General Knowledge Base vs Ask Sam vs Idea

Posted by Stephen R. Diamond
Jan 21, 2008 at 03:51 AM

Daly de Gagne wrote:
>Stephen, I am fortunate b/c the material is in my field so I can quickly set the
>structure, all the more so when cloning allows for multiple appearances of the same
>thing—the structure need not be perfect, and I do not have to obsess. I do not have to
>obsess. I do not have to obsess. I do not…. Anyhow, you get my point.
> >I have tried a
>number of mind map programs—recently got MindGenius as I noted her a few months
>ago.
> >On a slightly different front, am trying to determine whether a mind map or a
>concept map is the best way for me to set up a knowledge base on brain structure and
>function. Any thoughts. I do know that visual is key to remembering and getting the
>over-view of an ever-dynamic process with more feedback loops and detours than an
>interstate highway construction process in the midst of an urban freeway
>system.

If this map isn’t so time-pressured, you might consider Axon Idea Processor. I haven’t used it, and it is a difficult program, in the sense that there’s almost nothing you can just dive in and do. But based on the commentary, it is probably the leading rich idea processor commercially available, at least on Windows. By “rich” I mean it is the opposite of an outliner or mindmapper and further out than a concept mapper. It provides a variety of kinds of diagrams to map processes with different formal properties. Other than that, it sounds like you want at least concept mapping, since you want to map the structure of reality, not the structure of concepts.
> >There is a program called Recall Plus that is, I think, a more refined
>attempt to do what SuperMemo attempts.
> >Also, in the analogue world, immediate and
>spontaneous use of index cards for anything—with no prior sense of classifying
>anything—is a very powerful modality in this whole process.
> >What are you using
>these days for idea processing and management—because it always seems you’re into
>fairly complex, conceptually oriented material of a legal and/or philosophical
>bent.

I use MindGenius for inductive outlines and Maxthink for deductive outlines; Brainstorm as a repository for thoughts; OneNote to analyze documents, mostly cases and statutes. Editpad Pro and AceText for drafting.

>
>Daly