Ask HN: Why the obsession with note taking? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Why the obsession with note taking?

#191

Post by stormdennis » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 4:14 PM UTC

codeptualize wrote: post #20

I love note taking. The act of writing something down gives me so much insight and clarity. It's similar to trying to explain something to other people, it requires a much deeper understanding. Even if I don't share it with anyone it helps me figure stuff out. I don't read back 90% of what I write, the writing itself is what provides most value to me. Although it can be handy to dig into the archives to understand my…

Yes, writing a note is a debriefing session for what you were doing/thinking about. And like a debriefing the sooner you can do it afterwards, the more valuable it can be.

Re: Ask HN: Why the obsession with note taking?

#192

Post by zild3d » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 4:37 PM UTC

andybak wrote: post #97

I mostly abandonded keeping notes, bookmarks etc because I realised it became another "collecting" exercise and sucked up time far in excess of it's utility. I make specific exceptions (especially for things that may be of use to others) but I become too addicted to the act of collating and organising. Gmail with it's "search don't sort" was an eye opener back in the day. I stopped filing emails and realised with a d…

> search don't sort

step 1 is have a bunch of stuff to be able to search (a la google). I hate organizing notes, but jotting down "throw away" notes into Roam in a daily note later serves the purpose of being able to search for, e.g. "#movie" and see all the movies I watched last year

Re: Ask HN: Why the obsession with note taking?

#193

Post by ASalazarMX » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 5:10 PM UTC

I do it for two reasons:

- I gradually forget a skill if I don't practice, but dumping that knowledge in a structured form can help me recall it quickly if I need it in the future.

- Every note program/app that I've used, I've found it wanting in some way.

The last point is why I keep changing ways. My ideal note application would be hierarchical, multimedia, encrypted, cross-platform (desktop/mobile), and usable if offline. There are many note apps that fulfill some criteria, but not all. My favorite UX is with CherryTree, but it's desktop-only. The best I have used is Joplin, but it's not truly hierarchical or locally encrypted.

Re: Ask HN: Why the obsession with note taking?

#194

Post by slightwinder » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 5:12 PM UTC

Note taking is a tool. Like editors/IDEs, programming languages, frameworks, and so on. Why do we have obsessions for those? Isn't it because it gives us power, control and a way to expression our thoughts and materialize our goals, or something like that? It depends on each's personal situation and reasons for taking notes. But some people surely use it to become better versions of themselves, others just need it to be better workers. Other might wanna fill a hole they feel they have. Each is different there.

Re: Ask HN: Why the obsession with note taking?

#195

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 5:19 PM UTC

albertzeyer wrote: post #124

walterbell wrote: post #90

Earlier 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.

Memory palaces work when you want to be able to recall a whole list of things. But for arbitrary random lookups (by some associative key), does it also work? That's also what note taking software is about, to easily search through the notes, and find related notes. I'm not sure if such interlinks are supported well by memory palaces.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Why the obsession with note taking?

#196

Post by ASalazarMX » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 5:20 PM UTC

rolisz wrote: post #170

jve wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I get easily lost driving in my own city, I fear I would get lost in my own memory palace too if it was too big, like "did I turn left or right here when memorizing?".

Re: Ask HN: Why the obsession with note taking?

#197

Post by jshaqaw » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 6:02 PM UTC

One thing I notice about the people who seem to achieve the most in this world - few of them seem to have intricate PKM/organizational systems.

I say this as someone as guilty of productivity app porn as anyone.

I think these systems appeal very much to certain kinds of people with adhd/adhdish issues looking to maximize their potential. And yeah a good system can really help with that when you don’t let obsessing over it get out of control.

Re: Ask HN: Why the obsession with note taking?

#198

Post by angryasian » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 6:07 PM UTC

codeptualize wrote: post #20

I love note taking. The act of writing something down gives me so much insight and clarity. It's similar to trying to explain something to other people, it requires a much deeper understanding. Even if I don't share it with anyone it helps me figure stuff out. I don't read back 90% of what I write, the writing itself is what provides most value to me. Although it can be handy to dig into the archives to understand my…

why nota and not obsidian ?

Re: Ask HN: Why the obsession with note taking?

#199

Post by rg111 » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 7:27 PM UTC

gtsop wrote: post #159

rg111 wrote: post #121

Others have pointed out in this thread why note-taking is taken seriously by many. Those comments are directly related to note-taking. This one isn't. All of us were trained in many disciplines, and in one (or two) disciplines in depth. It is very easy to wrap your head around the idea that you need training to manipulate numbers, mathematical symbols, etc. We also take for granted the fact that we need prolonged tra…

> These are detailed in biographies of the likes of Einstein, Da Vinci, Feynman, etc Is it likely you have some resources to these details?

Einstein, Da Vinci: Biographies by Walter Isaacson.

Feynman: Biography by James Gleick.

Re: Ask HN: Why the obsession with note taking?

#200

Post by radford-neal » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 8:07 PM UTC

sippeangelo wrote: post #54

simias wrote: post #22

My deep dark secret is that I never take notes. Not for lack of trying, I just don't know how to do it. I never did it at school, never did it at work, never did it outside of work. I'm in my mid-thirties now, I just gave up on the concept. Every time I see a post on HN about how somebody manages to organize their lives around a personal wiki or org-mode or whatever I get a bit jealous.

Same, but I never tried. Back in school we were encouraged to take notes during lectures, but I found that if I was focused on note taking them I wouldn't take in any of what was presented to me, and my notes would be useless. No note taking software even comes close to how my brain works either. Of the few notes I've actually taken I've never gone back to read them again. Sure, I will forget stuff, but I feel like i…

Same for me. I never took notes in classes. It interferes with listening. It's usually quite unnecessary, since the information is in the textbook, or other readily accessible references.

The one time this policy was challenging was for a numerical analysis course I took where there was no textbook. So I had to go off to the library to find books that covered the topics discussed (this was back before the internet). This actually teaches you more than taking notes.