As we may think essay
Written in July of 1945 by one of the top research scientists in America. It foretold the need for a different way to structure information and proposed the memex Here are some standout quotes from the essay:
The problem with rigidly structured, hierarchical categorization
A record if it is to be useful to science, must be continuously extended, it must be stored, and above all it must be consulted.
When data of any sort are placed in storage, they are filed alphabetically or numerically, and information is found (when it is) by tracing it down from subclass to subclass. It can be in only one place, unless duplicates are used; one has to have rules as to which path will locate it, and the rules are cumbersome. Having found one item, moreover, one has to emerge from the system and re-enter on a new path.>
The human mind does not work that way. It operates by association.
...associative indexing, the basic idea of which is a provision whereby any item may be caused at will to select immediately and automatically another. This is the essential feature of the memex. The process of tying two items together is the important thing.
The potential benefit to knowledge and understanding
Presumably man's spirit should be elevated if he can better review his shady past and analyze more completely and objectively his present problems.