Konubinix' opinionated web of thoughts

Zettelkasten

Fleeting

Table of Contents

A second brain to handle your knowledge graph.

Literally « box of small pieces of paper ». A method to organize your web of thoughts in atomic units so that you can focus on making connection between them.

on est mauvais à prédire le temps nécessaire à estimer une tâche (The planning fallacy - Kahneman 2013

— https://organisologie.com/prise-de-note/

Ces notes démontreront un intérêt qui vous poussera à vous documenter et réfléchir de plus en plus souvent à ce sujet. Ces notes ouvriront des questions que vous chercherez à résoudre.

— https://organisologie.com/prise-de-note/

connection can intend

— https://organisologie.com/prise-de-note/

intent of a Folgezettel is

— https://organisologie.com/prise-de-note/

The Zettelkasten note archive is the storage of your knowledge

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/your-first-note/

the problem with RSS is that it’s so convenient to subscribe to websites that you will eventually end up with more items in your feed queue each day than you can read

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/reading-web-rss-note-taking/

you’re reading a book, I would recommend against highlighting. This processes the information at a low level of depth and is inefficient in the long run. A better method would be to take sparse notes while reading, or do a one-paragraph summary after you read each major section. —

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/reading-putting-it-all-together/

write about the interesting stuff in your own words, to avoid the risk of not understanding what the text is about

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/reading-putting-it-all-together/

Write down interesting parts of a text immediately on a sheet of paper

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/reading-putting-it-all-together/

Don’t worry about re-usability of the information you keep. A lot of the notes we take tend to be wasteful at first

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/reading-putting-it-all-together/

chose to create a typology of items to serve me as an epistemiologic amplifier. If you know how things look in general (type) you can find specific items more easily

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/reading-is-searching/

Your own notes require less energy when you read and make sense of them than re-visiting the original source would

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/dont-rely-on-source-have-faith-in-yourself/

when you work with a Zettelkasten, you’ll have to aim for collecting your own thoughts and ideas.

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/dont-rely-on-source-have-faith-in-yourself/

Texts by Themselves are Worthless – it’s Your job to Create Information from a Source

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/dont-rely-on-source-have-faith-in-yourself/

It’s impossible to collect information by collecting original sources. Everything runs through our brain’s filter and is subject to our interpretation

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/dont-rely-on-source-have-faith-in-yourself/

Coverage: apply efficient reading techniques to drill through texts quickly.

Practice: take notes to see whether you understood what the text contains.

Insight: integrate the notes into your note archive to create lasting knowledge

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/learn-faster-by-writing-zettel-notes/

skim the material before you dive in to find the places where useful information is so you don’t get lost in details right away

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/learn-faster-by-writing-zettel-notes/

e-read the passages you marked as ‘interesting’ before. Do it as slow as you need to understanding the contents. Read whole passages only if you’re positive that there’s stuff you want to keep.

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/learn-faster-by-writing-zettel-notes/

Take notes. This is the way of the Zettelkasten to compact the information and deepen your knowledge. Re-phrasing information in your own words is a great way to memorize it. Search for irritating stuff, for statements which caught your attention and got you thinking. These are lasting points of interest.

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/learn-faster-by-writing-zettel-notes/

ou’ll only have to try to use your own words to say what the text told you

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/learn-faster-by-writing-zettel-notes/

making connections

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/learn-faster-by-writing-zettel-notes/

Put together what belongs together

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/learn-faster-by-writing-zettel-notes/

it is important that you see a connection between information, and that it makes sense to you. It may not make sense to other people. That’s no problem, though, as the Zettelkasten is your personal knowledge tool which only you have to work with

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/learn-faster-by-writing-zettel-notes/

Writing improves your ability to think coherently

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/zettelkasten-improves-thinking-writing/

you really should write down what you think if you want to improve your thinking

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/zettelkasten-improves-thinking-writing/

partner in communication with you

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/zettelkasten-improves-thinking-writing/

you should be able to communicate with your system of notes. Your system will respond to your queries in a meaningful manner to which you both can relate. You ask, your notes answer. Ideally, both learn.

