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FILE52
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1988-02-01
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How to generate insights at a computer
======================================
Most people have an aversion to outlining -- it's always messy. By the third
level deep, you start erasing to change your initial classification schemes.
That's the fundamental flaw in outlining . . . and the source of their
strength and beauty. Here's why. <FILE50 OUTLINES>
Building an outline consists of classifying and generalizing. Classifying
is figuring out which category a concept belongs in. Generalizing is
finding the right name for a group of categories. Sounds simple, yet
that's the most powerful process in developing new ideas, insights, and
understanding.
I think "insight" is nothing more than seeing new meaning in existing words
or vocabulary. That only happens when you examine their breadth and
boundaries. As new ideas are found at the boundaries of existing concepts,
whenever you outline you stumble into information you didn't expect.
That's why I love outlining. It's always messy (initially), but once you
start organizing the structure, you can't help but sharpen your thinking.
How does this relate to hypertext?
┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ If outline building always produces insights (shifts your thinking), │
│ then building a hypertext system produces knowledge and wisdom. <FILE46> │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Hypertext depends on three ideas: indexing idea units, minimum keystroke
access to each idea unit, and efficient communication of the structure of the
knowledge in the system.
Outlining is generally organizing information for yourself. However,
hypertext is almost always organizing information for others.
<FILE43 EXAMPLE> To organize information in formats that easily match the
needs of others requires both an understanding of how various people
initially understand a subject area and how their concepts could be
modified or expanded. <FILE28 HIERARCHIES>
If you didn't have knowledge or wisdom in a particular subject area, once
you've built a successful hypertext system (become a caring teacher), you
can't help but gain knowledge and wisdom. The teacher always learns more
than the student. <FILE42 CLASSROOM>
Now, two unexpected insights!
The process of building hypertext systems requires critical thinking about
the whole, each of the parts, and all possible groups of similar parts.
This critical thinking is necessary to classify this information so it
matches the needs of a wide variety of users. That's called:
┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Hyper-critical thinking which lets you extract (or abstract) the │
│ maximum amount of knowledge from information. <FILE65 BENEFIT> │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
For example, in any complex legal process <FILE43 EXAMPLE> if you have
superior mastery of all the loops and twists in the pool of common
information, you control the outcome. For that reason, I think one of the
earliest group of hypertext users will be in law firms. <FILE75 STRUCTURE>
Am I right? Build a hypertext system to see the growth of your insights
into a particular knowledge area, or better yet go to court against
someone who has their case facts, comments, and responses in hypertext
formats for fingertip access. That will make you a believer as real-time
thinking seldom matches hyper-organized thinking! They'll simply chew you
alive from angles you never imagined.
Again the value of information lies in how it is organized.
Reference : ----------------------
Tools for organizing knowledge <FILE26 Maxthink/Houdini>
Reviewer comments on MaxThink <FILE15 Reviews>
Neil Larson 1/15/88 FILE52
44 Rincon Rd., Kensington, CA 94707
Copyright MaxThink 1988 -- Call 415-428-0104 for permission to reprint