Building a Second Brain

Posted by Daly de Gagne
Nov 4, 2022 at 06:59 PM

MadaboutDana:

No doubt Niklas Luhmann was highly intelligent and, as Zettlekasten demonstrates, he was capable of original thinking in creating what today, among other things, might be called a second brain and/or an external brain. It is said that Luhmann’s Zettlekasten had 90,000 slips

I am not sure I know what you mean by a metta index, but certainly he was able to keep a “big picture” in mind, and maintain a sense of what was in the system. What fascinates me is that, while he didn’t have access to a “responsive” technology in the sense that we have today because of computers, he attributed his zettlekasten with enabling him to have ideas he might not otherwise have had. His slips, what today we call index cards, were connected with each other through the notations he assigned to them. In other words, he had a way of linking and retrieving in a more or less defined or orderly way. But was it as complete at we might enjoy today through software such as Obsidian or other applications? Probably not. On the other hand, he could also take out a handful of cards, sometimes at random, and realize new connections/associations/ideas, as though the Zettlekasten had a life of its own, what i think of as serendipity. I wonder whether an unintended consequence of working with modern computers is that we have lost the potential for serendipity.

Also worth noting is that the history of working with slips of paper to preserve and organize knowledge goes back at least to the 16th century, an overview of which can be found here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zettelkasten.

Daly

MadaboutDana wrote:
>digital technology, what’s always impressed me is not so much his
>Zettelkasten system as the fact that he must have preserved, in his own
>biological brain, a kind of meta-index enabling him to refer to
>appropriate notes and create the necessary cross-references. I don’t see
>how he could possibly have made such good use of his enormous collection
>without this kind of meta-structure. Or have I missed something?
> >Daly de Gagne wrote:
>Dellu, in light of what you wrote I wonder what your thoughts are on the
>>German sociologist Niklas Luhmann and his Zettlekasten note-taking
>>system. On one hand, his system removed from his brain the burden of
>>using the kind of note-taking approach which is burdensome because of
>>its inherent deficiencies, but on the other hand his system allowed him
>>to write prolifically at a world class level.
>>
>>Re your comments on GTD, I’d agree it’s not the system for everyone,
>>though I think its emphasis on “mind like water” removes some of the
>>non-productive mental stress many people face while trying to become
>>more organized and productive. Or, as David Allen, the GTD originator
>>says on his website, “Mind Like Water: A mental and emotional state in
>>which your head is clear, able to create and respond freely,
>>unencumbered with distractions and split focus.” That may not work for
>>some people, but for others it’s part of destressing their brain so it
>>can work more effectively.”
>>
>>https://gettingthingsdone.com/2012/05/david-allen-defines-mind-like-water/
>>
>