[HN Gopher] The Notetaking Cold War (2020)
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       The Notetaking Cold War (2020)
        
       Author : Tomte
       Score  : 20 points
       Date   : 2023-08-25 19:45 UTC (3 hours ago)
        
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       | vcg3rd wrote:
       | I use both with Org-mode, except my R=refile and is my org-roam
       | directory.
       | 
       | Some notes have a known place in a system from the start. Some
       | need to wait for connections.
        
       | wglb wrote:
       | So to settle the issue, we should be like Mother Russia, and keep
       | notes in our mind like on the back of one enormous envelope.
        
       | johngalt wrote:
       | It's not about hierarchy or flexibility, but the ill-defined
       | nature of what 'notes' are. Ask people to share notes and you'll
       | observe several different types with disparate goals:
       | 
       | 1. Shorthand: A memory mechanism to simplify/summarize a complex
       | text.
       | 
       | 2. Logbook: Record a series of events which occurred and what
       | order.
       | 
       | 3. Planner: Todo lists, upcoming meetings, due dates.
       | 
       | 4. Whiteboard: A worksheet for working through a complex problem.
       | 
       | 5. Time-capsule: Long term memory about why we decided to do
       | [thing].
       | 
       | If you take someone who treats notes like a Whiteboard and try to
       | sell them a system which looks like a Logbook, they will think it
       | makes no sense.
        
         | alanbernstein wrote:
         | Hmm, can I subscribe to a newsletter about this SLoPWiT
         | technique you've just invented?
        
         | NoMoreNicksLeft wrote:
         | I like this comment. Thank you.
         | 
         | Think your list is comprehensive, or is it just an off-the-cuff
         | summary? I mean, the _full_ list must be a pretty good start to
         | making actually decent notes-software.
        
           | johngalt wrote:
           | Off-the-cuff; there are certainly more categories.
           | 
           | Notes related behavior is a good place to find ideas, but not
           | a good goal itself. 'Notes' is where information lands which
           | isn't being specifically captured. Looking at your
           | organization's notes will draw the outline of the system
           | which _isn 't_ present, what feature the present system is
           | missing, or what training doesn't cover.
        
             | TRiG_Ireland wrote:
             | Is this a new number, or is it 3a?
             | 
             | Drafts for blog posts; ideas for YouTube videos; half-
             | formed notions which might one day make a good speech in
             | Toastmasters.
        
       | webel0 wrote:
       | This is the third notetaking post I've seen on here in the past
       | 48 hours. Is something happening in this space? Or is this just
       | the whole "feed your notes to an LLM then $$$" thing?
        
         | gjvc wrote:
         | textual echolalia
        
       | bwestergard wrote:
       | I am not convinced of the premise this subculture takes as its
       | point of departure: that a single piece of software can be
       | written, or a single process developed, that improves upon a wide
       | range of established and purpose-built note-taking systems.
       | 
       | There is a craving for generality here that I suspect is rooted
       | in an investor narrative - "the total addressable market of a
       | good note-taking app is huge!" - rather than a good faith effort
       | to solve the particular problems of particular users.
        
         | gjvc wrote:
         | the most capable minds in computing are working in advertising
         | or the allied trades.
         | 
         | The notion of a universal canvas which can host multiple
         | content types and allow the creation of new modes of
         | interaction is the holy grail of this sort of thing, but the
         | common platforms today are not free-form enough to accommodate
         | this.
        
       | thecodrr wrote:
       | Anyone who says X must be done in Y way is most absolutely wrong.
       | Who is Tiago Forte to tell how I should organize my thoughts? Am
       | I a robot to follow so simply in the footsteps of another? I
       | would like a more general approach, please.
       | 
       | Any serious note taker eventually realizes that the way their
       | brain works doesn't really fit into any PARA, ARPA or any other
       | standarized system.
       | 
       | Note taking is a messy business. It's not supposed to be
       | organized because you take notes to become more organized, not to
       | organize more notes.
       | 
       | Just take your notes.
       | 
       | Organization will automatically happen. Humans are very bad at
       | doing things randomly. There's always an order, a sequence, a
       | method to the way we do things. Who's to say your method is
       | better than mine?
        
         | tmshu1 wrote:
         | Humans will try to dogmatize anything. And overcomplicate
         | everything.
        
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       (page generated 2023-08-25 23:00 UTC)