Of all of the different ways to model information, the best are the ones that take advantage what we do well. We don't process lists of numbers well. We do, however, process huge amounts of spatial and physical information every moment. So if a model lets the body do the processing, it has an enormous advantage.
The obvious disadvantage is that the information is unquantifiable -- no numbers. But quantity is just a little slice of the pie. It has all the allure of real knowledge but is often just a smug substitute. [I suppose this is what Serres is on about - his contempt of geometry is making a little more sense to me.] We always need to draw trends from numerics and embody them somehow in order to grasp their consequence. Graphs are necessary. If they're not drawn for us, we draw them in our heads -- it's going up, going down, it's smooth, it's striated. And to identify that embodiment is our primary strategy is to realize how little we've tapped that resource. A graph appeals to our understanding of space without actually touching our bodies. Imagine if it did --
Other examples coming to mind: the method of loci, video games, conducting, music by James Dillon.
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