On more than one occasion, I have been told by people who have come to hear me speak that I do not seem to think or see things in the same way as others. I take this as a compliment. Usually, I am told that, because of my different perspective, the listener has been able to see something new in the subject I was talking about and has thanked me for that. However, I do not set out to be deliberately different. When giving talks, and other such presentations, I somehow feel less constrained by the medium in which I am working and my ideas – different or otherwise – simply follow in a way that doesn't seem to happen when paper is involved.
By definition, cyberspace is not confined to any set number of dimensions. It is not a simple linear or two-dimensional space. Nor can it be said to be three dimensional; it transcends dimensionality. Cyberspace can, therefore, be made to conform to any structure that a mind chooses to confer on it. If, for purposes of expressing his thinking, an individual's mind does not readily conform to a particular structure or dimensionality then with cyberspace it is possible to use an alternative structure and/or dimensionality.
Structure and dimensionality are products of the components available at a given moment in time and how those components can be made to relate to each other. Structure is built, not from components alone but from relationships between these components. When, because of the way in which one's mind works, one is acutely aware that there are more inter-relationships between ideas and objects of study than can be expressed within a linear form of writing, one becomes deeply frustrated by the constraints of that traditional form.
The experiment in finding a new form of writing to suit my learning differences being performed here is not meant as a replacement for traditional forms of writing. Rather, it is meant to be an extension thereof. It may even be possible to use this form of writing to produce something that conforms to traditional forms of writing.
Thus, (elements of) my websites are a representation of a particular mindset and how it currently sees its object of interest. It seeks to build a structure that is not static but which is open to constant revision as ideas evolve and change. Printed works, by their static nature, cannot do this.
In producing my websites, I have made the deliberate decision not to use any web technique unless it is absolutely necessary. I have eschewed a number of fancy ways of doing things. The fundamental ethos is to convey ideas as simply as possible. Nothing is being done for its own sake or because it is easy. As time goes by, I hope new forms of academic expression will emerge.