zettelkasten
Appreciating the Waxing Zettelkasten
I appreciate the visual of my Zettelkasten, which looks like a waxing moon with connected notes on one side and orphaned notes on the other.
The right side is all my connected notes, the other dots are orphaned notes I've yet to process.
It looks like a waxing moon!
I accept that my work will remain unfinished. I am eager to discover what the soil can produce, but there are only so many hours in a day. I already marvel at how far it has come (View Highlight)
???? Why did i think i would remember what this meant
This is why having good capture systems is critical. Don't underestimate the Doorway Effect,and don't trust that ideas will lodge themselves in long term memory just because you've consciously willed it/desire it to stick.
Also come up with trusty shorthands. Some of mine:
- 'tdo' = '- [ ]'
- 'tpo' = 'to-process'
- 'p{#}' = active project #1, #2, ...
The previous chapter presented diagrams illustrating that most people work for everyone but themselves. They work first for the owners of the company, then for the government through taxes, and finally for the bank that owns their mortgage. (Location 1143)
After college, many educated young Americans finds themselves in need of a job and a purpose. These are two different things but employers have successfully convinced us that they are one in the same. Once that link is formalized, one has a hard time separating themselves from their identity and can put themself in a state of overwork for an organization that doesn't care about them.
One of the reason I like micropublishing is that it feels like working for myself and my curiosity! 202212181947
What Makes a Quality Zettel?
A quality Zettel should include an excerpt/TLDR and dimensionality in order to make it a more substantial artifact and to increase its reach. Dimensionality can be anything, such as a companion video or a featured image, which can give the same piece a different meaning.
Audio Companion
Written Piece
A quality Zettel is:
2023-02-25
Since publishing this initially, I have new thoughts on what makes a quality Zettel, and how to go about making one. With the last few months focused heavily on publishing,[3] I realized that the above definition is missing a number of key elements. The two that are most important are: excerpt/TLDR and dimensionality.
An excerpt simply put is a summary of what is in the Zettel. The role of the excerpt is to serve as the distillation of the Zettel, to highlight why it is valuable. The excerpt highlights the boundaries of the Zettel, establishing firm edges around an otherwise amorphous object. As a side benefit, this is arguably necessary for publishing as a good excerpt is second only to title in search results on places like Google/Bing/ChatGPT. Don't fight HTML/web spec if you don't have to!
Dimensionality is a bit more complex. Dimensionality is the depth of each individual Zettel. For example, adding an audio track, or a featured image adds detail to the overall piece. Dimensionality can be anything. It can be a companion video, a Codepen, a painting, whatever. Dimensionality is an additive process and makes each Zettel a more substantial artifact. Instead of expanding the idea space outward, you expand it by viewing it from different angles. Same piece, different meaning. Some Zettels will simply have greater reach than others, and by adding dimensionality through media there is a greater likelihood that the Zettel will be able to interop with another down the line.
bramadams.dev is a reader-supported published Zettelkasten. Both free and paid subscriptions are available. If you want to support my work, the best way is by taking out a paid subscription.
For example, this illusion picture has two dimensions. It is both a duck and a rabbit, even though the illustration did not change.
Here's how I would go about making a quality Zettel with these stipulations in mind[4]
PKM zealots assume that the act of note-taking will create emergent properties by making singleton notes. But how does one prove this? Is note-taking worth the effort?
Some potential ideas to test:
- What is the half-life of any particular note? Meaning, when do the contents of a note become useless? 202212212331
- How easy is it to append/expand upon the idea in a note? Is it locked off to updates? How easy is it to "breed" a note with others? 202301071346 Is it calling to be connected to the network like mycella or does it have a sexual urge to procreate? 202212291355
- How often does the note appear in relevance searches? How often does the note bubble to the surface? Is it semantically similar to many other notes? Birds of a Feather
a boy stands in darkness and silence. He speaks; his words float up like a bubble. It explodes, and the world is a little brighter, and a little less stiflingly silent. (Location 4869)
Some types of work result in physical artifacts being produced -- farming produces food, chemistry produces chemical compounds. But what is the output of a knowledge worker? What is the output of a writer, a programmer, or an analyst?[1]
There are physical artifacts left behind from these professions -- symbols on paper; but the etching of symbols on paper means little (they could just be Babel after all). The important aspect of the symbols is the meaning behind them.
A Giant Mapping Function
Knowledge work is a monstrous mapping function -- taking ideas from one set (raw material) and converting it into another, more valuable set. To do knowledge work is to know.
Knowledge workers value is a mapping of raw materials into another format that become raw materials for others' ideas.
The poet and the engineer (and the coral reef) may seem a million miles apart in their particular forms of expertise, but when they bring good ideas into the world, similar patterns of development and collaboration shape that process. (Location 274)
The Sign of a Good Knowledge Worker
Good knowledge workers know what they know, know what they don't know, and they know how to get the knowledge that fills the gap.
Patterns and Stimuli
Certain patterns of symbols are only valuable in specific contexts, and codified knowledge (books, for example) gives more tools to deal with novel contexts. Those who read widely can recall more patterns.
Skin in the Game and Advice
"Avoid taking advice from someone who gives advice for a living, unless there is a penalty for their advice." - Nassim Nicholas Taleb in Skin in the Game (View Tweet)
To validate the veracity of an idea from a knowledge worker, consider the amount of skin they have in the game. Good advice is advice you would give yourself if you had the expert's knowledge.
Advice is one thing that is freely given away, but watch that you take only what is worth having. He who takes advice about his savings from one who is inexperienced in such matters, shall pay with his savings for proving the falsity of their opinions.’ (Location 384)