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/zettelkasten-improves-thinking-writing/

Boiled down, the basic needs of a communication system according to Luhmann in Communication with Slip Boxes are as follows:

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/zettelkasten-improves-thinking-writing/

Irritation

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/zettelkasten-improves-thinking-writing/

surprise” means you stumble upon notes which you hadn’t expected. Your system of notes, on the other hand, receives a new note from you which wasn’t there before. (It’s properly called “serendipity”

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/zettelkasten-improves-thinking-writing/

Information

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/zettelkasten-improves-thinking-writing/

Complexity:

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/zettelkasten-improves-thinking-writing/

number of notes and their relationships with each other

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/zettelkasten-improves-thinking-writing/

store lots of interconnected notes and forget what you put in to be surprised by the results of your search queries. There’s a certain way to store notes which facilitates organic growth and hypertext.

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/zettelkasten-improves-thinking-writing/

Do not sort your stuff

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/zettelkasten-improves-thinking-writing/

Identification

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/zettelkasten-improves-thinking-writing/

Connect

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/zettelkasten-improves-thinking-writing/

When you get used to heavily linking notes, your workflow will change. And so will your system of notes evolve into a Zettelkasten

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/zettelkasten-improves-thinking-writing/

The first layer of course consists of content notes.

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/three-layers-structure-zettelkasten/

The full text search and the search for tags are sufficient enough to handle a smaller archive.

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/three-layers-structure-zettelkasten/

after a while, you won’t be able to keep up

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/three-layers-structure-zettelkasten/

1000 and 1500 notes when this became too much to handle

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/three-layers-structure-zettelkasten/

lose my grip on the archive

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/three-layers-structure-zettelkasten/

Middle Layer: Structure Notes

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/three-layers-structure-zettelkasten/

  • With org-transclusion?

opaque like the sea

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/three-layers-structure-zettelkasten/

they are tables of contents

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/three-layers-structure-zettelkasten/

structure note doesn’t need to adhere to any didactic needs or any needs other than yours

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/three-layers-structure-zettelkasten/

Structure notes share a similarity to tags: Both point to sets of notes. Structure notes just add another element. They are sets with added structure. This added structure provides a better overview and adds to the utility of the archive

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/three-layers-structure-zettelkasten/

Top Layer: Main Structure Notes and Double Hashes

After a while, I did not only have structure notes that structure content notes, I also had structure notes that mainly structured sets of structure notes. They became my top level structure notes because they began to float on the top of my archive, so to say

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/three-layers-structure-zettelkasten/

The difference between these two kinds of top level structure notes is in how they turn out to become top level: Human Development emerges because of the structural changes in my archive, while the one with ##self-worth is marked as a top-level structure note because I designed it to be a top-level note right away. (I mark the human development note with a double-hash, too).

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/three-layers-structure-zettelkasten/

separation of reading and editing, is a small but significant barrier on producing content.

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/three-layers-structure-zettelkasten/

don’t like wikis for knowledge work

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/three-layers-structure-zettelkasten/

  • Like confluence

Folgezettel are not an important part of the method but rather a technique to cope with the physicality of his actual archive

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/zettelkasten-hubs/

hubs in his archive. There are some Zettel that just contained an extensive list of links to the core Zettels. That reminds me heavily of my overview Zettel

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/zettelkasten-hubs/

the method should bend around your thinking and not the other way around.

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/zettelkasten-hubs/

I have to recommend the following to you: Start your Zettelkasten. Use a plain text approach. It takes a while but it is definitely worth it

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/zettelkasten-hubs/

a Zettelkasten – if done correctly – there will emerge layers of evidence

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/layers-of-evidence/

prepare some kind of plan instead.

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/create-zettel-from-reading-notes/

What was your reading intent and how can you capture it best?

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/create-zettel-from-reading-notes/

benefit from creating visual overviews first.

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/create-zettel-from-reading-notes/

orthogonal to the content’: they don’t adhere to the succession of pages and sections. Instead, clusters form themselves around any purpose you deem fitting.

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/create-zettel-from-reading-notes/

Connecting things like that is called “creativity.”

