The old library systems -- the LoC system the Dewey Decimal System --
imposed categories, which of course, decayed as all categories do.
This fiction that every book is in one category required this
elaboration of numbers and cross indexing, but, basically, the
categories that the librarians worked out helped whittle or, rather,
placed walls between the areas of thought. There should be no walls
between areas of thought. There should be zones with multiple
inter-connectivities across them.
-- Ted
Nelson.
struggles
with uncomprehending radio interviewer, 1979.
Max Allen of
CBC radio asks over and over how a computer could
possibly be useful for thinking and visualizing. He absolutely does
not get it. With unprecedented patience, Ted answers over and over and
over and over.