Straight

The
Dutch
country
side
is
quiet.

A
sunny
software
development
center
lies
along
a
cycle
track.

The
track
is
just
straight.

You
can't
go
wrong.

Yet
a
woman
asks
me
for
directions.

My
mind
freezes.

How
in
Wodan's
name
did
she
manage
to
get
lost
here?

Is
this
chicken
talk
or
a
serious
question?

Miss,
you'd
better
drive
on
to
the
next
crossroad.

Crossroads
are
excellent
spots
to
change
directing.

Sigh.

A full stop at the end of a sentence is like a crossroad. It announces the beginning of a new sentence, a new path of thought. The end of a line is like a forced jump from one track to another. It should be possible to read sentences without an interruption. Why do we write words next to each other? Why don't sentences just run in one straight line?

Dr. Leonard Verhoef, Human Efficiency, writes in his Dutch book GUI, webontwerp, psychologie en human efficiency:
Sentences with words in lines are clumsy. You do see with one eye fixation the next line, but not the words of the sentence. Words in lines require a lot of eye movements, many eye fixations. This way of reading is exhausting the eyes.

Chinese
characters
in
columns
are
not
to
bad.

Why
don't
we
put
our
words
in
columns?

You
would
see
the
next
words
sharp.

Read
multiple
words
in
one
eye
fixation.

The
next
sentence
will
a
bit
further
on.

Thought
jumps
and
eye
movements
work
in
concert.

Till
next
nut,
Nut