What note taking methods did great thinkers use?
Ask HN: Why the obsession with note taking?
161–170 of 219 posts
Re: Ask HN: Why the obsession with note taking?
#162I completely understand the fascination with note taking. Most of us don't have photographic memories and look askance at a classmate in college who does well despite never taking notes.
What's curious to me is how many note takers don't also talk about mind maps and concept maps, although they are talked about often on HN. I've developed my own ad hoc mind map, concept map and note taking system and one of my retirement projects is to tie it all together into a consistent application.
https://hn.algolia.com/?q=concept+map
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concept_map
https://hn.algolia.com/?q=mind+map
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_map
Bonus: Note taking with VR and AR apps
https://www.google.com/search?q=virtual+reality+note+taking
Re: Ask HN: Why the obsession with note taking?
#163Earlier quoted context omitted.
I use a memory palace and a system of mnemonics all the time for things I want to commit to long term memory. I can speak Japanese and read 2,000 kanji thanks to memory palace techniques. Still, the cognitive load for scribbling down a grocery list is much smaller than trying to make a memorable grocery list in my memory palace. My memory palace also doesn't help me when I've mindlessly set my wallet down and can't f…
How did you use a memory palace to memorize 2,000 kanji and Japanese. I thought memory palaces were only good for remembering things in sequence, but I don't see how that fits with language or kanji.
I memorized kanji in the order laid out by James Heisig in "Remembering the Kanji." It's a guide to creating mnemonics for kanji, it has a strict learning order. You can probably read the introduction on the preview on Amazon if you're curious about how it works.
As for vocab, for example I would go for a walk in the park and create memorable mnemonics for the vocab words I saw and the park itself would be a memory palace. Later when I wanted to say the word "vending machine" I would pull the Heisig mnemonics for the vending machine I saw in the park and recreate the word. Today when I'm speaking Japanese I don't have to think about about mnemonics unless I've forgotten a word, then I kind of "look it up" in my memory palace.
The thing about the memory palace method is that it's not really fast recall, it's more like keeping a notebook in your brain until it has been adjusted to your working memory.
Re: Ask HN: Why the obsession with note taking?
#164It isn't about note taking, it's about supporting a brain that simply isn't capable of retaining the level of information that we have to deal with. The ultimate note taking device is actually an augmented human brain that has perfect recollection and organisation. In the mean time the note taking apps help with: Working memory - a page can hold far more information than I can retain in my working memory. Having a bu…
This is the 'official' explanation, and definitely true. But most of it is selling that next productivity upgrade that we communally all seem to obsess over here. People sharing their note graphs is the same as the guy on youtube with a sixpack promising a new and revolutionary 5 minute ab routine. And while the 5 minute ab routine certainly won't harm you, that body was built from months of discipline and required a…
> But most of it is selling that next productivity upgrade that we communally all seem to obsess over here.
True, this is the "tool fetish" that is associated to any activity, for example obsessing over sneakers when the objective is the routine job (and maybe, not jogging at all); the same principle applies to notes taking.
One could even extend it to being "excessively interested" in programming languages, when the objective is actually building products.
Re: Ask HN: Why the obsession with note taking?
#165A related question for note-takers: what would you estimate as your rate of reference to prior notes? For my own part that rate is so dismally low that right now I get more value out of making notes than retrieving and reading notes. I'm reminded of a response to another thread on HN a few weeks back about organizing physical documents. Many commenters had very sophisticated processes with scanning, OCR, indexing etc…
Like another commenter mentioned, I have different types of notes: procedural (how did I fix X), thought processing (I want to design Y, what's the best way to do it), and non-code documentation (this setup works this way because person Z requested it).
I regularly refer back to procedural notes (I'm a contractor with multiple projects on infrequent maintenance for years), almost never refer to thought processing notes, and rarely refer to non-code documentation.
However, while my rate of reference to procedural or documentation notes is fairly low, the value I get from that reference tends to be very high - for instance, "how did I solve that problem with the database that took me an entire day to resolve, because online docs/examples were sparse?" or "my client is asking why feature A was implemented in such a silly way; it's because they insisted it be that way, five years ago". For me I think the trade-off of regular note-taking is worth it.
I suppose I could delete my thought processing notes after I've used them, but they're already archived and don't clutter my note space, so there's not that much point.
Re: Ask HN: Why the obsession with note taking?
#166I suspect it's a form of procrastination.
Re: Ask HN: Why the obsession with note taking?
#167Earlier quoted context omitted.
I was debating between that one and the iPad mini! Sounds like an awesome device, must be great for reading as well. The main reason I went for the iPad mini was the size (and apps maybe). Before I had an iPad Air 10.5 inch, and it was just too big for my use, it made it inconvenient. I'm still debating getting one anyway. It has that "coolness factor", and I want it haha. If they ever produce a smaller version I am…
If size was the only issue, there is also the Supernote A5X (and A6X for that matter) which I've been thinking about, but think I've decided against as it feels like a bit of a halfway house between real paper and an ipad But for you, it might be perfect
I've got the Supernote A5X and can highly recommend it! (I had bought the RM2 before but returned it – in my book, the Supernote is much better.)
Re: Ask HN: Why the obsession with note taking?
#168It isn't about note taking, it's about supporting a brain that simply isn't capable of retaining the level of information that we have to deal with. The ultimate note taking device is actually an augmented human brain that has perfect recollection and organisation. In the mean time the note taking apps help with: Working memory - a page can hold far more information than I can retain in my working memory. Having a bu…
Memory can be improved with 2000-year-old techniques like memory palaces. This doesn't replace note-taking, but low-latency cache can improve synthesis and note quality.
You mean this? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_of_loci
I'm afraid this won't work with Aphantasia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphantasia :(
Re: Ask HN: Why the obsession with note taking?
#169I think people are starting to realize that our brains are finite and building a second brain is the way forward given the technology is accessible.
There's also the novelty of it all in which each method or program may do it in a completely new way. This helps us build our own philosophy of the art of note taking.
Re: Ask HN: Why the obsession with note taking?
#170Earlier quoted context omitted.
Memory can be improved with 2000-year-old techniques like memory palaces. This doesn't replace note-taking, but low-latency cache can improve synthesis and note quality.
You mean this? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_of_loci I'm afraid this won't work with Aphantasia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphantasia :(
I think it does work. I have some degree of Aphantasia, and i can still build memory palaces. I can't see them, but I can walk through them. It's weird, but it does work.
Just as a quick exercise, try to count the number of windows in your house, with your eyes closed. Even if you have Aphantasia, you can probably still do it, even if you don't see the windows themselves in your mind's eye.