Hypertext - "Follow your nose!"

Rarely is the human thought process completely linear. Let's take class discussion as an example; when a question or topic is proposed, someone will respond to the question and in their response, will raise something that evokes a response from someone else, and so on. Oftentimes, the "links" to further discussion have nothing to do with the initial question or the specific answer to it, and we end up talking about something that has nothing to do with the question or topic that got it all started. It's the nature of discussion and the result of putting a bunch of individuals together, who by nature, will have different thought processes. In many ways, it is this type of real world human interaction that hypertext mimics in the virtual world. For this reason, I think it's an incredible feature to include in the design and creation of websites, because it allows any visitor to follow their own train of thought through the world wide web. We may all share a common interest, and thus begin in the same place. However, as interests and thoughts diverge from person to person, hypertext allows us to take up the wisdom of Toucan Sam and "follow your nose" to whatever it is your individual interest is looking for.

Hypertext imitates the way people learn, and is therefore very effective, as well as convenient. Traditionally, people would go grab a book from the library, read it, and what interested them most would lead to further reading and learning. Two people might read the same book, but the thing from that book that inspires further reading may be entirely different. If the book was about Africa, one person might want to learn more about lions, while another may wish to study the Apartheide. Hypertext in a website about Africa would permit each of these people to learn more about their respective areas of interest, through a simple click. The other advantage to hypertext is that it might get people to read and learn about things they otherwise would have ignored or been unaware of. Who knows, the lion enthusiast could end up clicking their way into human rights advocacy.