Zettelkasten and Evergreen notes context
This is not about quotes, as in famous quotes
Quotes can be used just like illustrations. They are fun, might make things a bit more clear but do they not prove anything.
You should avoid just quoting items into a ZK or PKM: don’t quote.
When you just copy a quote from somewhere else, you take the idea out of it’s original context. Unless it is just a blurb, or used as a textual illustration, you loose the context of the original source. This might damage the meaning, and even disagree with the intent of the author.
If the overall idea is good enough as is, it should be rewritten as an atomic note, so the note becomes self-supporting. This takes time, but if an idea is not worth rewriting, it isn’t worth keeping. Rewriting also makes us think about the idea, leading to more understanding and insight.
Quoting is bad because? flashcard
- Context. Surrounding text help interpret a text. It makes the author’s intentions clear. Placing a small part of an original text in new surroundings too easily leads to misinterpretation of the quote and thus mis-representation.
- Abuse of authority. The authority of an author is used to prove a point they never made.
- Quoting is a form of laziness, and feeds into collectors fallacy
Literature notes
Transclude of ahrens_2022#^hsquote01
Transclude of ahrens_2022#^hsquote02
- Quoting leads the misapplication or use of a text
- Surrounding text help understand a phrase. On it’s own, the new surroundings will influence how text is read.
- The text looses it’s (some of its) initial value, or usefulness.
Fleeting notes
quoting is misguided laziness and leads to non-usable pieces of text
- Quoting is easy and might feel like the truest compliment to the author.
- → wrong assumption (beginner’s mistake)
- we want the meaning of the text, not the mere sound of it
- meaning is context dependent
- we want the meaning of the text, not the mere sound of it
- Stripping of content → forcibly removed
- act of violence if the application is not in line with intended use
- need to carefully think about the atomic value of the quote → smallest unit that can still convey the correct meaning
- or use it as a picture, clearly separated from the original, not intended to somehow pretend to represent the original author’s view
- act of violence if the application is not in line with intended use
- A quote is misrepresenting the original author, which makes it a false claim
- cannot be used as proof in a new work
- It’s easier to cut-n-paste then think through what an author really means
- this is laziness not a compliment to the author
- → wrong assumption (beginner’s mistake)