[Dis]Spatiality

In traversing large masses of information, what would seem the normal desire of the human mind is to cognitively map the spaces in which the information resides, and to place oneself within that space as a resident and explorer. That is how we interact with physical spaces, streets and cities, and how we try to create metaphors for informational infrastructures.

But cyberspace is a misnomer. Information resides in such a form that all is as accessible as any other, and no piece of information is farther away than any other. It may take longer to search for if you don't know how to find it, but once discovered, it is on the same point for retrieval and perusal as all other discovered information; bookmarks are the current incarnation of this idea, that thought the Internet may be vast and surly, if you know the address, you can go directly to that place, rather than having to travel the same steps to get there every time.

This is the nature of information as it relates to space, and it is the human being which injects dimensions (or according to Sartre, "being an nothingness") into the information. The Street in Snow Crash is one example of a cyberspace environment that could be navigable disspatially, yet for the sake of manners, people only arrive at predisposed places:

You can't just materialize anywhere in the Metaverse, like Captain Kirk beaming down from on high. This would be confusing and irritating to the people around you. It would break the metaphor. [bold added]

We are the ones who must navigate it, but it allows for structures that need no navigation. It allows for human beings who need no space.