[topicmapmail] Vision #2: Structure for Ongoing Conversation

[Andrius Kulikauskas]

Here is another vision, that may relate to Topic Maps.  It is for one of
our laboratory's objectives, which is "thinking about Other thoughts",
that is, not our own thoughts.  As with vision #1, I'm interested in
your comments, and your own vision of Topic Maps.  Write to me at
ms@ms.lt if you would like to work together on the vision below.

Yours,

Andrius Kulikauskas
Director
Minciu Sodas
http://www.ms.lt
ms@ms.lt
+1 (773) 586-6280
in Chicago through October


>       My conclusion is that Innovators who like to think about "other
> thoughts" would enjoy pursuing an endeavor to establish a "Structure for
> Ongoing Conversation".  When they explore other thoughts, they wish to
> have conversations with people who care about those thoughts.  By
> conversation, I mean the rapport that we can generate in our own minds
> with the author of a book that inspires us, or with a friend we keep in
> our thoughts.  Our Innovators want to approach the Web, and all
> information, as a conversation through which they map out problems and
> solutions that interest them.  However, they need these conversations to
> be ongoing, with regular pauses, so that they control how much they let
> those other thoughts influence their own.  They do not want the Web to
> be just another form of television.
>       Our Innovators which to gather partial answers
> from an ongoing conversation, rather than hope for a total solution.  A
> document typically offers a total solution, but our Innovators prefer to
> weave together their own partial answers from the fragments they uncover
> deep within documents.  Unfortunately, they can spend an hour searching
> on the Web and have no convenient way to structure the results of their
> ongoing search and continue later.