====================================================================== Title: Zettelkasten Method Date: 2021-06-19 Tags: box3 Link: https://spool-five.com/box3/20210619t000004--zettelkasten-method__box3/ Word Count: 847 ====================================================================== -Three key elements- The Zettelkasten method is a way of taking notes that emphasises the following three things: 1. Hypertextuality 2. Atomicity 3. Individuality Starting from the bottom, notes should be individual and _personal_. I feel that this is especially true in the information age where fast and easy access to a lot of information is already available. Personalising notes, either through style, or through curation, helps make information and knowledge _meaningful_. Notes should be atomized - one-note-per-topic. This is one of the aspects of the Zettelkasten method that I am still getting used to. It can take a bit of discipline and training at first. It also requires a system where you can easily switch back and forth between notes. For example, if I am writing a note about Manchester United, I shouldn't go off on a tangent about the game of football in general. Instead, I would insert a link to a 'football' note and expand on that topic there. The important thing is having a way that your initial flow/topic isn't interrupted too much. The results of this approach are pretty cool though. Topics become 'modular', you can insert them in other spaces and build up a network of relations. Hypertextuality - the concept of a hypertext has been around since the 60s (well, the term has been around since then, the phenomenon is older). Still, though, I feel that its full potential has yet to be broached. Zettels are hypertextual, they exist as atoms, yes, but also as pieces of a larger, virtually infinite, fabric. -Zettelkasten tools (digital) that I've tried/recommend- - Org Roam[1] =>[1] https://spool-five.com/box3/20220604t000002--org-roam__org_box3/ - Denote[2] =>[2] https://protesilaos.com/emacs/denote - Obsidian -Some notes from zettelkasten blog/tutorial[3]- =>[3] https://leananki.com/zettelkasten-method-smart-notes/ -Atomic Notes- > As a general rule, basic Zettels should only contain one idea per > note. This allows you to link to a more specific idea rather than to a > set of rigidly grouped ones. (think: “African Lion” vs “All Felines”) > > That’s because putting multiple ideas in a single note already makes > them part of a rigid structure. We don’t want our ideas to be strictly > part of any rigid structure because we need to be able to link them even > to loosely related ones in the future. > > In that sense, turning Zettels atomic means making them agnostic to > a parent topic; this allows Zettels to be a source of new topics on > their own. This quote also references this blog[4] =>[4] http://www.dansheffler.com/blog/2015-08-05-one-thought-per-note/ > When using the Zettelkasten Method to organize my notes, I have found > it important that each note file contains only a single idea.1 I try to > take this single thought and articulate it in as clearly as possible. > This may take anywhere from 50 to 500 words. After I have spelled out > the single idea I now have a mental hook that I can attach other ideas > and pieces of information to—and this becomes more useful the more > specific the hook. For instance, suppose I kept all my thoughts about > Plato in a single file. Whenever I want to connect a thought to this > information I would add a link: `Plato`. But this link could refer to > anything within my Plato research. As it stands, however, I have split > my research into bits as fine as possible while still maintaining the > intergrity and coherence of the ideas. The specific thought that Plato’s > account of tripartition in the Republic arises out of a need to explain > internal motivational conflict goes into a single file. In other notes > I can refer to this specific thought with a link: Plato - Tripartition > - Internal Conflict. > > This also gives me a way to manage my references to secondary literature. > As I’m reading Lloyd Gerson’s article “A Note on Tripartition and > Immortality in Plato,” I find that he talks about this subject on pages > 85 and 86.[@gerson01] So I add a brief quote and a few comments to the > bottom of a section labeled “References” in the note. If I had not split > up my notes on Plato into fine- grained topics, I would have trouble > knowing where to put this information and I would have more trouble > finding it again when I need to know what Gerson says about this specific > topic. The “References” section in the note is already populated by > several other references to secondary literature. This way, when I go > to write the paragraph in Chapter 4 of my dissertation that deals with > the link between tripartition and motivational conflict I have already > prepared both my own position and a list of references to my sources. -Decentralisation- Emergent categories as opposed to fixed ones. > "In the old system, the question is: Under which topic do I store this > note? In the new system, the question is: In which context will I want > to stumble upon it again? (Ahrens, 2017)" -Future-proof- Plain text.