Comments

• Sascha

  February 2025

  Dear Zettlers,

  the act of note-taking is in itself building a relationship towards you future self: https://zettelkasten.de/posts/develop-empathy-future-self/

  The below is me nerding out as a bonus (or malus, depending on your level of nerdiness).

  There is a great book on subjective time by Philip Zimbardo. I learned a lot about the Zettelkasten Method by reading the book. Strange, isn't it?

  However, the depths of the Zettelkasten Method are metaphysical and metaphysics needs to be merged with phenomenology to become practical. Sounds opaque? Then let's dive deeper:

  Time is a fundamental metaphysical category. I treat fundamental metaphysical categories as axis on a matrix that gives reality its preconditions. But they cannot be divorced from our epistemic apparatus, the "thing with which we do cognition".

  The Zettelkasten is something like an imaginary space. Take the note "202501201042 Endurance zones vs regimens" for example. Were is it? Is it a bunch of digits on my drive on my computer? Or is it somewhere positioned in a network of ideas that happen to be represented on my drive?

  Let's assume that my Zettelkasten is more than just a binary code on my computer's drive. This is much more brain-friendly, since my mental map of my Zettelkasten doesn't refer to the physical storage of files, but to the relationships of ideas and also what I see on the screen. This is both a epistemic judgement (based on the value "truth") and a pragmatic decision (based on the value "useful"). Both are traits that give knowledge its value. (I hinted at my theory of knowledge value here)

  Right now, there are various metaphysical entities at play: Time, space, judgement, value, decision. (by placing concepts like judgement and decision, I position myself into a school of thought, myself)

  Why all the complicatedness?

  1. I wanted to show you a little bit of the theoretical thinking is at the foundational level of the Zettelkasten Method. After all, I am a nerd.
  2. If you want to talk deeply about the Zettelkasten Method you can't package this into acronyms and nice rhyming rules of thumb. These are marketing devices that obscure, distort and twist the actual workings of the Zettelkasten Method or any system of ideas. The mental tools to actually go deep are hard to come by. It is rare for people knowing the concept of explication as coined by Rudolf Carnap.
  3. The above is the beginning of a process of first principle thinking. But to apply first principle thinking, you have to have a sufficient inventory of principles. This is were proper foundational education comes into play.

  Common place books are put in a same category as the Zettelkasten Method. I think this is a grave mistake, since this is based on missing out on thinking properly about the concept of similarity. Am I similar to a dog or different? Well, it all depends on the frame of reference. If my reference is the entirety of things in reality, I am very similar to a dog. If my frame of reference is my human existence, I am quite dissimilar. (hint: "similarity" is part of the inventory mentioned above)

  Both, however, share a specific trait: Using them entails writing down your ideas (moving the idea from one medium to another). If you make it a habit, you make it a habit to increase your depth of processing. If you don't just copy or merely paraphrase the idea, but truly use your own words, you add another deepening of the depth of processing.

  This is how common place books work (and in part how the Zettelkasten Method works).

  Coming full circle towards the beginning of this little rant: Ask yourself if you want to solve a problem that you have right now. Or do you want to solve a problem for your future self? Or: How to come up with a solution that solves a problem in the here in now so it also leads to a solution for your future self.

  Do help you with this (very important) question, I'll give you two examples:

  1. Almost all drives to automate the process are driven by a present focus - if you are honest. (Not that automatisation doesn't have any value for your future self, it is about the motivation)
  2. Most question on how to write a proper note are driven by a future focus.

  The question how to create the most value for your future self is at the heart of the Zettelkasten Method.

  Rant over.

  I am a Zettler
• Edmund

  February 2025

  The question how to create the most value for your future self is at the heart of the Zettelkasten Method.

  That’s a powerful reformulation! It aligns well with the idea that every note is an investment in future thinking. The Zettelkasten method isn’t just about storing knowledge—it’s about compounding insights over time, making your future self more capable, creative, and intellectually independent.

  Edmund Gröpl — 100% organic thinking. Less than 5% AI-generated ideas.
• Edmund

  February 2025 edited February 2025

  

  Zettelkasten for long-term thinking as an argument map.

  Edmund Gröpl — 100% organic thinking. Less than 5% AI-generated ideas.