More Comfortable With Chaos: Using Hypertext to Shatter Echo Chambers and Promote Creativity

Chaos has considerable negative associations: it is perceived as frightening and destructive and best avoided. Many constructs on the internet are a reaction to an information deluge that is perceived to be chaotic and overwhelming. Search engines, with their consistent quest for the one right answer are one such construct. Filter bubbles and echo chambers, which protect us from the chaos of others’ opinions are another. While too much chaos is frightening and overwhelming, a little chaos can be useful. One way in which this occurs is through potentially preventing polarisation by exposing people to new views and ideas (which may even change their minds) on social media. Another way chaos can be useful is by facilitating discovery both in terms of creative thinking processes, which thrive on a wide (chaotic) variety of information, and in promoting discovery through serendipity. This paper first examines the case for and against chaos, then sets out a chaos-driven research agenda for the hypertext community.