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Those writing extensively on note-writing rarely have a serious context of use

notes.andymatuschak.org

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Re: Those writing extensively on note-writing rarely have a serious context of use

#41

Post by thewarrior »

henning wrote: post #24

I just need to optimize my life and my brain. Then I will get the job I want, the partner I want, the life I want, and I will truly be happy when I have those things. The emptiness within me will go away. There is a solution to all my problems: work harder and be better. If I just figure out the right notetaking system, I can stop forgetting the important parts of all these books I'm reading (I read 80 last year, but…

Struggling to understand whether this comment is serious or sarcastic. Maybe that was the point.

Re: Those writing extensively on note-writing rarely have a serious context of use

#42

Post by blueridge »

Neil Postman:

"I will use technology when I judge it to be in my favor to do so. I resist being used by it. In some cases I may have a moral objection. But in most instances, my objection is practical, and reason tells me to measure the results from that point of view. Reason also advises me to urge others to do the same. An example: When I began teaching at NYU, the available instruments of thought and teaching were primitive. Faculty and students could talk, could read, and could write. Their writing was done the way I am writing this chapter—with a pen and pad. Some used a typewriter, but it was not required. Conversations were almost always about ideas, rarely about the technologies used to communicate. After all, what can you say, except that you've run out of ink? I do remember a conversation about whether a yellow pad was better than a white pad. But it was inconclusive."

Re: Those writing extensively on note-writing rarely have a serious context of use

#43

Post by jck »

thewarrior wrote: post #41
henning wrote: post #24

I just need to optimize my life and my brain. Then I will get the job I want, the partner I want, the life I want, and I will truly be happy when I have those things. The emptiness within me will go away. There is a solution to all my problems: work harder and be better. If I just figure out the right notetaking system, I can stop forgetting the important parts of all these books I'm reading (I read 80 last year, but…

Struggling to understand whether this comment is serious or sarcastic. Maybe that was the point.

https://youtu.be/xK0njkATf84

Re: Those writing extensively on note-writing rarely have a serious context of use

#44

Post by __blockcipher__ »

thewarrior wrote: post #41
henning wrote: post #24

I just need to optimize my life and my brain. Then I will get the job I want, the partner I want, the life I want, and I will truly be happy when I have those things. The emptiness within me will go away. There is a solution to all my problems: work harder and be better. If I just figure out the right notetaking system, I can stop forgetting the important parts of all these books I'm reading (I read 80 last year, but…

Struggling to understand whether this comment is serious or sarcastic. Maybe that was the point.

It’s (imo very obvious) satire. It’s pointing at the implicit belief that one can solve the deep problems in one’s life through the process of time, through becoming more productive/efficient/etc. I think it’s an implicit belief set that’s familiar to many of us here.

Re: Those writing extensively on note-writing rarely have a serious context of use

#45

Post by taeric »

eachro wrote: post #9

Best model of this I have is math professors from undergrad. I never saw any notes on their desks during office hours. Just pages and pages of scribbles everywhere, crumped on the ground, in the trash bin, etc. I remember asking one how he retained any of the info when reading dense papers, and he said "Oh I never do. I just figure out the details again each time and eventually it sticks."

This is one that is hard for me. In my, clearly incorrect, mind, notes are beautiful things you would be proud to show someone. Best I've ever done is something I'm not embarrassed to throw away in my trash can.

Re: Those writing extensively on note-writing rarely have a serious context of use

#46

Post by [deleted] »

henning wrote: post #24

I just need to optimize my life and my brain. Then I will get the job I want, the partner I want, the life I want, and I will truly be happy when I have those things. The emptiness within me will go away. There is a solution to all my problems: work harder and be better. If I just figure out the right notetaking system, I can stop forgetting the important parts of all these books I'm reading (I read 80 last year, but…

[deleted]

Re: Those writing extensively on note-writing rarely have a serious context of use

#47

Post by analog31 »

Jeff_Brown wrote: post #26
eachro wrote: post #9

Best model of this I have is math professors from undergrad. I never saw any notes on their desks during office hours. Just pages and pages of scribbles everywhere, crumped on the ground, in the trash bin, etc. I remember asking one how he retained any of the info when reading dense papers, and he said "Oh I never do. I just figure out the details again each time and eventually it sticks."

Math seems like the discipline best suited to such a process. Experimental sciences are less so -- the quintissential example perhaps being medicine / biochem.

Indeed, a measure of good science record keeping is not having to repeat something just to figure out what you actually did.

Re: Those writing extensively on note-writing rarely have a serious context of use

#48

Post by Nursie »

whatshisface wrote: post #39
henning wrote: post #24

I just need to optimize my life and my brain. Then I will get the job I want, the partner I want, the life I want, and I will truly be happy when I have those things. The emptiness within me will go away. There is a solution to all my problems: work harder and be better. If I just figure out the right notetaking system, I can stop forgetting the important parts of all these books I'm reading (I read 80 last year, but…

That's a great sendup, but it looks different when juxtaposed against the alternatives. - "I haven't created anything I'm proud of, but that's because my nerve cells aren't folding the proteins that do that. I'm not happy with my life, but I can't change the laws of organic chemistry. I'm watching Netflix right now because of, uhh, alleles." - "I'm smart and I'm great and everything comes naturally to me. It's lame t…

None of them is 'the' hero.

Re: Those writing extensively on note-writing rarely have a serious context of use

#49

Post by jrm4 »

Oh man this really hits home as someone who did a lot of this searching for a "perfect" system. At some point it really hit me, I think a lot of people are subconsciously believing that the note system will do the thinking for you, and it's really very bad at that. The good news is, that's what you -- the human -- are for.

Literally all the computer can do is periodically remind you of something, and all you can do is try to pick how/when it can re-tell you things you already know. Anything after that is you using your human brain to make the real connections.

(Yes, discovering this has made me wildly skeptical of AI to the point that I generally don't believe in it anymore, i.e. I'm 99.999% certain we will never see anything remotely close to a "singularity.")

Re: Those writing extensively on note-writing rarely have a serious context of use

#50

Post by bedobi »

chefandy wrote: post #37
bedobi wrote: post #5

Very refreshing to see content like this. Personally I'm VERY sick of the whole productivity hustle and the people who spout it. They prey on insecurities, make you feel like unless you're employing some kind of productivity system, you're cheating yourself or your employer. In reality however the very systems they tout steal away more productivity to maintain the productivity system itself than any benefit for actua…

Alternate take: you don't face the problem these tools were designed to solve. My personal organization/productivity methods mitigate some very real (and common) weaknesses. Most were recommended by a neuropsychologist after some rigorous testing. Categorically dismissing them makes no more sense than assuming they're universally beneficial. Vitamin C supplements remain beneficial to many despite snake oil salesmen p…

By all means share ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

To be clear, I'm not saying taking notes etc is never beneficial - I do it all the time, mostly for stuff that I need rarely enough to not remember by heart but often enough to justify making a note so I don't have to waste time relearning it every time. My "system", if it can even be called that, is simply creating a gist.md in GitHub Gists, sending an email to myself, or putting something in Google Keep.

The point is I no longer agree with anyone telling me that all aspects of my life must be "optimized" for "productivity", or that without some formal elaborate system I'm hopelessly lost, or that if I do use something I'm n times more productive, better at remembering etc etc, like the productivity hackers and hustlers seem to want everyone to think.

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