My Current Definition of the Zettelkasten Method

Sascha · July 18

The Zettelkasten is an integrated thinking environment, that feeds on the notes you are taking to build itself up. The Zettelkasten Method is a system of principles and best practices to transform your note-taking habits into a constant improvement of your thinking and your personal integrated thinking environment.

andang76 · July 18

I've found my (1) one-line definition and (2) second order explicitation, at the top of my Zettelkasten main note:

(1)
"Zettelkasten is a personal practice for learning, thinking, and finally accomplish something valuable from thought and knowledge developed during the process"

(2)

"I define Zettelkasten as the thinking system, of which the author himself is a part, which is set up thanks to a framework centered on the concept of Slip Box, conceived, built and used with the aim of exercising thinking, developing knowledge and producing value from it."

I've spent very much time to refine it during the almost three years from the discovery of this world :-)

Nick · July 19

Wrote a definition from scratch, using yours as inspiration @Sascha. I think your definition is a bit too concise and doesn't include what makes a zettelkasten different from other thinking environments? This is what I came up with without looking at my note on zettelkasten, which is funny because it is very different from the definition in my note on zettelkasten.

Zettelkasten is a collection of notes that have been processed and organized in a way (the zettelkasten method) that facilitates the gradual development of many ideas concurrently. By doing so, ones note collection becomes an integrated thinking environment instead of a repository to be referenced. The driving principle behind the zettelkasten is the practice of creating concise/individualized notes that can easily be referenced in other notes. By making notes concise/individualized (atomic), you are encouraging an idea to be used in multiple contexts (e.g. different chains of thoughts, arguments, models, etc).... (then I'd add a sentence about how this is done through linking notes using UIDs).

Perikles · July 20

@Sascha

I like your definition very much!! I do think it can be improved in it's formulation. I tried to do so. I tried a) to be more concise and b) more to the point of what you want to say. When reading your definition I can "hear" the to-the-pointness in our mother tongue and I tried to translate that into english.

(I don't think that the way ~15-35 year old Germans use the word "aufbauen" these days will stand the test of time. That's why I kicked this word out…)

Her we go, I hope it is helpful in some way:

The Zettelkasten is an integrated thinking environment consisting of a growing collection of notes. The Zettelkasten Method is a system of principles and best practices that leverage your note-taking habits into a source of constant improvement of both your thinking and your personal integrated thinking environment.

Edmund · July 24

@andang76 said:
"I define Zettelkasten as the thinking system, of which the author himself is a part, which is set up thanks to a framework centered on the concept of Slip Box, conceived, built and used with the aim of exercising thinking, developing knowledge and producing value from it."

I've spent very much time to refine it during the almost three years from the discovery of this world :-)

That's my favourite! What about a small refinement:

Zettelkasten is a dynamic thinking system in which the author actively participates, designed around the Slip Box framework to cultivate thinking, develop knowledge, and generate lasting intellectual value.

andang76 · July 24

@Edmund said:

@andang76 said:
"I define Zettelkasten as the thinking system, of which the author himself is a part, which is set up thanks to a framework centered on the concept of Slip Box, conceived, built and used with the aim of exercising thinking, developing knowledge and producing value from it."

I've spent very much time to refine it during the almost three years from the discovery of this world :-)

That's my favourite! What about a small refinement:

Zettelkasten is a dynamic thinking system in which the author actively participates, designed around the Slip Box framework to cultivate thinking, develop knowledge, and generate lasting intellectual value.

I like it. I could steal it

I personally am very convinced that the zettelkasten should also contain the author.

I've connected this thought to a message found into an old fantasy film, "Conan the Barbarian"

"The riddle of steel is that it’s not the steel itself, but the hand that wields it".

I think that Zettelkasten practice thrives under the same dynamic.

And connecting Zettelkasten principles to Conan the Barbarian is a perfect evidence of a good zettelkasting example, I hope

Sascha · July 25

Many thanks for your response! I did a quick particle grouping (part of the tool box of working with and on concepts):

Group	Item
Alternative Concepts to map to	Integrated thinking environment
Internal dynamic	Feeds on your notes to build itself up
	you are encouraged to relate to use an idea in multiple contexts
The Method	a system of principles and best practices
Type of Action by the User	Note-Taking
	Atomic note-taking
	Externalised thinking
Change from default	Note-taking becomes externalised thinking
Extension	Linked notes
	The author is included
Goal Statements	Train thinking
	Developing Knowledge
	Produce value
Center of definition	Collection of Notes
	Externalised thinking space

I'll comment on particular items that I seem fit to sharpen the definition. Keep in mind that I focus on the matter which might give the impression of being disagreeableness. I don't mean to, but I dedicate my cognitive capacity to the matter.

