90 - Cross Thinking is the ability to see patterns (20e) in thinking and conceptualization (10d1). Then connecting how you can apply concepts across domains. Two examples are:
Story of applying ecological extinction patterns to business extinction patterns to come to the insight that planning the future is impossible, from Adapt: Success starts with Failure
David Kilcullen using evolution terminology and thinking in the context of adaptive behavior of terrorists and adversaries in warfare. See his 2020 book Dragon and the Snakes
Information Processing Theory emerging out of the study of Computers, whereby the mind is equated with a computer. As they both are information processing machines.
91 - Three Dimensional Thinking is is applying a latticework (20d) of mental models to a problem or situation in order to get a better picture of reality.
Find a good example of multiple mental models intersecting to solve a problem #todo
92 - Structure is the arrangement of and relations between the parts or elements of something complex (Oxford Dictionary).
“Common types of structure include hierarchies (a cascade of one-to-many relationships), a networks featuring many-to-many links, or latticeworks featuring connections between components that are neighbors in space” - Wikipedia.
The key idea to understand about structure is that it allows for order, which in turn leads to repeatability. Everything is meaningless without repeatability. Mathematics is the language of patterns, which are themselves are connections that repeat.
Further Research:
Why Information Grows: The Evolution of Order, from Atoms to Economies
The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect
The first layer of structure is having a single storage mechanism. In this case it is plain text files using markdown syntax. The reason for this is it helps makes your notes future proof. Luhmann used his zettelkastens over a 46 year period, so you want something that lasts the test of time.
The second layer of structure for a digital zettelkasten is having a single storage location. I’ve been somewhat bad at that because I’ve been experimenting with programs. I’ve been slowly working on coalescing all my notes into one program.
Third layer of structure I use is having my notes in Dropbox. Reason for this is that it keeps a copy of my zettelkasten in multiple locations in case of disaster.
Fourth layer of structure is having a unique identifier for each note, which means giving each file a unique name. This can take the form of a unique filename, a time ID + filename, or a luhmann ID (which is what this zettelkasten uses). For my Obsidian zettelkasten, I use a combination of time IDs and time IDs + filename.
Fifth layer of structure is I try to keep to keep my note sizes between 1-3 paragraphs. This keeps you from getting confused when linking between notes and makes a note easy to comprehend. Ideally this would also mean you learn to be concise with your writing.
Sixth layer of structure is what I call note sequences #todo
94 - Connection is “a relationship in which a person, thing, or idea is linked or associated with something else as to provide access and communication.” Oxford Dictionary. When you bring together multiple connections, you build a structure (e.g. hierarchy, network).
95 - Sorting is when you systematically arrange items into separate groups based on common features (Oxford Dictionary). Typically this is done to make the storage and retrieval (5c) of information easier. It can also be used in a more exploratory way to learn more about your notes.
Sorting methods have emerged from the need to add structure to large bodies of information that emerged from the [information overload] involved with [evolving mediums].
96 - Selecting is the process you used to retrieve the information you are looking for. Typically people use [finding devices] that help you by sorting the information or using a search algorithm.
To start the selection process, you need a information trigger. In memory terminology this would be known as a retrieval cue, whether it be a word on a page, something someones says, or a evocative smell.
97 - Summarizing is the process of creating a brief generalization of a body of information. It is a layer of structure that allows us to more easily process a body of information, creating a very shallow model in the process.
Summarizing is one of the ways to deal with [infoglut]. The other being the creation of structures that allow you to search the information.
100 - Niklas Luhmann was a German sociologist during the 20th century who is known for his prolific writing and work towards creating a theory of society. He created two zettelkastens over his career, starting the first one as a response to the need for an effective way to organize notes for the long term (Johannes F.K. Schmidt, 2018).
The notes were largely written during the time when Luhmann worked as a legal trainee in Lüneburg or as a member of the government at the Ministry of Culture in Lower Saxony and document his reading of administrative, political, philosophical and increasingly also organizational-theoretical and sociological literature.
The notes are characterized by a clearly sociological-conceptual, theoretically and methodologically controlled access to a large number of publications from a wide variety of scientific disciplines. In terms of theoretical history, the new beginning with the development of a theory of administration may have taken place; The programmatic formulation on the first slip of this collection is paradigmatic for a fresh start:
The overview created by the NL Archives is based on the structure of the collection with its 108 thematic departments (as well as the four register departments) specified by Luhmann and provides a further breakdown within the individual thematic departments based on Luhmann’s priorities on the respective notes.
Therefore, the number structure does not represent a hierarchical structure. The departmental overviews do not claim to be complete (thematic or numerical).
Luhmann himself has not created a detailed overview of the contents of the collection. For ZK I there is only a department overview without further internal differentiation
Summary - It looks like Luhmann did not use detailed categories but instead had a somewhat vague overview of the different departments. What keeps it from going into the realm of traditional categories is that he did not further differentiate with subcategories.
