209 - Knowledge Development Questions
What knowledge is worth developing? How much knowledge should you redevelop in the pursuit of knowledge development? What prior knowledge is worth making explicit in a zettelkasten? What existing developed knowledge is worth including in a zettelkasten?
Surprising & Utility Axis
A good way to think about this is through the suprisal & utility lens. The best information to develop, then turn into knowledge, is surprising and useful information. Surprising in this scenario would be presenting cutting edge research or new connections between topics that people haven’t considered. Useful means that it significantly improves their understanding of a topic such that they make better decisions. It could also be information that is actionable on using ones skills.
The second best type of information you can develop is unsurprising but useful information. This is the type of information the vast majority of people engage with. It is learning the concepts of a field and how they connect. The information is unsurprising because it is already well established. It may be surprising to you when you first start learning a subject. This type of information is useful because it helps you build a mental model (understanding) of a subject matter.
General & Specific Axis
Another way to think about information you are developing is how specific the knowledge is. Over time we have been further and further specializing with knowledge. Often this means the new knowledge loses applicability, except when it enables new highly useful technology. The ability to draw is broadly more useful than being able to draw in an ultra specific style.