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Building a Second Brain
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Posted by jaslar
Nov 3, 2022 at 05:20 PM
I know that in times of stress, my brain defaults to being able to keep track of 7 things. An unimportant thing comes in, something else, however big or urgent, just falls out. So creating a list of things to keep track of DOES free the cognitive load, and helps me de-stress. Also, usually, it helps me remember to do those big things.
Posted by Daly de Gagne
Nov 4, 2022 at 12:36 AM
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/
Daly
Dellu wrote:
Thank you for mentioning the book here. I will going to check it out.
>
>I don’t want to be a bummer here. But, I really have very negative view
>of the idea of “de-stressing the brain”. I have seen this kind of note
>on a lot of todo apps, note taking apps, and specially the GTD
>framework: where the author of the GTD system spend a lot of time how
>removing burden from the brain is important.
>
>I think this idea is absolutely misguided: and opposite to the actual
>reality on how the brain/biology works. The established science about
>human biology is that the more use an organ the better it gets. That is
>where the “if you don’t use it, you will lose it” saying came from.
>That is why body building works. The more you stress your muscle, the
>stronger it gets. The same is true of the human brain. The more you
>stress it, the better it gets.
>
>- and these tools which are claiming to aid our brain are actually doing
>the opposite. Indeed, the more we depend on those tools, our brain is
>going to weaker and weaker at remembering and analyzing. You can check
>this by reading stories of memorizations champions; and chess masters,
>and even the regular shop keeper. My sister is a shop keeper. The way
>she does maths in hear head amazes me. This is because not she is a
>genius; it is because she has used her brain again and again, and it
>has become better.
>
>- Obviously I am not going to stop using these tools, methods. But, the
>promise that we will be better thinkers by using cool note taking system
>is just opposite to reality of our biology. It is better to stress the
>brain. Studies on Alzheimer also clearly showed that people who use
>their brain for tasks (for memorization, organization, thinking,
>learning language etc) are less susceptible to those diseases. So,
>de-stressing your brain is a bad idea. It is better to stress it.
>
>Did I miss sth on this?
>I honestly get very frustrated at the GTD book because of this opinion.
>I was outraged when he talked about removing the burden off the brain. I
>still get frustrated when a lot of people talk about destressing the
>brain.
>
>am I in mistaken?
>
Posted by MadaboutDana
Nov 4, 2022 at 09:55 AM
Interesting contention: you see, given that Niklas didn’t have access to 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/
>
Posted by satis
Nov 4, 2022 at 01:31 PM
MadaboutDana wrote:
>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.
I agree, It is easier to remember a smaller number of connective fields/folders/tags in an index, though I don’t know the size of his index, or the topical breadth of his files.
I have tens of thousands of saved documents in hundreds of folders, but they all resolve to around 30 primary folders, making it a fairly quick matter to save and retrieve files. I could similarly envision that knowing essential cross-reference categories could make manual filing and retrieval relatively painless.
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/
>>
>