I’m currently reading Donald Norman’s The Design of Everyday Things, which I am thoroughly enjoying, both for the new knowledge and the written representation of instinctively gathered information. The following quote stood out in particular, as it seems to directly relate to my lengthy post from yesterday:
The real point … is not that some people have erroneous theories; it is that everyone forms theories (mental models) to explain what they have observed. … In the absence of external information, people are free to let their imaginations run free as long as the mental models they develop account for the facts as they perceive them.
Public representation as external information. I like it when things collide. Food for further thought.