this is just just a general question which is open to a lot of personal interpretation in the answer (i would imagine)

-- what is, or rather, how should I interpret, a node?

when i see the word 'node' i envisage a large-ish rubber.. nipple(or collection of)... -- something that resembles a cross between a dog toy and sex 'aid'

so when tutorials say 'assign a shader node' or similar, I'm not quite getting the feel of things.

if i google the question i just get 'maya uses a node based structure' which doesn't really clarify things.

how do other users regard 'nodes'...??