I'm super busy with circus touring so I'm just checking quickly. I'd say make another thread to discuss the metaphors and perceptions of an information web, then link to and from this one.
I think a lot of great ideas and valid points are coming up... I think we are all on a similar page, talking about the same thing overall, just seeing slightly different vantage points of the thought object so to speak... (makes me want to read some more of Gödel, Escher, Bach). It feels a tad bit like when you get into an argument with someone, and by the end you determine you were both trying to say the same thing, and end up agreeing.
The point is these types of ideas are germinating in the collective poi unconscious, and something will develop out of it. So make a new thread somewhere and keep it coming, and I'll try to catch up.