"Zettelkasten is a personal practice for learning, thinking, and finally accomplish something valuable from thought and knowledge developed during the process"

This sentence doesn't distinguish the Zettelkasten from the method, which I find is crucial.
It includes goal statements that are not appropriate for a definition of a tool. The history of the tool is connected to its nature, and it is an explanation of the becoming-into-being. But it is not part of a proper definition. A hammer is not a tool to hit a nail. This is what you use it for. A hammer that I use to repair my TV doesn't stop being a hammer.

"I define Zettelkasten as the (1) thinking system, of which (2) the author himself is a part, which (3) is set up thanks to a framework centered on the concept of Slip Box, conceived, built and used with the (3) aim of exercising thinking, developing knowledge and producing value from it."

This is fair.
This sounds nice. However, it creates practical problems. Luhmann's Zettelkasten has to be viewed incomplete. The research on it would be either the research on the rest of his Zettelkasten (even the excavation of his cadaver wouldn't be enough to put together the complete Zettelkasten, since the brain is rotten away and his mind is not present) or it wouldn't be research on a Zettelkasten at all. I like the actor–network theory as a framework for analysis. However, it is ontological not sound. I think this is what this sentence is doing. It confuses ontological distinct entities with categories to which a collective of entities can belong. So, it confuses ontology with epistemology. (Waiting for @Andy to spank me, since this is a bit sloppy formulated)
See above. Goals, objectives or aims are not part of a proper definition for a tool, since it doesn't stop to be identical with itself if you use it for a different purpose than the originally intended one.

Zettelkasten is a collection of notes that have been processed and organized in a way (the zettelkasten method) that facilitates the gradual development of many ideas concurrently.

I'd say that this is the effect of a Zettelkasten. However, this facilitation is not at the core of the Zettelkasten. I'd accept a badly set up Zettelkasten as a Zettelkasten, even if it doesn't facilitate gradual development of many ideas concurrently.

By doing so, ones note collection becomes an integrated thinking environment instead of a repository to be referenced.

Cause-and-effect chains are a problem for a definition. First, it is not necessary that the Zettelkasten becomes an ITE, but a Zettelkasten can still be a Zettelkasten without actually acting as a ITE. Gradualism seems a bad candidate for a particular trait for the Zettelkasten. The difference to my definition is that I start with the statement of the ZK being an ITE. This is a prescriptive statement. Since, you are hanging this on a cause-and-effect chain, you are making a descriptive statement. This is why I don't think this sentence is working.

The driving principle behind the zettelkasten is the practice of creating concise/individualized notes that can easily be referenced in other notes.

This is tricky. I regard atomicity as a heuristic, not as a clear-cut category. Imagine a Zettelkasten not being atomic. You just intuitively write notes and connect them. It would work and it would behave highly similar to an atomic Zettelkasten. Why? Because the Zettelkasten works with a mix of atomic and non-atomic notes with no problems. It has to, since it needs to be robust against mistakes. Your Zettelkasten just works fine if you have problems with atomicity. Also: Atomicity is quite often the result of a process within the Zettelkasten and not the type of input. So, by this process in place, the Zettelkasten can't be dependent on atomicity. I know that you didn't said "atomic" but "concise". But even for concise notes, my line of thinking applies. The difference between a Zettelkasten as a system of atomic notes and something like a wiki, a network of articles, is gradual with no clear distinction.

By making notes concise/individualized (atomic), you are encouraging an idea to be used in multiple contexts (e.g. different chains of thoughts, arguments, models, etc).... (then I'd add a sentence about how this is done through linking notes using UIDs).

This sentences doesn't seem to be a good candidate to be part of the definition. It describes a dynamic that follows from what we are trying to define.

Btw. your definition also doesn't define what the ZK makes different from other ITEs. But I think this is good, since exclusion is not a good strategy to define something.

(I don't think that the way ~15-35 year old Germans use the word "aufbauen" these days will stand the test of time. That's why I kicked this word out…)

@Perikles I don't mean it in that sense, but it is me alluding to Autpoiesis.

The Zettelkasten is an integrated thinking environment consisting of a growing collection of notes.

I think this change is losing the dynamic nature. I think that the Zettelkasten is actually feeding on your note-taking, the processing is a form of digesting and the result is the growth and development. I consciously chose the dynamic framework, since it moves my definition closer to something living. A better way of phrasing it might be organic. I follow the framework of Iain McGilchrist that distinguish two modes of engaging with the world: Engaging with the living or the dead. To exemplify the difference: The sentence "The two brain hemispheres have different personalities." is typically seen as a metaphorical expression. But it is not metaphorical if you accept that having personalities is possible for such complex and organic entities like a hemisphere. It is in so far metaphorical if your axiom is that hemispheres are basically dead things that elicit a dynamic. Both perspectives are valid at the same time: We are conscious, living beings and we are a lumps of cells that interact with each other biochemically. Both are not ontological statements but epistemological decisions which are not subject to the value of true/false, but rather values like appropriate/inappropriate, functional/dysfunctional etc.

