The gardener versus the architect

Knowledge management
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Just finished watching the new video by @nickmilo on the new Obsidian bases feature.

Here’s the video I’m referring to:

What really struck me was the metaphor Nick used to describe the two pkm approaches:

The Gardener

A person who wanders through their “jungle” of knowledge. Linking and writing freely. Embracing the chaos of the mind. This is the bottom-up approach. It reminds me of @kepano 's Obsidian vault, which also relies heavily on linking.

The Architect

A person who plans before acting. Their knowledge is organized a priori in an intricate system. This is the top-down approach. While the gardener traverses their knowledge by network, the architect knows their temple inside and out.

This metaphor really resonated with me.

So, I wanted to share it with you.

Which type is more dominant in your case, :shamrock: the gardener or :synagogue: the architect?

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Why not both, i.e. a garden planner? Plan and create the garden but then enjoy walking through it at random later on and see what has grown? I’ve often planned something and created it but then it often grows organically after that.

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In case anyone’s interested in some history, the terms “gardener” and “architect” to describe writing styles were coined by George RR Martin nearly twenty years ago. They’ve been in heavy rotation in the fiction writing community ever since:

I love these metaphors, and see them play out all the time. And, like Caroline above, definitely see many people being a blend of the two. Although, I see them more as situational (ie some writing situations necessitate architecture, others gardening).

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