Zettelkasten

Table of Contents

1. Zettelkasten

1.5. Fogelzettel

Sequence of unique ids as an organizational and creative tool

1.8. Zettelkasten con org-mode

1.10. Heurísticas para tomar notas

1.10.1. Reflections on Writing 500 Notes

Compared to definitions, notes written as a claim are far more interesting and useful.
it avoids the wikipedia feel and leads to more creative ideas.
I still write some definition notes ⇒ tend to serve as pointers to a group of related notes via backlinks.
I have a better mental model for connecting content by adding links as if I am curating a path along a garden.
I’m also better at spotting individual concepts and ideas so I can appropriately cut a new note ⇒ etter connections because it’s easier to connect more specific things together than general things.

1.11. Introductory

1.11.1. zettelkasten-how-one-german-scholar-was-so-freakishly-productive

https://writingcooperative.com/zettelkasten-how-one-german-scholar-was-so-freakishly-productive-997e4e0ca125

  • Resumen de cómo se pasa de cuadernos separados->notas individuales->carpetas->tags->tags+carpetas
  • each note should contain one idea and one idea only. This makes it possible to link ideas with a laser focus -> sólo cuando vayas a linkarla, aunque es verdad que si la quieres linkar y te tienes que poner a separarla justo en ese momento te dá más trabajo y no es óptimo
  • Whenever you add a note, make sure to link it to already existing notes. Avoid notes that are disconnected from other notes. (lo anterior no vale!?)
1.11.1.1. The Principle of atomicity

Each note should contain on idea and one idea only. this makes it possible to link ideas with a laser focus (~ very brief)
Writing for others

1.11.1.2. The Principle of autonomy

Each (permanent) note should be autonomous, meaning it should be self-contanined and comprehensible on its own
This allows notes to be moved, procesed, separated, and concatenated independently of its neighbors.
It also ensures that notes remain ueful even if the original source of information dissapears

1.11.1.3. Always link your notes

Whenver you add a note, make sure to link it to already existing notes. Avoid notes thath are disconnected from other notes

Each note is just an element that derives its quality from the network of links in the system. A note that is not connected to the network will be lost, will be forgotten by the Zettelkasten

  • Niklas Lulhmann
1.11.1.4. Explain why you’re linking notes

Whenever you are connecting two notes by a link, make sure to briefly explain why are you linking them.
Otherwise, years down the road when you revisit your notes, you may have no idea why you connected them

1.11.1.5. Add connection notes

Notes whose purpose is to link together other notes, and explain their relationship

1.11.1.6. Add outline notes

Notes that simply contain a equence of links to other notes, putting those other notes into a particular order to create a story, narrative, or argument
Kinda contradicts Don’t worry about structure

1.11.1.7. Use your own words

Don’t copy and paste. If you come across an interesing idea, and want to add it to your Zettelkaste, you must express that idea with your own words, in a way that you’ll be able to understand years later.
Don’t turn your Zettelkasten into a dump of copy and pasted information

1.11.1.8. Add your own thoughts to the Zettelkasten
1.11.1.9. Keep references

so that you know where you got an idea from, if you want to revisit it later, and to prevent plagiarism

1.11.1.10. Don’t worry about structure

In Zettelkasten there are no privileged positions, no top and no bottom

1.11.1.11. Never delete permanent and project notes

Instead, link to new ones that explain what’s wrong with the old ones. In that way, your Zettelkasten will reflect how your thinking has evolved overtime, which will prevent hindsight bias. Moreover, you might revisit old ideas that turn out to be correct after all

1.11.1.12. Add notes without fear

You can never have too much information in your Zettelkasten: at worst, you’ll add notes that won’t be of immediate use

1.11.2. Zettelkasten note-taking in 10 minutes

https://blog.viktomas.com/posts/slip-box/

1.11.3. Zettelkasten summed up by Sönke Ahrens

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-best-way-to-take-notes/answer/S%C3%B6nke-Ahrens
If you are serious about note-taking for writing and long-term learning, make yourself familiar with Niklas Luhmann

’s Zettelkasten (a German term meaning “slip-box” or “card index”). This is the gold-standard when it comes to taking notes and keeping them organized in an output-oriented way. I use the system to keep track of everything I read and have become so convinced about it that I used my Zettelkasten to write a book [1]about the Zettelkasten – it just became too painful to watch others taking notes in the same unproductive ways I used to take notes myself: by underlining sentences in books, making comments in the margins, writing laborious excerpts or keeping journals. While all these techniques are so much better than not taking notes at all, they all have one fundamental flaw: Once written down, the ideas stay passive; they do not mingle with each other. The sum of all notes does not amount to something greater.

