Hypertext is for the written word what a time machine would be for recorded history. The word used to be used a lot. Nowadays, what the word means is so taken for granted, the word is rarely uttered, except by the most prolific of hypergeeks.

Since the dawn of recorded history, Mankind has been chiselling out symbols that represented things, in order to communicate things to other people. Egyptian hieroglyphics, sanskrit, hebrew, aramaic, and other "dead" languages which are still alive like greek and latin all work in a linear fashion. The still very much alive ancient japanese and chinese languages might be read in a different direction, but also work linearally. What you're reading now is common modern English which is read left to right line by line and then from top to bottom from paraphraph to paragraph. It's static. It's almost archaic, and yet we still work in this manner because it's convenient and efficient. Other languages may go in other directions. Right to left or down to up, but the basic concept is the same. There is a standard way of going from point A to point B in order to comprehend the communique in largely the same way the sender initially intended.

We take it so for granted that most of us don't even think about it. We see a stopsign on the corner and by glancing at it we know it means stop. We don't slow down to realize that spelled backwards STOP means POTS, which has a completely different connotation totally juxtaposed from the content of the surrounding scene.

A stopsign never means POTS. How absurd. The context of the content becomes as much a part of the communication as the message itself. Otherwise, the message might get ''lost in the medium'' and we couldn't have that could we?

So rules are laid down and ways of communication are made to be consistent. Left to right. Up to down. Red means stop. Green means go. Always color INSIDE the lines. We are conditioned to think in linear ways. We are conditioned to see things as they appear to be on the surface. This is both an advantage and a hindrance. It is an advantage because it simplifies and expedites communication. It is a hindrance because it keeps us from exploring new territory and finding new ways to communicate. If something works, don't fix it.

Hypertext is for the written word what rock n roll was to the western civilization in the twentieth century. It shook things up, and introduced the world to a new way of sharing information. And it's not through teaching us yet. In fact, you should be able to read this very document starting at any paragraph, and then randomly pick different paragraphs until you've read each one once, and it should feel as if you've read a piece beginning to end. This document was designed for that. Hypertext is not limited to paragraph by paragraph but could also go sentence to sentence, word for word. Idea by idea. Click. Link. Go. We've only just begun.

Whoever they were, they were right. The revolution would not be televised. It happened on your computer. You're a part of cyberculture whether you like it or not. Your societal framework was revolutionized while your back was turned, and in a blink of an eye it will change again.

To the casual observer, text is supposed to form a single sequence. You're supposed to only read it in a certain order. Even today the concept of a novel or other ''bestseller'' you might pick up in a store is like a tunnel. You start at page one and you trudge through the book until you get to the end. Did the Butler do it?

Hypertext is not designed to work linearly. In can be read theoretically in any order (or at least in more than one order) and the ''threads'' of thought which the text represents are interconnected. You can start at any point. You can stop at any point. You can pause somewhere and refer to other data related to the issue before backing up and continuing on.

If by now you're saying to yourself, ''but webpages already do that,'' you're absolutely right. HTML is short for ''Hyper Text Markup Language.'' Hypertext is a cornerstone upon which the World Wide Web was built. However, links are just ONE of many potential ways to make text dynamic and hyper.

There are some who argue that the entire World Wide Web is one gigantic Hypertext document. Rather than thinking of it as separate entities and domains, some believe it to be a gigantic tapestry, or quilt, that the population of the world is weaving together. There are others who believe the World Wide Web hasn't even scratched the surface of what Hypertext and Hypermedia can do.

Hypermedia by the way is basically Hypertext with graphics and sounds and other media tossed in. In fact to many people, the words are synonymous, though some will argue to their deathbed that there's a fundamental difference between hyperTEXT and hyperMEDIA.¹ The words are used interchangably, so for purposes of this document, it's all hypertext.

The following links will take you out of h2g2.com

• alt.hypertext FAQ No really. Start here.
• Hyperizons Seems to have some cobwebs, but you'll find a few gems in here.
• Agent-based Hypermedia Digital Libraries, a thesis by Dr. Mike Salampasis, Ph.D.
• Hypertext Fiction from Hell
• Ira Glass on making radio from This American Life.

''my god its full of stars''