I think (see notes.andymatuschak.org/z2HUE4ABbQjUNj for args in favor of future value of links), but a useful angle, I think.
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This angle asks: what if the root cause is formality in UIs?csdl.tamu.edu/~shipman/forma
Paper notebooks and whiteboards provide this release valve; we lost it with digital word processors; we could solve with a new formal primitive (linking)—or maybe just by toning down formality?
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This! Opposite i.e. Distraction free writing is so distracting! It inevitably will cause context switch. But having scratch pad for offloading random thoughts or backlinks for fast return to main thread can actually help keeping you in the flow. Kind of like design process..
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I think hypertext writing can be a trick to suspend judgement, to stop thinking about what your end piece *needs* to be. Very close to separating divergence from convergence in design thinking.
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