it's complicated of course but...trails are the first maps, maps are representations of information about a territory...
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...used to navigate a territory (goal-directed behavior within the territory)
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many territories are self-mapping, assisting mental representations of them, often modified that way by past travelers
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(e.g large herbivore trails, some architecture)
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What are you saying here beyond the pave-the-cowpaths principle of design?
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The reason to pave the cowpath is generally to make it more accessible. Human feet > hooves > wheels...
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accessibility by paving is simplifying a complex thing - route for what? trade, travel, in information space weirder
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Other direction is not "simplify" but "transform" creative-destructively (colonize, change-nature-of etc).
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my point is paving is a pretty boring (simple) transform compared to route-equivalent things in information space
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That is basic insight behind standardization in engineering. Make interesting things boring to open doors

