As We May Think

As We May Think by Vannevar Bush

by Vannevar Bush

Shares rank 37 of 60 articles by recommenders

A 1945 essay describing an interactive, linked information system, recommended as a visionary precursor to hypertext and the internet.

5 people gave an opinion

Each figure is one person. RecommendsCriticizes

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The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.

Each mark is one comment

Precursor to hypertext and internet
“it is the first recorded proposal of hypertext. The vision described is extremely interactive.”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “In the Beginning was the Command Line (1999)”
“it is the precursor in many ways to the internet.”
Comment from 13 Jul 2026 in “Map of All Known Knowledge”
Visionary ideas still relevant today
“Someone blew my mind by convincing me to read Bush's "As we may think" which was published in 1945.”
Comment from 9 Jan 2026 in “The Unreasonable Effectiveness of the Fourier Transform”
“80+ years since we had a really great idea introduced, in "As We May Think" by Vannevar Bush”
Comment from 30 Mar 2026 in “The Cognitive Dark Forest”

All 5 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.

“We agree with the general principles from the essay i.e. cognitive augmentation over automation and the focus on extending our cognitive ability.”

RecommendsComment from 1 Aug 2026 in “Show HN: What should the GUI for AI agents look like?”

“it is the precursor in many ways to the internet.”

RecommendsComment from 13 Jul 2026 in “Map of All Known Knowledge”

“80+ years since we had a really great idea introduced, in "As We May Think" by Vannevar Bush”

RecommendsComment from 30 Mar 2026 in “The Cognitive Dark Forest”

“Someone blew my mind by convincing me to read Bush's "As we may think" which was published in 1945.”

RecommendsComment from 9 Jan 2026 in “The Unreasonable Effectiveness of the Fourier Transform”

“it is the first recorded proposal of hypertext. The vision described is extremely interactive.”

RecommendsComment from 15 Dec 2025 in “In the Beginning was the Command Line (1999)”

Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.

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