This is how to do it differently:

You have to have a two-step process in place. First, don’t worry too much about the notes you take while you are doing something else. Whether you are in a discussion, attending a lecture, or suddenly have an idea while brushing your teeth, the best thing you can do in most situations is to jot down a reminder and go back to what you’re doing. This is even true for reading, as you need to be focused on understanding and staying in the flow. Just make a brief record of what is important (“on page x it says y”) and direct your focus back to the text. Keep your literature notes, including references, in one place. Zotero is a great tool, for example. Don’t fall for unrealistic systems that require you to take elaborate notes in all circumstances.

Now, to the important second step: as quick notes are only reminders of an idea, you need to turn them (ideally within a day) into permanently understandable notes. Otherwise you will soon have forgotten what each note was all about. Write as if you write for someone else. This is the step that separates the serious scholar from the casual student. For the latter, notes and ideas are just the means to pass the next test. But if you skip this step, you need to be okay with not being able to access and use most of what you have read and thought about. For everyone else, taking the time to write permanently understandable notes is indispensable.

If you do it right, these notes can be much more than just an archive of ideas. You can build up an ever-growing external memory that helps you to develop your thoughts, keeps your biases in check, streamlines your writing process, sparks new ideas and improves your learning. Focus on the process and turn elaboration into an actual task. How?

  1. Standardize. Keep everything in one place in one format, give each note a distinct number (see below), and connect related notes. Luhmann wrote all his notes on single-sided DIN A6 paper. You can use digital tools[2], but keep in mind that technical restrictions can actually increase creativity.
  2. Elaborate. Now, before you write the permanent note, think about how a new idea contributes, challenges or alters something you have written down before by looking through your Zettelkasten for related notes. Write down the outcome of this thinking process as clearly and precisely as possible on a new note. Just by making this a daily routine, you have enrolled in a life-long master class on clear thinking and concise writing.
  3. Connect. Most note-taking systems lead to nothing but collections of isolated ideas stored in preconceived categories. Don’t fall for that. Facts are only as useful as the context they are embedded in. How we connect them is as important as they are themselves. Therefore, don’t start with preconceived categories and fill them with notes. Instead, let order emerge bottom-up by making connections between your notes and be observant of the differences between them.
  4. Give each note a permanent ID. Add your new note behind the most related existing note and make references to other related notes. Luhmann numbered his notes consecutively (see picture below), branching out, whenever necessary, by altering numbers, letters and additional characters (after note 2 comes note 3, or 2a if 3 already exists. Luhmann branched out so many lines of thought, he had notes like 37a12b).
  5. Mind the context. By using permanent ID’s one note can be embedded in different contexts. It it similar to hyperlinks, but with a strong emphasis on building up note-sequences. Again: There are digital tools for that now
  6. . And remember: This is about developing thoughts, not building an archive.
  7. Build up note-sequences. If you intend to write articles or books, these note-sequences can later be turned into parts or even whole chapters of your manuscript.
  8. Keep an alphabetic index for orientation, but don’t overdo it – you only need to refer to one or two notes as entry-points into a line of thought. Whenever you want to get an overview of a topic, just write another note in which you elaborate on a possible topic-structure. The way we structure a topic or think about the relationship between ideas is bound to change with our understanding. Don’t hard-wire a certain understanding into your system; instead allow yourself to change your mind about that too. If you later decide that another structure is more apt for a given topic, just write another note about it with links to the related notes and change the entry in the index.
  9. Make it a habit. When you turn writing like this into a daily habit, you no longer have to decide upfront what to write about or worry about the blank page. You will always have already written. And you will have elaborated on the content, which is the best way to learn. Just follow your interests, accompany your reading with simple note-taking followed by conversion to permanent notes until it becomes second nature, and then look at where note-clusters have built up in your Zettelkasten. This is where you want to start as it is a clear sign you are onto something. Now you can make an informed decision about what topic is worth writing about. The earlier you start taking smart notes, the better!

If you want to learn more about the system, check out this presentation from Daniel Lüdecke, the developer of the Zettelkasten-Software

it provides some really helpful visualizations (which are, admittedly, lacking in my book which focuses on the principles and the science behind the method). While most resources are still only available in German, there is a growing community of people discussing this method, so you won't have trouble finding others to share your experience with.

https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-e068cfb4bd54a56910bab345ea4e9487-lq

Footnotes


[1] How to Take Smart Notes


[2] Zettelkasten. According to Niklas Luhmann

Author: Julian Lopez Carballal

Created: 2024-10-21 Mon 08:30