Decid­ing whether to click on links while read­ing mate­r­ial in hyper­text form gives rise to an addi­tional cog­ni­tive load and addi­tional dis­trac­tions, goes a the­ory cham­pi­oned by Steve Gill­mor and Nicholas Carr.

In cer­tain cir­cum­stances this is an argu­ment for the “delinki­fi­ca­tion” of text, they sug­gest, as this will hope­fully bring about increased comprehension.

While I don’t totally agree, I find this anal­ogy rather neat:

The link is, in a way, a tech­no­log­i­cally advanced form of a foot­note. It’s also, distraction-wise, a more vio­lent form of a foot­note. Where a foot­note gives your brain a gen­tle nudge, the link gives it a yank. What’s good about a link — its propul­sive force — is also what’s bad about it.

via @anibalmastobiza

Pri­mary link: Nicholas Carr argu­ing for delinki­fi­ca­tion.
Sup­port link: Steve Gillmor’s Wikipedia entry.
Sup­port link: Nicholas Carr’s Wikipedia entry.
By means of: Ani­bal Astobiza’s tweet.