Status: Read
Ahrens, S. (2017). How to Take Smart Notes: One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking – for Students, Academics and Nonfiction Book Writers.
More than note taking, this book is a manual for accelerating returns to learning. The ideas in this book were inspired by the production function of Niklas Luhmann, the prodigious German sociologist who published more than 70 books and nearly 400 scholarly articles over his lifetime, using the Zettelkasten (slip box) note-taking method.
One of the main arguments is that writing should be the basis for all intellectual activity, with the express goal of publishing. Ahrens demonstrates how note writing (and by extension, knowledge) can be exponentially accumulative when ideas are structured independently, yet densely interconnected.
The ability to spot patterns, or to get the gist of a written text is a key meta-skill in learning. Perhaps the best way to improve is to Learn by doing. With practice reading, you'll be able to quickly distinguish what is important from mere supporting evidence. You'll grasp a subject quicker, and spot patterns, detect distinctions, and recurring themes across multiple sources. With practice writing notes, you'll get quicker at finding the right words to express an idea. This is helpful as readers regard an author or speaker to be more intelligent the more clear and to the point their expressions are (Oppenheimer, 2006).
Rigorous thinking requires externalizing ideas. When we write literature notes or permanent notes, we practice System 2 thinking. We are able to examine our ideas in a more objective light, and avoid the cognitive pitfalls that come pre-installed with our evolutionary hardware. Additionally, as we write with an eye towards existing notes in the slip box, we are able to take into account more information than is readily retrievable by our internal memory.
Constraints can facilitate creativity. In Niklas Luhmann's slip box, notes were limited to the size of A6 index cards. This restrictive form factor, in combination with the one idea per card rule, forces precision and brevity. Indeed, it is the standardization of one idea per card that makes the future recombination of disparate ideas possible.
Similarly, we should impose similar constraints to digital notes if we are to realize the cumulative advantages of our networked notes. Each note should contain a single idea, and there should be no need for scrolling.