The Zettelkasten Method is a system of principles and best practices that leverage your note-taking habits into a source of constant improvement of both your thinking and your personal integrated thinking environment.

I am not sure about the exchange of "transformation" for "leverage". I think the appropriate way ( ) of thinking about the Zettelkasten Method is that you are doing something different. Think of the Speech act theory. Saying a factual statement can as well be giving an order. Two people might train the same, but one is fighting inner demons, while the other is expressing a value of excellence. Fully adopting the Zettelkasten Method means that you do a different thing. You no longer capture information. Instead, you externalise your thinking. This change (transformation) is imho an integral part of the Zettelkasten Method.

andang76 · July 27

@Sascha said:

This sentence doesn't distinguish the Zettelkasten from the method, which I find is crucial.

Yes, I've a sentence regarding the method, too, that I had forgotten to write.

This sounds nice. However, it creates practical problems. Luhmann's Zettelkasten has to be viewed incomplete. The research on it would be either the research on the rest of his Zettelkasten (even the excavation of his cadaver wouldn't be enough to put together the complete Zettelkasten, since the brain is rotten away and his mind is not present) or it wouldn't be research on a Zettelkasten at all. I like the actor–network theory as a framework for analysis. However, it is ontological not sound. I think this is what this sentence is doing. It confuses ontological distinct entities with categories to which a collective of entities can belong. So, it confuses ontology with epistemology. (Waiting for @Andy to spank me, since this is a bit sloppy formulated)

In my opinion, the same artifact (network of notes) with and without the author are two very different things.

If I have a whole copy of Luhman boxes, I don't have "his Zettelkasten" (intended as system of Systems Theory, specify better).
I only have a slip box of his notes that I can read, examine, use as an external source.
Much of what the Zettelkasten provides, the intimate interaction between the author and his notes, the unwritten things in the notes that remains in the author's head and recalled when he revisits it, a significant part of the ghost-in-the-box phenomena specific to its specific author are lost if the author is missing.
In fact, the overall effects you get from reading a slip box created by another person and writing your own notes are very different, and not all of them will be impressed in your notes thanks to writing.
Without Luhman we lost all remained in Luhman brain and the communication/conversation dynamics between Luhman and his slip box.

For me the author is part of the system with its notes, and this whole is the Zettelkasten. Without the author is a slip box, an hypertext, an artifact, something similar. Inert, passive, incomplete in some way. Something another person still can read anyway, of course.

I recognize that this is an unusual perception of the Zettelkasten :-)
And that can be problematic do write such stuff into a concise definition for others, but into a definition "for my own" I feel the need to have a reference to the author.

Developing this answer, anyway, I've realized that modeling Zettelkasten as a system in which the author is inside captures meaningful concepts, but maybe miss others. The author is both "part-of" and "user", in some ways.
I' think now that it's something even more articulate, but I need to develop the idea further.

Update

Found something interesting into Second-order Cybernetics and Complex adaptive systems. Too complex things to fully integrate into my Zettelkasten definition, but the existence of these models comfort me. I will develop specific zettels about.

andang76 · July 27

@Sascha I just noticed that the title of the topic is Zettelkasten Method, not Zettelkasten :-)

I've provided my definitions of Zettelkasten

I was confused by the fact that in your first post you also briefly defined Zettelkasten.

At this point I should start over again :-)

FernandoNobel · August 6

Thank you for this interesting post :-)

In my case, it was when I understood that a Zettelkasten is a universal thinking environment that I started to really use it. A clear definition has a big impact on the adoption and implementation of the method.

I really like Sascha's definition. Here are some personal comments to make the definition more accessible.

Object vs. method. It’s essential to distinguish between the Zettelkasten as an object (the collection of notes) and the method (the most effective way to use it).

A thinking environment. We all use different environments for thinking: a notebook, a conversation, a walk. The Zettelkasten is one more --- designed specifically for knowledge work.

An integrated environment. It brings together all the tools you need to think: writing, connecting, reviewing, searching for ideas --- all in one place.

It builds itself through your notes. It’s not a passive archive. It grows and takes shape as you take notes and develop ideas. In a Zettelkasten, you think by writing --- and that thinking becomes part of the system.

