Daniel is talking about the arise of alphabetical order. [Abstract] Yes, it was an invention. Alphabetizing was highly unusual in the Middle Ages. E.g., in a book from the 11th century, the author had to explain exactly how it works. 150 years later, another author claimed he’d come up with a new way of organizing a list of words in the Bible. And the idea was then forgotten again. Again in 1604 an author had to explain the system to the reader.

There was a serious debate about whether it made sense to arrange encyclopedias alphabetically rather than topically, perhaps keying off the Bible’s own taxonomical preferences. The debate depended on imagining a new type of reader: not a scholar who reads continuously but someone who looks things up. Cross-references were invented in the 18th Century to connect topics dispersed by alphabetical order.

“Alphabetical order remains an insult to logic.” E.g., the 1987 edition of the Britannica tries to organize itself thematically as well as alphabetically, resulting in a bit of a hodgepodge. And on the Web there’s no need to store things alphabetically. “We will soon no longer need to learn our ABCs.” We’ve cut ourselves off from secular humanism and alphabetical order. “We now float free in the sea of information.”

Categories: Uncategorized dw