We Need a Gym for the Mind • Zettelkasten Method
We Need a Gym for the Mind • Zettelkasten Method
Building real knowledge takes a straining effort. Once external pressure disappears we avoid it by instinct. The way out is to condition ourselves to love the strain, and the Zettelkasten Method is built to be that gym for the mind for you.
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Comments
I understood before that the strain is what develops our mind, but actually loving the strain is not something I've considered.
When I've been in phases of higher levels of physical training, because of a challenge like a half-marathon or whatever, I also found it hard to love the strain, even though I knew that was where further stamina would come from.
The next few times I do physical exercise or spaced repetition memory training, I will actively try to enjoy it. Let's see how it goes.
Back in college when I had something to learn that was both beyond my understanding and tedious, I would try to take a third person point of view.
There I sat with an undisciplined brain more interested in dirt bikes than the subject matter. Instead of putting my emotional focus on the un-fun subject, I would try to watch understanding grow. It worked, at least to some degree.
The process of learning is fascinating. The particular subject may make my eyes roll up in my head, but watching mental processes beyond conscious control categorize and synthesize is really quite something even if I don't have any interest in the facts I'm presented with.
If only I had known what a Zettelkasten was back then, remembering Brando more fondly than calculus, I coulda been a contender!