[thisishugo]

Well, a b-tree might make a good backend for indexes or storage engines in a (large) number of databases, but mostly that data isn't looked at in the same way as it's stored. So Jeff has half a point.

However I agree with you that for hierarchal data such as, for example, family trees, biological classifications, and, dare I say it, threads of conversation, a hierarchal representation does seem to make sense.