🌱 notes are simply components, stripped of context, collected for future use

Zettelkasten and Evergreen MOC component

A single atomic note has limited use. It explains one single idea, but after that has been grasped then that’s the end of its use. Only by combining and using notes will they start to have exponentially more use. thoughts are not unique, but the combination (or linking) of thoughts are what makes them distinct

When creating notes we should keep this future use in mind A good note connects your current understanding with the needs of your future work (eg stackable lego blocks). Old style zettelkasten notes are even shorter then evergreen notes (Classical zettelkasten was a balanced but outdated system. In a modern system, especially in one where we use a spaced-repetition plugin for writing, notes will be more complete, and thus are already usefull by themselves.

Also see:

• A quote is an idea without context. An idea without context is ill-defined, and cannot be used
• atomic notes should be densely linked
• there is understanding in the combination of ideas
• PKMs need limited chaos to flourish substance is more important then form

Literature notes

A note is an information only in a web of other notes - the fabrication of serendipity

Transclude of the-fabrication-of-serendipity#^c2bee0

Fleeting note: Individual cards were not that important, many details left undecided until later use - The main reason for writing a card was to use it in combination with existing cards - cards were rewritten and reorganized before adding them to the ZK - unfinished ideas on the cards were expanded upon during the cards use, later - the cards might only be a stepping stone to use newer or other card

Luhmann’s notes were sometimes incredibly terse:

Transclude of English-Translation-of-All-Notes-on-Zettelkasten-by-Luhmann#^etnote01

Compare this to Exploring Andy’s notes MOC, these notes are complete worked out ideas.

Fleeting notes

A note is an interesting, possibly unfinished idea, completely taken out of it’s original context

• NL’s notes where written with a clear goal in mind: they were blocks to be unitlized
• Notes were completely taken out of the original context: new order, new phrasing (rewritten!)
• notes were not “ready” or “finished”
  • → actual usefulness was only decided when used
  • notes were reused in it’s own new context, and then they get new meaning
    • → atomicity!
• note location decided not straight away, not predetermined
• A finished note could be potentially be quite far away from its original source in application