Antinet Zettelkasten building a second brain, analog version

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  • Antinet Zettelkasten building a second brain, analog version

    I have become interested in ways of organizing information to make it more accessible and more useful and reusable.

    Yesterday I got the analog version of a book by Scott P. Sheper with the title "Antinet Zettelkasten" and the subtitle "A knowledge system that will turn you into a prolific reader, researcher and writer". It was sent by U.S. postal service so I was delayed by the postal strike. At the same time that I purchased the hard copy which runs almost 600 pages, I purchased an instantly downloadable electronic version which I have been able to read on my Kindle or web browser while waiting for the analog book to arrive.

    Scott is a very good writer and makes compelling arguments for using an analog method to create this second brain.

    I have other books based on the Zettelkasten including one which advocates for setting it up using software called Obsidian.You can download this software for free or pay for a more functional version on a monthly or yearly basis though the limitations are not severe enough for me to consider paying for it at this point.

  • #2
    The Zettelkasten method is a personal knowledge management and note-taking system designed to help users organize ideas, develop understanding, and foster creativity. Its name means "slip box" in German, as it was originally based on physical note cards stored in a box.

    Zettelkasten was popularized by Niklas Luhmann, a German sociologist who used it to produce over 70 books and hundreds of articles during his lifetime. He credited much of his productivity to this system.

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    • #3
      Why go with an analog system rather than using something like Obsidian?

      I have lots of file cards. There is something appealing in using cards to organize things. When I had to do speeches or presentations, I would use file cards making it easy to rearrange thoughts. I got away from that more recently as I tend to organize my thoughts in Microsoft Office documents with 99% of those documents being Word and Excel, though I also dabble in PowerPoint and other apps that come with Office.

      Without knowing anything about the Zettelkasten method I was using a version of it when I created the 2012 strategic plan for the CFC. In that case I pasted information into a word document that ran into hundreds of pages. I would then print it out and highlight portions of the document that were most important in my estimation. I would then cut and paste the highlights back into a new Word document gradually cutting down on the information until we were down to under 30 pages with just the essentials.

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      • #4
        Core Principles of Zettelkasten approach

        Atomic Notes
        Each note represents a single idea or piece of information. This ensures clarity and avoids overloading a note with multiple concepts.

        Unique Identifiers
        Every note is given a unique ID (e.g., a timestamp or hierarchical number such as 20250110A001). This makes it easy to reference and interlink notes.

        Linking and Context
        Notes are connected by linking related ideas, creating a web or network of ideas. This builds a system where notes reinforce and deepen understanding.

        Emergent Structure
        Instead of following rigid categories, the structure emerges through linking.
        Notes can belong to multiple contexts simultaneously, facilitating non-linear thought.

        Fleeting, Literature, and Permanent Notes
        Fleeting Notes: Quick, temporary recordings of reminders, prompts, ideas or observations to be processed later.
        Literature Notes: Summaries or key insights from books, articles, or lectures.
        Permanent Notes: Thoughts, insights or reflections written in your own words, connected to other notes in the system.


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        • #5
          Originally posted by Vlad Drkulec View Post
          Core Principles of Zettelkasten approach

          Atomic Notes
          Each note represents a single idea or piece of information. This ensures clarity and avoids overloading a note with multiple concepts.

          Unique Identifiers
          Every note is given a unique ID (e.g., a timestamp or hierarchical number such as 20250110A001). This makes it easy to reference and interlink notes.

          Linking and Context
          Notes are connected by linking related ideas, creating a web or network of ideas. This builds a system where notes reinforce and deepen understanding.

          Emergent Structure
          Instead of following rigid categories, the structure emerges through linking.
          Notes can belong to multiple contexts simultaneously, facilitating non-linear thought.

          Fleeting, Literature, and Permanent Notes
          Fleeting Notes: Quick, temporary recordings of reminders, prompts, ideas or observations to be processed later.
          Literature Notes: Summaries or key insights from books, articles, or lectures.
          Permanent Notes: Thoughts, insights or reflections written in your own words, connected to other notes in the system.

          It strikes me that the whole system relies on frequency of mentions uncovering "all roads lead to Rome." type of patterns. It seems like a great system to
          cultivate new connections and ideas as clusters begin to form. Thanks for sharing!

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Sid Belzberg View Post

            It strikes me that the whole system relies on frequency of mentions uncovering "all roads lead to Rome." type of patterns. It seems like a great system to
            cultivate new connections and ideas as clusters begin to form. Thanks for sharing!
            You are very welcome. I thought that there are only two other people on this sub-forum who might consider this information useful.You were one of them. I enjoy your contributions to the climate change and covid threads and elsewhere. I am glad that this is interesting to you.




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            • #7
              I am not yet totally sold on the paper system. I am also not necessarily sold on Obsidian or even the alternatives which apparently do exist. Relying on something that is proprietary for a lifetime information system does not seem prudent as you have quite a bit invested in creating your information system. Paper can also be problematic if your paper finds itself in the path of a Los Angeles firestorm under the auspices of California politicians.

              Right now I will spend some time playing with the paper system and reading Scheper's book and other references that I have accumulated. Once I have wrapped my mind around the system I will likely play with an electronic version or two as well.

              The best starting point will be to create some projects around which I can start creating notes.

              On the chess side, an ideal system to incorporate everything that I am interested in adding to the Zettelkasten would include the ability to incorporate websites, pgn files, videos or at least the information in those videos.

              A useful tool that I have been playing with is Turboscribe.ai. It is a web based artificial intelligence site which allows you to upload video and audio files and then allows you to output transcripts in the form of text, pdf, Word documents or many other formats which can be annotated with time stamps so that you can quickly go back to reference the original audio file. The transcripts seem fairly accurate with very little tweaking required. If you go with the free version you only can transcribe half an hour at a time. For $10 USD per month if paid ahead of time for a year, you can transcribe unlimited amounts of files. If you want to pay month to month, the cost is $20 USD per month. I forked over the one year subscription cost. I wanted to make notes on a twelve hour chess camp targeted at chess coaches that I attended and I would have had to listen to it for about three or four iterations to extract the transcript that I had in less than half an hour by uploading the files. If we impute minimum wage for those iterations of listening and transcribing by hand, the site already paid for itself after the first evening.

              This is kind of what I was hoping from Dragon Naturally Speaking but never really achieved, though that program still had its uses particularly when I had a bout of carpal tunnel syndrome which fortunately went away after a while. Microsoft started incorporating some of the features of Dragon in its products and while they weren't as good as Dragon, they were pretty good.



              Last edited by Vlad Drkulec; Sunday, 12th January, 2025, 02:55 AM.

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              • #8
                I guess this system would be quite useful in physician offices too...

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by Dilip Panjwani View Post
                  I guess this system would be quite useful in physician offices too...
                  If we are talking about Dragon, there is a Medical Office version which a couple of my brothers (doctors both) are aware of. Dragon occasionally sends me promotions listing it. Turboscribe seems the more economic solution at $120 USD per year.

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