Not all mind maps are created equal. That is, not all of them follow the pattern that people think is the standard, where ideas are written down on a piece of paper in a sort of radiating pattern around one central word or concept. People would be correct, of course, in thinking that this method of construction is a mind map. It just isn’t the only kind. That radiating sort of pattern is called a spider map, and it is just one type of visual map among many.

Some mind maps are rather more linear, in fact. It’s not that they return the user to a linear mode of thinking; instead they take all the ideas that the person comes up with in their brainstorming and represents them in a way that shows how the ideas flow into or perhaps cause each other. For example, a fishbone map is a central line leading to a final conclusion, with other lines angle into it on either side, in a fishbone pattern. These mind map examples perhaps would illustrate all the factors that caused a final event.

Other mind map examples might be those viewed as chains or circles. A chain might be just a series of loops, one after the other, showing events or causes that are connected to each other. Or it might involve loops descending from each other in ever widening branches, like the roots of a tree, as a single event creates a cascade of repercussions. Another type of map displays itself as an actual circle, and would illustrate certain things that go in repeating cycles. These mind maps, especially the chains, can probably fall into the flow chart category as well.

The fact that all of these different illustrations are considered mind maps, despite their different constructions, shows how powerful mind mapping techniques really are. They can be used for generating ideas or for organizing information that is already known. They can demonstrate relationships between ideas or events. Even the Venn Diagram of mathematics, a sort of mind map people used for years without realizing that was what it was, shows the organization and relation of important information. These mind map tools are very powerful, no matter what form they take.

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