One also has to consider a darker alternative to hypertextual writing.
If it is possible to imagine academic hypertext as an open system, one can also posit a hypertext project governed by arbitrary rules, hostile to innovation, and largely opaque to its users. Such a system, conceived perhaps on the model of the "learning machines" of previous decades, might present itself as a hypertextbook containing all the information a student 'really' needs to know. The student's paths through this information would be limited to a narrow range governed by binary evaluations: 'if the reader understands this concept then proceed to the next one; otherwise repeat.'
Such a system would be a monolith of integrated knowledge. Its navigators (if there were any) would not be trail blazers or generalists but park police and drill sergeants.
The system would not be hyper-"Text" in Roland Barthes' terms, but hyper-"work" -- a code of received knowledge designed to engrave its idea of order upon the reader.
The system would not be hyper-"Text" in Roland Barthes' terms, but hyper-"work" -- a code of received knowledge designed to engrave its idea of order upon the reader.
Download ebooks on http://www.frenchtheory.com/ - See that post with different algorithms in metabole - See the journal French Metablog with today different posts -
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