101 - Specialized Knowledge is the extensive body of knowledge you have about a subject matter. It would be pathway A in prior knowledge. Typically this is acquired over many years of study. The acquisition of specialized knowledge follows this path:
Basic Understanding: Introductory College Course that lays out the current structure of the field, its major models and terminology. You can often acquire this on your own either through MOOCS or commonly used books.
Intermediate Understanding: Getting an undergraduate degree of a subject matter, where you dive into the various sub-disciplines and get a better understanding. Follow the same strategy as above, but for the sub-disciplines. A good resource is Kio Stark’s book.
Advanced Understanding: Is where you get a graduate degree in a subject matter and become an expert. You form an advanced mental model of a subject matter and start to poke around the edges, either reforming the existing models or answering unknown questions regarding the existing ones.
102 - General Knowledge is about getting a sense of the universe at large and the larger context that your specialized knowledge sits within. It is also the ideas from various disciplines that you learn about in hopes that it can help spark new ideas within your current area of expertise.
103 - Skill is your ability to do something well. Being an effective worker in life often depends on your ability to execute on a skillset.
You can get ahead in life with your skill sets through two main paths. The first is to become the best in a common skill such that people seek out your services (e.g. best guitarist, amazing writer, etc). The second is to pick a skill set that is a unique combination and involves an important but niche knowledge base. Where you are able to provide a skill that very few people can provide (Newport, 2016).
104 - Procedural Knowledge is the information you’ve internalized on how to carry out tasks. Often time procedural knowledge will start out in the form a checklist before being turned into a habitual model that is invisible and automatic, see Internal Models.
Over time you develop the ability to execute on the procedural knowledge effectively, turning it into a skill.
105 - Creative Productivity Project - when I created this note I didn’t give it an ID, so this is a retoractive ID creation. This is for the purpose of integrating this zettelkasten within my Neuron Zettelkasten.
106 - Layers of Structure in a Zettelkasten - you can compare and contrast the layers of structure in both the physical and digital zettelkasten, abstracting out the main components. These are foundational components to think about no matter what medium you are creating a zettelkasten within.
107 - Note Identifiers - one of the main layers of structure in a digital zettelkasten is having a UID (Unique Identifier). A UID allows you to identify another note within your current one.
All the below mentioned Identifiers work fine but people prefer different ones based on their secondary functions. For example, the secondary function of Time IDs is they immediately tell you when the note was created. Some people like having this feature because they think of their notes in a temporal aspect.
Because the UIDs provide different secondary functions, sometimes people like to combine the different ones (e.g. Time ID + Title or Luhmann ID + Title).
Serial Number - is where you use a counter, increasing it every time you create a note, Note 1, Note 2, Note 3, Note 4, Note 5, Note 6, etc. A zettelkasten program that uses this version would be Zettelkasten^3.
Luhmann ID - Luhmann used alternating numbers and letters for his zettelkasten (e.g. 3a1p5c4fB1a), this allowed for him to insert a nearly infinite number of notes between any two notes (Johannes F.K. Schmidt 2018, Section 4).
Time IDs - are timestamps, these are good IDs for a zettelkasten because you can essentially have unlimited ones if you drill down to the minute or second (e.g. 2020070290245). Most people aren’t going to be creating new notes so fast that a minute or second timestamp won’t work.
Unique Titles - are words, phrases, or sentences that hold semantic meaning and you keep unique to that specific note (.e.g. this note is titled “Note Identifiers”).
Random UIDs - you can have programs that generate seemingly random combinations to stand in as your identifier.
Random Number - generates a random number, typically using a hash or random number generator.
Four Letter Words - I see websites (e.g. Twitch - ClumsyWittyDragonBudStar) using random combo of 4 words as the identifier.
108 - ID Comparison - the primary function of all the IDs is to act as pointer, so you are able to find a note again. Whether that be find a note when you point to it in another note (links) or just search it. When deciding on an ID then you want to choose one that supports your secondary functions.
I’ve personally been coming around to the concept of generating Time IDs with a shortcut key anywhere, followed by a specific search function. How it would work is when you click the Time ID, [[2020070290245]], it first searches for a note that is a direct match. If it find a direct match it goes to that note, else it pulls up a search that finds notes that have it in the body.
This is what zettlr does. The reason I like this method so much is it allows you to put an ID anywhere in a note, allowing you to link to a specific part of a note. See Zettelkasten De Dicussion
Luhmann ID Secondary Function - Has the secondary benefit of easily showing relationship and related notes. Especially when notes get added over time. Note 1a, 1b, 1c is related to Note 1. It adds a quick layer of structure.
I’m usually not an advocate of Luhmann IDs, as Luhmann used them because they added a layer of organization he needed due to restrictions with a physical zettelkasten. Because the restrictions don’t exist in a digital zettelkasten, Luhmann ID’s aren’t necessary. I make an exception with this forum zettelkasten because it makes for easier organization because I don’t have good tools for managing Time IDs.See 16a1b#rewrite-section