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/create-zettel-from-reading-notes/

Getting Fancy with Marks

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/making-proper-marks-in-books/

Zettelkasten is a device to extend your mind and memory so you can work with texts efficiently and never forget things again

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/extend-your-mind-and-memory-with-a-zettelkasten/

Both permanent storage and interconnectedness are necessary to use the full potential of an archive for your notes

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/extend-your-mind-and-memory-with-a-zettelkasten/

my reading workflow consists of GTD-like phases: collect, process and write.

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/create-zettel-from-reading-notes/

Let us begin with the most important traits of a Zettelkasten:

It’s hyper-textual. It adheres to the Principle of Atomicity. It is personal.

— https://zettelkasten.de/introduction/

Links are the strongest tie between notes:

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/search-alone-is-not-enough/

There are two possible ways to assemble a draft with the help of notes from the archive:

Copy and paste everything into a single document and rewrite later. This creates a strong relationship between your draft and your notes right away. If you change the notes in the process, the changes won’t be reflected in your draft. Reference notes instead of pasting their content. This is a much weaker relationship. You don’t rely on the content of a note itself, but on the note’s existence

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/how-i-use-outlines-to-write-any-text/

  • Can we do both with org-transclusion?

start a paper with a few topic notes, paste in all the quotes, and finally write a coherent text around these

— https://zettelkasten.de/posts/how-i-use-outlines-to-write-any-text/

idea of jotting down ideas while you’re out and about is very important. If you feel you don’t have enough ideas (be it for research, for writing fiction, for art – whatever) my first question would be whether you have a good way to jot down little ideas as they occur to you.

— https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/NfdHG6oHBJ8Qxc26s/the-zettelkasten-method-1

fact that you’re forced to somehow fit all ideas into one big tree is also important. It makes you organize things in ways that are likely to be useful to you later

— https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/NfdHG6oHBJ8Qxc26s/the-zettelkasten-method-1

Eventually, a cascade of small fixes turned into a major reorganization

— https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/NfdHG6oHBJ8Qxc26s/the-zettelkasten-method-1

I think an essential part of Zettelkasten is the distinction between temporary and permanent notes. Temporary notes are the disorganized stream-of-consciousness notes which Sheffler calls engagement notes.

— https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/NfdHG6oHBJ8Qxc26s/the-zettelkasten-method-1

Periodically, you review the temporary notes, putting the important things into Zettelkast

— https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/NfdHG6oHBJ8Qxc26s/the-zettelkasten-method-1

Taking Smart Notes, Luhmann is described as transferring the important thoughts from the day into Zettel every evening.

— https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/NfdHG6oHBJ8Qxc26s/the-zettelkasten-method-1

A gap of time allows the initial excitement over an idea to pass, so that only the things which still seem important the next day get into long-term notes.

— https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/NfdHG6oHBJ8Qxc26s/the-zettelkasten-method-1

JotsThese are the sort of small pointers to ideas which you can write down while walking, waiting for the bus, etc

— https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/NfdHG6oHBJ8Qxc26s/the-zettelkasten-method-1

thing to realize about jots is to capture them at all,

— https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/NfdHG6oHBJ8Qxc26s/the-zettelkasten-method-1

both a hierarchical organization which makes it easy to get an overview and find things, and also a “cross-reference” type capability which allows related content to be linked – creating a heterarchical web

— https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/NfdHG6oHBJ8Qxc26s/the-zettelkasten-method-1

Zettelkasten forced me to create cross-links much more than I otherwise would, due to the use of small note-cards

— https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/NfdHG6oHBJ8Qxc26s/the-zettelkasten-method-1

usefulness of Zettelkasten is the interconnected web of ideas which builds up over time, and the “high-surface-area” format which makes it easy to branch off any part.

— https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/NfdHG6oHBJ8Qxc26s/the-zettelkasten-method-1

You’re not only writing notes because they may help you develop ideas in the future; the act of writing the notes should be helping you develop ideas now

— https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/NfdHG6oHBJ8Qxc26s/the-zettelkasten-method-1

only spend time putting ideas into Zettelkasten if you’re excited about further developing those ideas right now.

— https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/NfdHG6oHBJ8Qxc26s/the-zettelkasten-method-1

should not just be copying over ideas into Zettelkasten

— https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/NfdHG6oHBJ8Qxc26s/the-zettelkasten-method-1

the necessary preparation for your future self if you want to reach the stage of complexity with your Zettelkasten that unlocks its true productivity.

