[phkahler]

>> It's not like a pile either but I think more like a network of associations, a mesh.

That's exactly the point. Their knowledge has some organization and structure, it's not just random pile of information. The author is advocating that we help people to organize information so that it is more useful to them. They even go so far as saying to try understanding how the person models other thing to leverage that. In other words, the closet thing is a metaphor, but also can be a starting point.

[maxrf]

isn't the point (of the pile) that you tug on this thing - and it's attached to that, you tug on that... etc - ie: brain associations are more complex than a mesh. I remember tidying up my daughter's room and destroying her ability to find her clothes - she had no place to start...