Greetings

johnny

I figured I had to give a shoutout to Christian and Sasha for making such great application as The Archive is. The app and Sasha’s posts have truly changed the way I work and think of notes. And this has been, besides the beauty and function of the app itself, most valuable to me. Rather than being just an app for notes, it made me question what a note is? And from there, the doors opened for a much more insightful way to think, learn and discover.

Currently, I’m working on a PhD proposal in philosophy. My field of interest is in the crossing between existential philosophy and psychology. In this research, there are a lot of connections, common terms and theories stretching into fields such as evolutionary biology and social anthropology. Working with this, The archive and the note methodology given by Christian and Sasha are remarkably beneficial. And it is a way of working that I will stick to and evolve with as time goes. By the way, I would not mind if the price doubled as long as it ensured continued development.

Also thanks to the fine community that share the way they think and work.

Best regards
-O-

ctietze

Thank you very much!

Rather than being just an app for notes, it made me question what a note is? And from there, the doors opened for a much more insightful way to think, learn and discover.

It'd be cool if you write more about the way your thinking changed eventually! I think this would be valuable for everybody.

johnny

It'd be cool if you write more about the way your thinking changed eventually! I think this would be valuable for everybody.

Well, to be honest, I did all the mistakes that I later have read about on your site/forum. Collecting all sorts of stuff I though seemed important, attempting to categorize and structure things, copy/pasting from the web … collecting stuff into a bucket and thinking «I got it». I rarely ever used the stuff and I believe it's because doing it this way, makes the information lose its intended relevance. It kinda dies along with the thought that was there.

The Zettelkasten method sort of keeps the information organic and alive. The element of surprise, non-categorizing, linking and focusing upon how this information is or will be relevant, has been a great experience to me. Now, it’s the ideas and information that has to guide me through my thinking, rather than the structure and functionality of the app. This has forced me to deal with why I write a note in the first place, and it has been very productive and fruitful.

I guess that doing I BA or MA is pretty much about «re-writing and explaining» what others have done before. To this end, the bucket way of working will probably work. But, evolving ideas, thesis or theories on your own needs that organic growth that the zettelkasten methods open for. That is, at least, my experience.