— https://zettelkasten.de

bad habit is writing “see also:” and just drop the link

— https://zettelkasten.de

Backlinks are bad linking on crack and steroids.

— https://zettelkasten.de

Zettelkasten Method is more than just a tool to finish some work or project. It is a holistic method on how to deal with knowledge in your life.

— https://zettelkasten.de

The Zettelkasten Method needs some practice. First, you will have the feeling that you don’t do anything useful. But with a little bit of practice and patience, you will surprise yourself and produce gems of knowledge

— https://zettelkasten.de

three note-taking levels

concept note

Concept notes require much more care in authoring: they need to be self-explanatory and detailed

— https://www.orgroam.com/manual.html

fleeting note

A not that was quickly captured and still needs to be consolidated.

fleeting notes: they are simple reminders of information or ideas that will need to be processed later on, or trashed.

— https://www.orgroam.com/manual.html

Level 1: Fleeting Notes

Fleeting notes are ideas that pop into your mind as you go through your day. They can be really short, just like one word. You don’t need to organize them. They just serve as reminders of your thinking.

— https://betterhumans.pub/zettelkastens-3-note-taking-levels-help-you-harvest-your-thoughts-58326840f969

reference note

Notes that contain only reference, by contrast with literature note, I did not rephrase and digest the data yet.

literature note

A note that contains references and rephrasing of some literature. I consolidate what I have understood of the literature in a literature note.

Literature notes can be brief annotations on a particular source (e.g. book, website or paper), that you’d like to access later on

— https://www.orgroam.com/manual.html

Level 2: Literature Notes

You capture literature notes from the content you consume. It’s your bullet-point summary from other people’s ideas. I create these notes for all books, podcasts, articles, or videos I find valuable.

— https://betterhumans.pub/zettelkastens-3-note-taking-levels-help-you-harvest-your-thoughts-58326840f969

There are three rules for literature notes: make them brief, use your own words, and note bibliographic references.

— https://betterhumans.pub/zettelkastens-3-note-taking-levels-help-you-harvest-your-thoughts-58326840f969

What is interesting about this? What’s so relevant it’s worth noting down?

— https://betterhumans.pub/zettelkastens-3-note-taking-levels-help-you-harvest-your-thoughts-58326840f969

the more you write down, the more you can recall the information later. So don’t try to keep the notes too short — be generous in the way you elaborate and find the length that feels good for you.

— https://betterhumans.pub/zettelkastens-3-note-taking-levels-help-you-harvest-your-thoughts-58326840f969

In a Zettelkasten, you don’t file notes in the context you found them but in the context in which you want to discover them.

— https://betterhumans.pub/zettelkastens-3-note-taking-levels-help-you-harvest-your-thoughts-58326840f969

Here are two questions to ask yourself when you create references for your literature notes. Answering them will help you make good cross-references: In which circumstance do I want to find this note? When and how will I use this idea?

— https://betterhumans.pub/zettelkastens-3-note-taking-levels-help-you-harvest-your-thoughts-58326840f969

permanent note

A note that has been considered to have robust and sourced knowledge.

Permanent notes are further split into two categories: literature notes and concept notes

— https://www.orgroam.com/manual.html

Level 3: Permanent Notes

Permanent notes are the real value-adders. You create them by looking through your fleeting and literature notes. Ideally, you create them once a day.

— https://betterhumans.pub/zettelkastens-3-note-taking-levels-help-you-harvest-your-thoughts-58326840f969

As a rule of thumb, I now create permanent notes about every topic I’m curious about or working on. When you’re in doubt, ask yourself whether you’re curious to explore your idea further

— https://betterhumans.pub/zettelkastens-3-note-taking-levels-help-you-harvest-your-thoughts-58326840f969

While your literature notes are bullets, your permanent notes are written prose. A reader of your permanent note should understand it without reading the source that led to your idea.

— https://betterhumans.pub/zettelkastens-3-note-taking-levels-help-you-harvest-your-thoughts-58326840f969

Notes pointant ici