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The Internet: Dizzy Knowledge Pathways

Is the internet distracting and dizzying? According to David Weinberger, it is. (He says it with affection, though.) And, I agree. It is. With the advent of high-speed connection, wifi, and tabs (tabs!), the amount of discipline and self-policing required to actually, like, get shit done is staggering at best. 

But it's also the most fluid, unrestricted means of accessing information or conducting research. Using search engines to find articles or websites or blogs, to answer a question (or, at least, to approach an answer to a question) is fantastically easy. From those articles or websites or blogs, you can often find one or several hyperlinked articles with relevant or related information, turning what could look like a linear pathway of information into a twisting, amorphous tree of information, with many pathways leading up and outward, like reaching branches.

This model of an information network is daunting and enormous. The pathways are infinite, and the information itself is approaching infinity. The pathways are parallel, perpendicular, backward, forward, useful, and sometimes dead-ends. 

 To avoid dizziness, keep your eyes on the horizon. To avoid distraction, keep your eyes off of Reddit. 

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