How to Make a Complete Map of Every Thought you Think (2003)

Of all the common internet grammar mistakes, I think apostrophes on possessive pronouns are the most forgivable.

Mostly because that's the mistake I make most consistently.

I don't know how to say this delicately, so I won't: I'm having trouble distinguishing this book from the disjointed ramblings of a mad man. The RANDOM capitalization of VERY IMPORTANT WORDS! combined with the "snake-oil sales pitch" style of writing doesn't do this work any favors, but it's really the content where this comes up short. Apart from the premise of mapping every thought, no viable strategy is offered achieve this.

What's the solution here? After a few years you end up with huge boxes full of notes, some of which have been appended over and over? Mind maps rarely scale when done with software, paper note-taking just makes it all the more hopeless.

And really, why be so obsessive about conserving every little thought like your stream of consciousness holds some big revelation at the end? That's not how it works. Forgetting and scrapping things is an important part of organizing the mind and the output it produces. On a meta level, this book illustrates very well what happens if that doesn't work.

If we're building a system with the goal of swapping out thoughts and memories, it really has to augment the brain in some fashion. Refining relations between concepts is something the brain is already good at, it would make more sense to help it along in areas where the brain sucks: keeping lists and details. Seriously, open an Evernote account or something and don't worry too much about organization and preservation.

I'm really sorry if this sounds mean, it's not supposed to.

Regarding software, I use Freeplane/FreeMind to record the majority of the thoughts and information I want to preserve, and I think it works well for me. It doesn't have the sheer freedom of pen on paper - which I still use for mapping out thoughts that I'm not quite sure about or have complex relationships - but it serves me well in 1) categorising random scribbles and steps into meaningful subcategories, and 2) crystallizing the final, synthesized thoughts I have on a matter. Plus I keep my map files in my Dropbox so they're synced to all my computers (although I haven't set up the software to view them on my phone). Scalable, easily reorganized and expanded, cross-connectable, very fast to input, synced and backed up, free - what's not to like about software?

I agree with you on the usefulness of mapping for testing. It's definitely has helped me a lot in problem-solving. I'll throw out a few nodes that I think I need to investigate, explore each one a bit, write more items to consider, and whittle down or branch out as necessary. So after a while I resolve all the branchy, bushy sub-issues and have a reasonable game plan. Sometimes I dive into code halfway, but switch back to the map to record where I am and add new issues that come up that I need to resolve.

I also record most of the coding methods I find while working on tasks, in general form. So my mindmaps are also a web of how-to notes or a gigantic cheatsheet that details how to achieve any effect that I've previously worked through: from comparatively minor ones like the syntax for Rails migrations or opening a new window in JS, to larger ones like how to set up a Rails+postgres+nginx stack on Ubuntu, recording every action taken and issue encountered along the way. Comparisons of tools and databases and frameworks, mysterious bugs that I've run across, Sublime Text shortcuts - they all go into the maps.

I'm not sure I need to record every thought that goes through my head like the author suggests, but I think there's a lot to be said for keeping a comprehensive, organized knowledgebase.

One thought that occurred to me was that if the author had written this in the past few years, it could easily have ended up as a paid "self-help/achievement" e-book that he'd be hawking for several bucks via affiliate sales and a snazzy marketing site with sample chapters and a newsletter. It's admirable to see substantial written content being offered without all the digital marketing.

A man's thoughts are his own. How he choses to store or recall them is also his own. There is no one size fits all.

>>I don't know how to say this delicately, so I won't: I'm having trouble distinguishing this book from the disjointed ramblings of a mad man. The RANDOM capitalization of VERY IMPORTANT WORDS!

Madmen do tend to emphasize random words: http://zippythepinhead.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD...

(M-x yow, how I miss you.)