> From: Andrew Moreno <amoreno@broken.ranch.org
>
> > Many of the models for thinking and working that we compose are
> > based upon two dimensional diagrams. As a mathematician, I have
> > worked with multi-dimensional diagrams, but the business and
> > educational world is still stuck with 2-D (the chalk board or the
> > white board). Do you feel that this has restricted the ideas of
> > the model-makers?
>
> Yes, I think this 2-D base has restricted the ideas of the model-makers.
>
> How to develop tools that let people compose multi-dimensional diagrams?
> That's a subject for another message.
Another approach to expanding the dimensions of 2-D models is the use of
hypertext tools. We have been exploring uses of a software tool
(QuestMaps) that draws 2-D "maps" of conversations using the IBIS
rhetorical model, but allows you to link nodes on the maps to any other
map. This creates a multidimensional set of views into a group's
conversations over time, and is an extremely flexible way of showing, and
understanding, the many facets of a complex issue and the way the group is
coming to grips with it.
-- Al Selvin Decision Support Systems Group NYNEX Science & Technology, Inc. selvin@nynexst.com