[OT] Terminal width

[Benjamin Scott]

On Mon, Mar 29, 2010 at 10:37 PM, Joshua Judson Rosen
<rozzin at geekspace.com> wrote:
> Maybe it's analogous to the way that newspaper-texts are laid-out
> in side-by-side columns.

  One difference that may be of significance is: Newspaper is of fixed
position and layout, while most electronic text tends to move around
(scroll).  So unless your source file can fit in two 80-character
columns, maybe that won't work the same.

>> Why does this matter?  It's commonly claimed that human
>> understanding significantly increases when the information is fit in
>> to the field-of-view at one time.
>
> The bit about `more information fitting into the field of view at once'
> is interesting, because `the field of view' isn't necessarily as wide
> as people think it is ...

  "Field of view" may not be the correct term.  That's my description.
 It's always been presented to me in terms of things like a printed
page, a screenful, etc.  I guess it boils down to the idea that
whenever visual perception is "re-anchored" (my term) -- e.g., the
(printed) page is turned, or the window is scrolled -- the level of
comprehension decreases.

  Pure speculation now: If some people are more spatially oriented
then others, it might follow that the more-spatially-oriented are more
effected by this.

-- Ben