Today, there are many discussions about computer user interfaces. The reason behind all of this attention is the emergence of a general understanding that the revolutionary ideas of Xerox PARC [Edw95] — which underpin virtually every modern GUI (including the Macintosh, Microsoft Windows and X Windows) are no longer enough. Somewhere, inspiration must be found for new approaches, because even the highly computer-literate are not entirely comfortable with existing interfaces.
The difficulty in finding alternatives to the user interfaces of today is part of a very general problem. Our society is obsessed with analysis — a fixation that effectively blocks the process of discovery in any field. While an analytic approach is crucial for evaluating ideas, or refining systems based on existing concepts, it cannot produce anything new.
Due to the limitations of analysis, it is not surprising that major discoveries have come about via another process. This process is commonly referred to as synthesis — an act of pulling together diverse ideas into a unified whole. One such famous result is the "Newtonian Synthesis" [Ten??], which refers to Sir Isaac Newton's Theory of Gravitation.
Prior to Newton's discovery, it seemed that the motion of objects near the earth is quite different from the motion of stars, planets and other "celestial" bodies. The former phenomena had previously been studied by Galileo Galilei, while rules for the latter had been worked out by Johannes Kepler, based on the observations by Tycho Brahe [Fey63]. All of them were great scientists, and Newton is afforded the primary place among them due to the significance of his synthesis.
It can readily be argued that physics has been on a "synthesis craze" ever since Newton's success. For instance, the later work of Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking on a unified theory are further steps towards an even greater synthetic result. The example set by such people is a worthy one to emulate.