Other Spaces for Spatial Hypertext and Aristotelian Spatial Hypertext

Publication: Journal of Digital Information special issue on spatial hypertext

Two studies of the effects of adding polarities and privileged areas or directions to the usually neutral background for constructing spatial hypertext. Philosophers often discuss the difference between theories that describe space as absolute (for example, Newton) or as relational (for example, Leibniz). Node and link hypertext creates a relational space, while most spatial hypertext either works with an absolute (background or container) space or combines this with Leibnizian link networks. There is, however, the third sort of space, which we might call Aristotelian, which is polarized and oriented. Tinderbox can be pushed into exemplifying this sort of spatial hypertext, and we might imagine applications that do so more completely.

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