Second Brain, Second Nature

I finally got around to reading the big Zettelkasten book: How To Take Smart Notes: One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning, and Thinking. The title alone makes you want to stand up and say, “Bravo!”

Here are some thoughts.

The Zettelkasten method is not a perfect catch-all tool for everyone.

This system is best intended for academics, particularly those in theoretical fields, academics whose chief output depends upon synthesizing new ideas from the thoughts and writings of others in their field. (This makes sense because the system’s inventor was a sociologist.)

Or, if you’re a casual writer writing about philosophy, history, literature, etc., this might help you take better notes.

I like how the system is focused on writing as a core discipline. The idea behind the system is to improve one’s writing by developing expertise in one’s chosen area of inquiry.

But I haven’t fully invested in the Zettelkasten hype. I’m not convinced that “those who take smart notes will never have the problem of a blank screen again.”

That’s a big promise, and I don’t think any notation system could deliver on it.

One of the big takeaways for me, which seems obvious when you think about it, is that all your notes should follow the same pattern. Meaning, don’t take hierarchical notes. For example, if you’re using text files, just put all of them in the same folder with some unique identifier on each file. (How you choose to parse these notes and organize them is up to you.)

But look around at how many software packages we have to choose from if we want to give Zettelkasten a try. Here’s just a short list:

• Obsidian
• Logseq
• Roam Research
• Org-roam (Emacs)
• Denote (Emacs)

I’ve tried all of these.

The problem with many of these software implementations is that they have a plurality of features that complicate more than illuminate.

Denote is my favorite, because it is the most minimalist. However, I don’t like how it relies so heavily on tags. I don’t like tags. Tags are friction.

The best advice I could give anyone who is Zettelkasten-curious is just build your own system. Naturally, I think Emacs is the best canvas to start building on.

However, if you want to try something today, Obsidian seems to have the smallest learning curve. But why you’d ever need that massive graph view of hyperlinks, I just don’t know.