Principles and best practices. The method has essential principles (for example, a Zettelkasten is a hypertext), but its concrete implementation depends on each person (for example, how you link your notes). Best practices may vary, but they should follow the core principles.

A virtuous cycle. When you use your Zettelkasten to think --- following the Zettelkasten Method --- you create a double improvement:

You think better, thanks to the environment you’ve built.
Your thinking environment improves with every note you write and connect.

In short, a Zettelkasten is a thinking environment that gets better every time you use it.

Sascha · August 7

I asked grok to create a comprehensive description based on this thread:

Definition of the Zettelkasten Method

The Zettelkasten Method is a system of principles and best practices designed to create, organize, and connect notes in a way that fosters a dynamic, integrated thinking environment, promoting clear thinking, knowledge development, and the creation of intellectual value. The following provides a comprehensive description of the method, synthesizing key insights from the provided discussion thread.

Core Characteristics of the Zettelkasten Method

1. Distinction Between Zettelkasten and the Method

It is critical to differentiate between the Zettelkasten itself and the method used to create and maintain it:

Zettelkasten: A Zettelkasten is a growing collection of notes linked together (e.g., through unique identifiers, or UIDs) to form a hypertext-like network. It serves as an integrated thinking environment, not merely a passive archive, but one that evolves through the author’s interaction with the notes.
Zettelkasten Method: The method encompasses the principles and practices that guide how notes are created, organized, and utilized to build and sustain this thinking environment. It transforms note-taking into a process of externalized thinking.

2. Integrated Thinking Environment

A Zettelkasten is more than a collection of notes; it is a dynamic system that extends the author’s thinking. It integrates tools such as writing, linking, reviewing, and searching within a single environment. This environment is shaped by the author’s active participation, who continuously refines and expands the system through note-taking and linking.

3. Dynamic Growth Through Notes

The Zettelkasten Method is built on the principle that the Zettelkasten “feeds” on the author’s notes, growing and evolving as new notes are added and connected. Each note contributes to the system’s development by enabling new connections and expanding existing ideas, giving the Zettelkasten an organic, almost living quality that distinguishes it from static archives like wikis or databases.

4. Principles of Note Creation

The method emphasizes specific practices for creating notes:

Atomicity: Notes should ideally be concise and focused on a single idea, making them reusable across different contexts, such as various thought chains, arguments, or models.
Linking: Notes are connected using unique identifiers (UIDs), creating a hypertext-like network. These links allow ideas to be woven across multiple notes, fostering new insights.
Externalized Thinking: Rather than merely capturing information, note-taking in the Zettelkasten Method serves to externalize thinking. The act of writing and structuring notes encourages active reflection and clarity of thought.

5. The Author as Part of the System

The author plays a central role in the Zettelkasten Method. The Zettelkasten is not an isolated artifact but a system that thrives through the author’s interaction. The author is both a “part” of the system (through the thoughts captured in the notes) and a “user” (through active maintenance and development of the system). Without the author, the Zettelkasten loses much of its dynamic quality, as the personal interaction and contextual knowledge in the author’s mind are not fully transferable.

6. Goals of the Method

While not part of the Zettelkasten’s definition as a tool, the method aims to achieve several outcomes:

Enhancing Thinking: Writing and linking notes sharpens and refines thought processes.
Developing Knowledge: The Zettelkasten enables the gradual development of ideas through connections between notes, fostering deeper understanding.
Creating Intellectual Value: The method supports the production of tangible outputs, such as texts, concepts, or projects, derived from the developed knowledge.

7. Virtuous Cycle

The Zettelkasten Method creates a positive feedback loop:

By applying the method, the author’s thinking improves, as structured note-taking promotes clarity and depth.
Simultaneously, each new note and connection enhances the thinking environment, making it richer and more interconnected.

Differentiation from Other Systems

The Zettelkasten Method stands apart from other knowledge management systems (e.g., wikis or note-taking apps) through its emphasis on:

Hypertext-like Networking: Unlike hierarchical or linear systems, the Zettelkasten promotes non-linear connections, supporting flexible and associative thinking.
Dynamic Evolution: The Zettelkasten is not a static archive but a continually evolving system shaped by the author’s active engagement.
Focus on Thinking Over Storage: While other systems prioritize information storage, the Zettelkasten Method aims to externalize and develop thought processes.

Conclusion

The Zettelkasten Method is a powerful tool for knowledge workers seeking to structure their thoughts, develop knowledge, and produce creative outputs. It transforms note-taking into an active process of thinking, creating a dynamic, interconnected thinking environment that grows in value with each new note. The author is not only a user but an integral part of the system, which thrives through their interaction and evolves organically over time.

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